The Panic Manual

Concert Review: Shamir, October 8, Lincoln Hall

Posted on

10 Oct 2015

Celeste

Shamir Bailey could come onstage wearing a muumuu and velcro sneakers and make it look cool. It doesn’t matter what the 20 year old Nevada native is sporting, he’s simply so unapologetically himself that he looks good in everything.

Thursday night at Lincoln Hall he was wearing a brown, yellow and red checkerboard button up, with his long dreads up in a bun on the top of his head. I also realized halfway through the set that he was rocking green and blue neon glow fingernail polish that was doing mesmerizing things under the black light.

The young up and comer strolled onto stage giving the crowd a little wave, and started things off with “Vegas,” the first track off his 2015 release Ratchet. He then told the crowd “This is an old one” (which seems funny coming from a 20 year old who’s been on the scene for about two years) and broke into single “On the Regular” which brought the already simmering, sold-out crowd to a boiling point. Shamir also got into the act, moving into his go-to dance move of hopping up and down, eyes raised coyly and conspiratorially to the ceiling and raising both arms.

He then told the crowd “These two are really, really old” and moved into “If It Wasn’t True” from his original EP Northtown all the way back from 2014. He switched back to Ratchet for “Make A Scene” during which he pulled the hair tie from his head and whipped out those long, lovely dreads in time to the music.

“This ones for all the youths out there” he told the crowd before ‘Youth.’ “…And also for all the older people who want to cheer on the youth, because, you know, we’ll be running the world pretty soon.”

Not many people have heard of Shamir at this point but it’s worth it to fall in love with the talented young south westerner now — with his unique, androgynous brand of undefinable lighthearted, catchy, intelligent, witty hip-hop/pop/indie mashup, he’s definitely an artist of the future.

Concert Review: Girlpool, October 8, Smiling Buddha

Posted on

9 Oct 2015

Paul

Shortly after taking the stage to a fairly packed house at the Smiling Buddha, Girlpool singer/guitarist Cleo Tucker announced, “I feel like a smiling Buddha … this feels really special.” Sure, the name checking of the venue was a little corny, but her words came across as absolutely sincere. That sincerity was also seen in Tucker’s musical partner Harmony Tividad giving a shout out to openers Told Slant and Eskimeaux, noting how lucky she felt to be able to see each act every night. “Being around people who make things and care about things is so beautiful.”

Yes, Tucker and Tividad seem like pretty positive people (they even gave a glowing recommendation to “that vegetarian place next door”) and that positivity seems to carry over into their music. Not only do they seem to be enjoying themselves up there, but the duo’s sweet harmonies and simple arrangements tend to evoke nostalgia and warm and fuzzy feelings. Watching them play together, you get a real sense of kinship between the pair, their voices often blending together as one.

Concert Review: Makthaverskan, October 6, Smiling Buddha

Posted on

7 Oct 2015

Paul

Sometimes it can be just as interesting to see a performance by a band where the odds seem stacked against them and nothing’s going right than to see one that goes off without a hitch – infinitely more frustrating for the band I’m sure, and probably not as much fun for anyone involved, but interesting from an observer’s perspective. This is what was going through my mind as I watched Swedish punk band Makthaverskan deal with sound and gear issues throughout their set at Smiling Buddha.

After running though their first song, singer Maja Milner asked for some adjustments to the mix since she couldn’t hear herself or the guitars. Shortly after this, it became clear that something was wrong with the guitar. “Lower, I’m sorry, but can we borrow a guitar?” said Milner, addressing their Danish tourmates (who played an excellent set right before Makthaverskan). “If not, that’s OK.” Though clearly getting frustrated, the band kept their cool and after a lengthy break where they tried to sort things out, they eventually just soldiered on and tried to make the best of it. And although it likely sounded a lot rougher and looser than the band is used to (“I don’t recognize our sound,” said Milner at one point), they played with a certain intensity that still managed to impress – Milner’s vocals sounded harsher than on record and the band’s performance was perhaps a little more aggressive. Certainly not the ideal situation, but at least it wasn’t a total loss.

<a href="http://makthaverskan.bandcamp.com/album/makthaverskan-ii">Makthaverskan II by makthaverskan</a>

Travel Preview: Southern Africa, Sept 30 to October 23

Posted on

29 Sep 2015

Ricky

In my never ending effort to rebrand the Panic Manual into a lifestyle blog so I can get physical free shit instead of free concert tickets, I will write about travel. I have a trip coming up, so it’s very convenient to start writing about that. It’s also quite self indulgent, but this entire blog only really serves me and my friends anyway.

