The Panic Manual

Concert Review: Glen Hansard, September 16, Danforth Music Hall

Posted on

18 Sep 2012

jessica

Irish singer/songwriter Glen Hansard really paid his doting Toronto audience quite the treat on Sunday night. The man who’s clearly born to be a performer, hurtled through two hours and at the end, it seemed like he was only just warmed up.

But let’s take it from the beginning.

I sat down in my seat on the balcony at the Danforth Music Hall after Tony Dekker’s set. I noticed that the little wall in front of my row was practically at my eye level. Good, I thought. I’ve been meaning to work on my posture. (As I write this later, I am hunched over.) In comes the drunk Irish guy, who sat next to me. He carried a drink and started talking to me about how he wished he wasn’t there, that he was dragged along by a female and that he might as well be pissing into the wind. He moaned and groaned about having to sit through the show.

The lights went down, screams rang out through the hall and out walked Glen with a full band. As soon as they get through the first song, I think Wow. I wish his recordings included a full band. That would have made his new album a lot more interesting. The music sounds so full of life. I’ve been a fan of Glen’s music for years, seemingly one of my longest lasting musical interests in a time period that has me with a short attention span. I’ve loved him more with Marketa Irglova, aka when they were The Swell Season, or, that cute but melancholy couple in Once. He’s even one of the few artists I can still listen to after finding out he’s really not the super friendly person he seems all the time, especially after seeing the self titled documentary on The Swell Season that came out this year. Anyways, he’s human, and he put out his first solo album ever this year, Rhythm and Repose. It’s simple and showcases his great songwriting. If you want to know Glen as an artist, you have to see him live. And this was the most fun I’ve ever seen him have on stage. Drunk Irish Guy Next To Me was totally into it a few songs in, clapping ferociously, saying Wonderful! Classic! Wow, what a guy!

Glen played his new material with mostly with the band but he did do a few on his own in the middle of the set. He also played Swell Season songs, which I felt weird about seeing them performed without Marketa. A lot of the songs bleeds together, but each song has a recognizable chorus or charm to it that brings you right back, and it’s so lovingly haunting when he can get an entire hall to sing with him. There were eleven people on stage at the most, with horns, strings, the whole shebang. Glen did a great job as front man. He didn’t do much of his classic storytelling while introducing songs, but he did wittily answer a lot of shout-out questions from the audience who didn’t hold back, such as “WHO DID YOUR ALBUM COVER?” “An Irish painter, he came and painted me on a Saturday at 9 a.m. when I was hungover.” “FOUR MORE YEARS FOUR MORE YEARS” “[Goes on spiel about voting and how you have to vote for Obama.]” Et cetera. He’d joke and crack remarks about Toronto. He even invited a friend’s girl to come sing with him as well as Toronto singer/songwriter Peter Katz to come play a very personal song with the entire band. Glen did a few covers, including Van Morrison and Martin Gaye songs. At some point during all of this, Drunk Irish Guy Next to Me asked me how gay it all was and left to get more drinks/pee/smoke about a million times. But I know he still loved Glen. The show ended with the band playing while walking around the audience on the floor in a Canadian folk sing-a-long that truthfully, this Can-Am doesn’t know what song it was.

But I do know Glen’s music, and this was an amazing concert of his to see. I’m glad he went with the full band, giving his songs even more oomph. He’s got a boyish charm but for a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, he’s always endlessly entertaining, and clearly won over one very drunk guy, so, job well done.

Concert Review: Dragonette, The Knocks, September 15, Black Cat

Posted on

18 Sep 2012

halley

I was so confused walking into the Dragonette show at the Black Cat. It’s a small venue (part of it’s charm) but I really thought I’d managed to enter the wrong show. The band on-stage was… awesome. Like headliner-worthy awesome. Like mega-dance-party/sick-beats/two-dudes-banging-drum-sets-with-glo-sticks awesome. But no, I was in the right place. Just turns out I was in for a treat, because Dragonette’s opener, NY-based duo the Knocks, is an amazing live-act. (Side note: the band got its name from back in the day when neighbors used to knock on their door and ask them to turn their volume down. Love!) The duo played through their big hits, Dancing with the DJ and Brightside, as well as other lesser-known (but equally great) mash-up electronic creations. I’ve listened to some of the band’s tracks post-concert, and while they are still super quality, there’s something this band does live that is not captured in their recordings. They are well-worth their ticket price. I also loved that they requested the house lights be turned on after their set so they could take pictures of the crowd with their smartphones. Approved!

