Los Campesinos! @ The Opera House

Los Campesinos! @ The Opera House
Originally uploaded by vasquezr
I'd been waiting a while for Los Campesinos! to come back to Toronto. Having been listening to their two cds "Hold On Now Youngster" and "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" I couldn't wait to hear their youthful enthusiasm live. This enthusiasm and the boundless energy of their sound which can be quite loud and boisterous, is really brought out and enhanced in their live show. Their building melodies, driving beats and shouting vocals brought life to their fans who wanted to do nothing more than dance manically to songs like "Ways To Make It Through The Wall", "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed", and "You! Me! Dancing!". The sound of glockenspiels, beautiful strings and witty lyrics of Gareth Campesino filled the Opera House as they played crowd favourite "Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks". Then when we thought we'd seen the best Gareth went on to turn all the monitors up on their sides as the entire band moved up closer to the crowd and climbed the monitors to play finish off their set. I think this would have satisfied the crowd at the Opera House but it wasn't enough for the band as a few of them decided to get into the dancing crowd to finish off their set. Unfortunately three songs no flash rules don't allow for us to capture such moments. It will however stick in my mind for a while and in the minds of the fans who got to share a sweet moment with the band. Great job Campesinos!

David Usher @ Barrie Earth Hour Festival

David Usher @ Barrie Earth Hour Festival
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The first ever Barrie Earth Hour Festival took place on March 28, 2009. The event was hosted at Barrie City Hall and was created to to spread awareness on the climate change issue. At 8:30 the lights went down and some of he local talent played an acoustic set. David Usher took the stage at 9:30 when the lights came back on. What is great about these outdoor shows is how the crowd really responds to a great act even after waiting for hours in almost freezing temperatures. David and the band impressed the crowd with a good mix of songs including Black Black Heart,My Way Out, Kill The Lights and Push along with some frantic dancing, and great guitar poses. Front row fans were treated to an up close and personal serenade when David did a balancing act on the barricade. It will be interesting to see if this becomes an annual event in Barrie and who other guests might be. Though from the crowd response I gather David Usher will Always be welcome.


David Usher @ Barrie Earth Hour Festival
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


David Usher @ Barrie Earth Hour Festival
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Sweet Thing, We Are The Take @ The Mod Club

Sweet Thing @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr
I saw Sweet Thing last year @ The Supermarket and was very impressed by their catchy tunes and showmanship. I was glad to be able to see the Toronto quintents show @ The Mod Club this time around. The band played a solid set including songs from thier EP "Sweet Thing":"Winter Night", "Everyone", "Change of Seasons".


Sweet Thing @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The thing I like most about Sweet Thing is their connection with thier fans. This is usually achieved through their super catchy pop songs and front man Owen Carrier's involvement of the crowd getting them to clap along with him.
This night he brought out two bag fulls of colourful plastic tambourines promoting their website www.sweetthingmusic.com dumped them on the stage as the band proceeded to hand them out to fans to play to "Kite Fight". Great way to make a connection. Great Job!

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We Are The Take:

We Are The Take @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

This was the third time I've seen we are the take play live. I have to say they just keep sounding better every time I hear them. They keep quite busy. They are playing another two shows @ The Tattoo Rock Parlour as long as a few other shows in Southern Ontario and Montreal in the next couple of weeks. They proved to be a quite solid opener playing songs like "Tenderhooks", "Wait it Out" and the very popular "Montreal Love Song". The highlight of the set was the bands cover of the Pixies "Where Is My Mind".

Oh No Forest Fires , Dinosaur Bones, Still Life Still, Arietta @ Lee's Palace

Oh No Forest Fires @ Lee's Palace
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Great night of local rock bands. Lee's Palace hosted a Friday night with four local indie rock bands.

Oh No Forest Fires:
Ok, let me start off by saying that I really, really, really, really, really like this band. So I hope this doesn't come of as being too over the top. Oh No Forest Fires consists of Rajiv Thavanathan, Brock Swanek, Matt Del Buono and Adam Nimmo (and friends, to many to list) out of Toronto. Their sound is some kind of indie math pop rock fusion filled with starts, stops, edgy hooks and sweet slow melodies that grow and build leaving you entertained and fully engaged.
Their live show is that and much more. Frontman Rajiv Thavanathan possesses the boundless energy of a dancing electron. My brother in law once described him as a Rock n' Roll Tornado and I quite agree. What's more by the end of the show the rest of the band seem to catch the fever and the chaos ensues. They're a fun band with great sound. And a must see.
On a side note: I've been listening to their EP "A War On Geometry" alot as of late.
There is a special place in my heart for "New Cove Road Back Home" not only because I love the violin in it, but also because I live in Barrie and work in Toronto and quite often it feels like I spend all day on the 400 highway too.

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Dinosaur Bones:

Dinosaur Bones @ Lee's Palace
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

This is a band I just seem to keep missing. I was glad to catch them playing Lee's this night. I wasn't able to stay for the whole set but what I did hear was quite promising and I'll make sure to catch them again soon.

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Still Life Still:

Still Life Still @ Lee's Palace
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

I had seen Still Life Still once before opening for The Kaiser Chiefs @ The Mod Club. Having heard a few songs on their myspace page I was quite excited to see them live. Their sound seemed to be off and was not quite indicative of what I thought they could be like live. On the strength of their myspace songs and being on a great local band bill I was quite glad to give them another chance. I found this performance to be a hell of a lot better and quite entertaining. Their vocals remind me of some early Sloan back when I liked them more. I'm quite eager to see and hear more from them.

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Arietta:

Arietta @ Lee's Palace
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Another band with a great track on myspace "We Were All Invincible". They played a solid set. I'll be looking for their release and next shows.

The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club

The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

The first time I had heard of The Airborne Toxic Event was last summer before the Virgin Festival in Toronto. On the strength of some of the songs I heard on their myspace page I marked them down as a band to see. Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch their set. Since then I've noticed the band getting quite a bit of publicity. From a horrible album review in Pitchfork to a great performance on Letterman. I was quite eager to see them live to see the real deal.
The Airborne Toxic Event played at the Mod Club in Toronto after having sold out the El Mocambo. The band which consists of singer and guitarist Mikel Jollett, guitarist and keyboardist Steven Chen, bassist Noah Harmon, drummer Daren Taylor, and keyboardist and violist Anna Bulbrook took to the stage playing songs from their debut cd including Wishing Well, Papillion, and Gasoline.


The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr

Though it was evident that the bands singer Mikel was not feeling well the band continued much to the delight of the fans at the Mod Club who were fully engaged by the time the band got to playing Happiness is Overrated.
A big part of this band's sound is the violin played by Anna Bulbrook. A sound which led the band into their performance of Sometime Around Midnight (their current hit). The band finished this part of their set with Innocence which featured most band members jumping off of speakers onto the stage including the violinist.
Unfortunately I had to make my way out as the band got into their encore which started with Does This Mean You're moving on ? The answer for me was yes... but hopefully not for long. Although I do hear quite a few strong influences (as suggested by the Pitchfork review) when listening to the bands songs I still can't stop myself from playing them my on iPod. Their album in my opinion is really really good, their live show is even better. I'll be sure to catch them the next time they are in Toronto.


The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr


The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Mod Club
Originally uploaded by vasquezr