So let’s talk about Southern Africa. First of all, one of the things I realized when planning this trip, is that Africa is HUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGEEE. I mean, imagine if North America was populated throughout the continent instead of the east/west coast, and then make it bigger, and you have Africa. Originally, my plan was to do a safari, hang out in Cape Town AND climb Kilimanjaro, only to realize the flight from Cape Town to Nairobi is similar to flying from Toronto to LA.

Let’s look at some places I will be going to.

Victoria Falls

Only the biggest waterfall in the World. I wonder if it’s like Niagara Falls and I can go to Ripley’s Believe it or Not or have a wax version of my hand made. Probably not. I am contemplating this:

Most likely I will chicken out, because that looks insane.

Okavango Delta

A cool lil spot in Botswana where animals frolic about. I believe we are flying into here on a tiny plane from somewhere and chilling out here for a few days. I’ve seen a lot of BBC documentaries about animals in this place so it’ll be quite good I think.

Kalahari Desert

Two years ago, I visited the Sahara desert so it only makes sense to visit the Kalahari desert as part of my #deserttour. I don’t even like sand, so I don’t know what’s up with that. It’s known for it’s reddish sand and is home to a bunch of cats that can eat me.

National Parks

Gonna see some animals yo. Hopefully not too close. Distance is good. I’m going to have profile pictures for years to come out of this trip, and a great #tbt option every week on Instagram. Time for y’all to step up your game.

Cape Town

What a gorgeous city. You climb mountains, go check out great white sharks, see penguins and tour wine country all within a few hours span. I’m curious what that gigantic methos looking thing is as well.

So there you have it, three weeks without concerts. It shall be interesting.

Concert Review: Stromae, September 26, Echo Beach

Posted on

28 Sep 2015

Paul

Stromae is already a superstar in his native Belgium and while he’s amassed a bit of a following on this side of the pond, he’s definitely making an effort to break out bigger to a North American audience. However, as the tongue in cheek “Who The Hell Is Stromae” promo posters that were making the rounds during SXSW attest, he’s certainly far from being a household name at this point. Still, a dedicated group of (probably mostly francophone) fans made their way out on a Saturday night to take in his performance and were indeed treated to quite the show.

As he took to the stage, Stromae shouted out, “Toronto! Canada!” not once but twice, adding a French accent the second time around. It worked as not only an acknowledgement of the many French speaking people in attendance but also as a demonstration of his sense of humour, which he displayed throughout the night. Some choice moments included his mock tirade against the French for claiming french fries as their own when really the Belgians created them (he then went on to give Belgium credit for wine, croissants and France in general) and his repeated instruction to the crowd to “stay focused.” In addition to sense of humour, he showed off some impressive dance moves and a strong, unique sense of fashion. While most of the show was full of energetic, upbeat numbers like “Alors On Danse,” Stromae showed off his range with “Quand C’est,” a darker number that featured a haunting falsetto on his part and was one of the highlights of the night.

Closing things off with crowd pleaser “Papaoutai,” Stromae ended his set by thanking pretty much everyone involved in the tour, from his band to the stage crew to the sound engineer to the fashion designer and wardrobe assistant. He didn’t just thank them though – he sang each of their names over the accompaniment of his bowler hat clad bandmates. While I’m not sure if Stromae ever will break big over here, he puts on an enjoyable show that certainly demonstrates that he should be heard by a wider audience. The best way to sum up his show in one word is to quote one of his own song titles: “Formidable.”

Concert Review: Constantines, September 24, Lee’s Palace

Posted on

25 Sep 2015

Paul

A few songs into the Constantines’ set, Bry Webb welcomed the crowd to the last leg of their “wearing out our welcome tour.” It’s true, the band has played Toronto quite a few times over the last year and a bit, with a pair of shows at the Danforth Music Hall, a gig opening for Arcade Fire and a chance to take the stage at Massey Hall, but they’ve hardly worn out their welcome. That much was made clear by the crowd’s response on the first of two nights at Lee’s Palace in celebration of the venue’s 30th birthday, with the audience enthusiastically shouting along the words to many of the songs throughout the night. Even without the balloons on display throughout the venue, there was a bit of a party vibe going on.

For his part, Webb didn’t say much in honour of the occasion. “I don’t know what to say. We’ve played here a lot … it’s a good place to play.” He also rather humbly noted that while he’s got a lot of energy in the first 3 or 4 songs, “then it mellows out a bit.” A Constantines show is many things, but mellow is not the word I’d use to describe it. And even if the band were mellowing out a bit, the fans will probably pick up the slack, just like they did during “On To You” when Webb and everyone else in the band forgot the lyrics. No problem – Webb just handed the mic to the audience and they had it covered. The fans who took the lead on that one probably had their night made and it seemed like The Cons were enjoying it too. “Thank you. That made my year,” said Webb. “We’re all Constantines.”