Dragonette took the stage soon after their phenomenal opening act… and proceeded to own the stage. Lead singer Martina Sorbara is one of the most engaging, high-energy, stunning front women I’ve ever seen. The woman has cheekbones that defy biological possibility. Not that I’m jealous. She and her band rocked the show, playing some songs from their forthcoming album, Bodyparts (favorite track: My Work is Done with the lyric: “I don’t want to work/I just want to get paid.” Amen. Of course, the highlight of the show was the last two songs: Hello and Let it Go. Such a good way to end a Saturday night.

Concert Review: Rock the Green, September 15, Veterans Park, Milwaukee

Posted on

17 Sep 2012

Celeste

Alright, I know Wisconsin is a state that’s gotten its fair share of crap. Remember in Dogma when Alan Rickman explains that there’s something worse than being exiled to hell? That something was being stuck in Wisconsin for the entire span of human history. But I’d like to say that, Milwaukee, WI, I approve of your ability to put on a top-notch festival with a damn good lineup.

This past Saturday, Milwaukee hosted Rock the Green in Veterans park, an eco-friendly event where one of the stages was powered by local cyclers on stationary bikes. Honestly, the entire reason I went was because Imagine Dragons was playing, but hey, if you can arrange it so that I’m enjoying them in a near-zero waste setting, all the more power to you.

The lineup was:

Atlas Genius – These newcomers from Adelaide Australia hit the scene with their song Trojans back in 2011. They’ve got a slick synth sound that comes off in a higher energy and poppier way live. Judging by the reactions from the crowd, they may be newcomers but they’ve already got quite a following (there was one girl literally popping out of her dress she was jumping up and down so much to get the band’s attention – it probably doesn’t hurt that they’re a good looking group), with most people singing along to their more well known songs.

Imagine Dragons – This was the band that I came for, and I expected a lot, but Imagine Dragons still managed to blow me out of the water. If you’ve seen Foster the People, think that level of intensity, but far more charming. Frontman Dan Reynolds was all over the place, brandishing the mic holder over his head like a sword, banging on his drum, flinging his drumsticks, sneezing into the mic, wiping his nose on his shirt (he apparently had a head-cold – I can’t even imagine what the energy level is when he’s healthy, and I’m honestly not even sure I could handle it). He was adorable.

You’ll notice that the pictures get much further back at this point. Sometimes a girl just needs some kettle corn.

Metric – I came to Rock the Green to see Imagine Dragons, but Metric can now add me to their list of devotees. I feel like I should give a personal thank you to all Torontonians for making this band possible. Lead singer Emily Haines was tearin.it.up. onstage, prancing around in her little leather booty shorts, and sounding way better than any of her recorded work. At one point she actually did take a full two minutes to just strut her stuff from one of the corner of the stage to the other and back, and the audience was eating it up. Help I’m Alive was definitely the highlight of the band’s set.

Third Eye Blind – Okay third Eye Blind, time for some tough love. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for throwback acts – I went to a Barenaked Ladies concert a couple of months ago and they were delightful. They were super fun, connected great with the crowd, and managed to appear somewhat dignified given their mature status in the music world (or as dignified as you can be with the name Bare Naked Ladies). But c’mon guys, don’t make the audience wait twenty minutes past your set time to come onstage, and take off the hoodie. I don’t know about other audience members, but I would like to actually catch a glimpse of the face of the person singing. Maybe four songs in you took off that hoodie and had Christopher-Walken-level eye contact with every crowd member, but I wouldn’t know because I got bored and peaced.

What I got to see instead of the second half of the Third Eye Blind set was two dudes, on the ground, wrestling shirtless outside the fairgrounds. For about ten seconds I thought I was about to get mugged, so all in all when I got on the bus back to Chicago in one piece after a fantastic day of music, I was pretty pleased.

Concert Review: KISS, Motley Crue, September 14, Molson Amphitheatre

Posted on

14 Sep 2012

Ricky

In my ever expanding quest to experience shows of all genres and sizes this summer, I decided to go see the Motley Crue/Kiss double header at the Molson Amphitheatre last night. You could say it was my first ever classic rock show. I have had about five straight late nights in a row now, so constructing some kind of narrative or cohesive review is out the window at this point, go read a book if you want a story.

Here are some of my observations:

– Black shirts everywhere! I did not get the memo. Me and my friend were the only Asians there.

– Pyros Pyros Pyros! Motley Crue loves the flames. Guitars doubled as flamethrowers, girls were twirling sticks with flames on the end

– Speaking of girls, classic move of Motley Crue to have scantily leather clad girls dancing on stage and also in a hoop suspended above the stage. Classic

– Vince Neil, despite having a broken foot, moved around quite well. Motley Crue’s one of those rare bands where they have three rather famous members, all for different reasons it would seem.

– Two of my favorite Motley Crue banter (both they and Kiss had amazing banter) included Tommy Lee saying “PUT YOUR HORNS UP MOTHERFUCKERS!” and Vince Neil asking “Who here has got a bike!” (to which me and my friend both thought he was asking about bicycles)

– It’s cute that parents put Kiss face paint on their children and brought them to the show, but some of them probably should have given their kids earplugs

– Kiss had phenomenal production values and pulled off some amazing moves:

Gene Simmons played on top of the freaking lights!

– The drummer pulled a bazooka from out of nowhere and shot fireworks with it

– I didn’t even know you could have fireworks inside a stage like that. Now I know, both bands used them quite leisurely

– Paul Stanley zip lined over the crowd to a stage setup on a pole.

Maybe my favorite thing were the song introduction done by the bands. It had so much cheese, so much style, it was awesome. For example, Paul Stanley introducing one of the tracks (paraphrasing)

“Listen, are you READY? it’s gonna get hot. Real hot. It’s gonna get SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT in here, we’re going to need to call……..the FIREHOUSE!!!!”
*launches into firehouse* track

I want all indie music acts to do this now. Imagine the possibilities!

Darren Rosen (Grizzly Bear): Fans of Grizzly Bear! Are you ready? We are about to start harmonizing the shit out of this song, and you and your friends are going to talk about it … for TWO WEEKS!

Dude from Passion Pit: Look at you guys, you have been a great crowd, but remember it’s good to party, but lets not get…. CARRIED AWAY!

Courtney Taylor Taylor: Thank you for coming to our show, you have been amazing. This is not only the last song..but also, THIS IS THE LAST HIGH!

I could go on forever, but I won’t.

Kiss and Motley Crue two bands I never thought I’d see, putting on a completely enjoyable show. All for fifteen bucks, you can’t really beat that.

Set list – Motley Crue
Saints of Los Angeles
Wild Side
Shout at the Devil
Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)
Sex
Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
Home Sweet Home
Drum Solo
Guitar Solo
Live Wire
Primal Scream
Dr. Feelgood
Girls, Girls, Girls
Kickstart My Heart

Set list – Kiss
Detroit Rock City
Shout It Out Loud
I Love It Loud
Firehouse
Hell or Hallelujah
War Machine
Shock Me
Bass Solo
God of Thunder
Love Gun
Lick It Up
Black Diamond
Calling Dr. Love
Rock and Roll All Nite

Concert Review: Madonna, September 12, Air Canada Centre

Posted on

13 Sep 2012

Ricky

When reviewing a Madonna show, where does one even begin?

So many things happened, it’s somewhat hard to process all at once.

First off, it was a visual spectacle of spectacles – multiple gorgeously designed sets that featured trapdoors, rising stages, massive HD screens and enough LED lights to power up several African countries. It was ridiculous, but this is my first real pop show, so I don’t know if these things are standard.

It will now be a strange world when the lead singer doesn’t rise from the bottom of the stage for a song. Just sayin.

The show was broken up into different themes, each with their own impressive sets and choreographed dances (all the choreography was top notch as you would expect), here are some notes

The show started off with a bang, literally, as Madonna’s dance moves for tracks Revolver and Gang Bang involved her shooting and fighting her dancers, it was all heavily choreographed and surprisingly, heavily auto-tuned/effects heavy. Part of this set included a surprisingly disappointing version of Hung Up, which was also effects heavy. Considering Hung Up is probably her best/most popular track from the past decade, it was a surprise that it came out sounding like it did.

Marching drummers being air/ropelifted on to the stage was one of the more impressive sights of the night. Dressed up as a cheerleader, Madonna launched into Express Yourself which cheekily included excerpts from Lady Gaga’s Born This Way. Well played.

Despite TIFF being in town, there were no cameos, but when you can have 50 feet versions of Lil Wayne and Nicky Minaj, why bother with the actual thing?

While frequent Madonna concert goers might have appreciated the piano-lounge version of Like a virgin, I was definitely expected a version closer to the original, maybe with her in a wedding dress, rolling down a flight of stairs. However, Madonna is Madonna and she does as she pleases, which included among other things – a large speech telling WASP’s to be less WASPY, stripping down and unveiling FREE PUSSY on her back and maybe even cutting the track Holiday a bit short due to a weak call and response sequence with the crowd.

While much of the earlier sets were effects heavy/autotuned, Madonna did keep it real when delivering the classics. Tracks like Open Your Heart, Holiday, Vogue and Like a Prayer stayed true to form and as you can imagine, were all completely epic live. Like a Prayer is one of those tracks where you don’t really know how much you like it until you hear it live and when it comes on, you just get hit with it and the next thing you know, you are singing it out loud. It’s okay though, because so were the other 16,000 people in the crowd.

Overall, it was a one of a kind experience. The sets were gorgeous, the dancing and choreography were exceptional and the music, well, when the music was good, it was great. It’s a pretty safe thought to say that there will never be another performer like Madonna. That’s one cross off the bucket list.

Songs
Girl Gone Wild
Revolver
Gang Bang
Papa Don’t Preach
Hung Up
I Don’t Give A
Express Yourself
Give Me All Your Luvin’
Turning Up the Hits
Turn Up the Radio
Open Your Heart
Holiday
Masterpiece
Vogue
Candy Shop
Human Nature
Like a Virgin
I’m Addicted
I’m a Sinner
Like a Prayer
Celebration

Concert Review: Reptar, Rubblebuck, September 11, Lincoln Hall, Chicago

Posted on

12 Sep 2012

Celeste

Reptaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar you know my soul. That’s the only response I have to the lyrics that were busted out by Reptar during their Tuesday night concert at Lincoln Hall:

“But if you see my running down the street/say I wanna be your friend/it’s a phrase I don’t say often enough/don’t want to scare or to offend.” Real talk real time, at least once a day I see someone strolling down the streets of Chicago who is super intriguing and who I just wanna run up to and say “be my friend.” I restrain myself though, because I’ve been told that there are “norms in society” and that this would be “breaking them.” Meh.

“You turn around and south becomes north.” In my mind this is a shout-out to the directionally challenged. What What!

“Circle ring ring triangle square.” I can’t even begin to explain why love this one – I just do.

To top off these fabulous lyrics, the five piece band out of Georgia was living it up onstage – rarely do I see men who wiggle more than I do at concerts, but these guys were putting me to shame. Shout out especially to the keyboardist and the guitarist, I thought they were going to sprain something.

Sebastian is one of my favorites from them – it takes a second for the beat to drop but it’s worth the wait:

I was ready to end the night there, but as the crew was setting up for the second band, Rubblebucket (editor’s note: maybe the worse band name I’ve ever seen), they brought out glowing ribbons, Christmas lights, strobe light necklaces and a black light, and I knew I had to at least stay for a taste, and the second they stepped out on stage I knew I had made the right decision. The band includes a trumpet, a saxophone, a trombone, drums, a bass, and a delightful female vocalist. Approved.

Rubblebucket had some catchy songs, but they shined most when they just jammed onstage together, no lyrics, with the lead vocalist out in the crowd smearing fans with war paint-lipstick. The trumpet and trombone were in perfect synch with each other in terms of dancing. Boys knew how to move. Even their hairstyles were complimentary. One had a shaved head with hair on top, and the other had a shaved head with a long ponytail flowing down the back.

Best part of the set was when the lead vocalist yelled out, “I think it’s time for the robots!” always an appropriate phrase, but often followed by disappointment. Not tonight: out came two shiny, 10 foot robots, who proceeded to bust out dance moves of their own and high five the crowd. When the night includes a Rugrats-inspired band name, a backdrop of SAT vocabulary words, a disco ball, brass band instruments and dancing robots you know you’re in for a good time.

My advice is get your tickets now. Reptar + Rubblebucket = fun, pure and simple.