I'm a little late in posting this wrapup of the CMW shows I saw on March 3rd and 4th, but here goes:Mark Seymour(Thursday 9 pm @ Reverb): I was interested in seeing this gentleman's set after finding out he was the founder and lead singer of 80's Australian act Hunters and Collectors. Remember "Throw Your Arms Around Me"? That song has some of the most romantic lyrics I've ever heard and when Mr. Seymour ended his set with it, it was very beautiful. I did find it slightly obnoxious that a spectactor felt compelled to yell out his request for the song. The fact is Mark is touring currently playing a mixture of solo material and Hunters and Collectors' songs and I'd think the last thing he'd want is to be known as a nostalgia act. I missed the boat on the Hunters and Collectors back in the 80's because I think I was too young to have really appreciated them. Mark displayed a prowess at the Reverb which showed he hasn't lost any of his fervor for performing. He had a physical ruggedness(especially playing guitar) which reminded me of Bruce Springsteen. Mark played a decent set of rustic acoustic tunes that displayed his strong vocals.
Ben Lee(Thursday 10 pm @ Reverb): My primary reason for being at the Reverb this night was to see Ben Lee. The last time Ben strolled through town was last year at The Mod Club where he performed with a full band, but this time around it was only himself on guitar/vocals and his bandmate Lara on keyboards/background vox. I just picked up his newest CD "Awake Is The New Sleep" and I've been revelling in its pop hooks. Yes, sometimes I think he's a little too clever for his own good. Is the phrase "Awake Is The New Sleep" suppose to be a cop of "Quiet Is The New Loud"? However, it is undeniable that Ben can write a great pop hook. The fact that he's young but his music's free of any trappings of any current musical trends, is even more surprising. Without the distraction of other instruments, Lara's keyboards were brought to the forefront and sounded playful such as on the lead-in intro to "Catch My Disease". Lara was also given the opporuntunity to solo. She's a good keyboardist and displayed a knack for being able to improvise on the spot such as when she worked out the chords to an older Ben Lee track "Chills" before they started to play it. Ben's kinda of a goof(and I mean that in the nicest possible way). He's funny, such as on the "one note" guitar solo he played before handing things over to Lara on keyboards to take over. He also bantered with the audience, making comments about the greatness of the CMW festival. Good set, no encore, but he'll be back in Toronto on April 16th at Lee's Palace according to Ben's website. (Although a concert ad in the current issue of eye is saying the show's gonna be at the El Mocambo?! Stayed tune for confirmation.)
The Bicycles(Thursday 11 pm @ Rancho Relaxo): After Ben Lee's set I jumped into my car and drove down to Rancho Relaxo to catch what I could of The Bicycles set. I had a little difficulty finding parking but managed to find a spot then dash to Rancho Relaxo to catch about 15 minutes of The Bicyles set. I've only seen The Bicyles live once before which I believe was in May 2003. That time I remembered them being a bit more twee but this time around, I'd have to agree with Tbone that they had an Elephant 6 thing going on. Some of their melodies didn't quite gel as I hoped but I think that had more to do with the looseness of the performance than anything else. There was a jubilant pop vibe with some rocking out on guitars and drums in particular. It was fun to watch them because they were all wearing black t-shirts with the letter 'B' in white lettering. The shallowness of the ceiling and the width of the stage sort of picture-framed the view of the band. For their last song, they pulled up some friends onto stage to join them in a good old-fashioned freak session.
Sebastian Tellier(Thursday 12 pm @ Reverb): I headed back to the Reverb in time to catch Parisian artist Sebastian Tellier. Sebastian and his keyboardist took to the stage, and started to perform very quietly amongst the chatter of the crowd which was already starting to thin out. Sebastian's on Air's Record Makers label, and I was impressed with some of the samples I heard. However, I found Sebastian's live performance at the Reverb underwhelming. Instrumentation was solely left to the Rhodes keyboard which was itself really nice and warm sounding. However, with Sebastian singing over the keyboards, there was a little too much of a lounge singer aesthetic for my liking. When Sebastian and his bandmate finished the set, he thanked the audience and walked off as non-chalantly as when he first walked onto stage.
Vegomatic(Thursday 1 am @ Reverb): Vegomatic are also a Parisian musical act. The band features three gents on bass guitar, guitar and drums and an attractive young female singer, who reminded me of a coquettish version of Metric's Emily Haines. The band plays a mixture of new wavey, 60's, surf influenced tunes, and lyrically are quite bonzo singing a song about "G.I. Joe" one time and and then singing a song featuring the lyrics of "I fuck, I suck" sung sexily in repetition by the female singer. The guitarist displayed some great surf guitar skills but also copped Chic-inspired disco guitar riff for a few bars. He was also pretty gonzo such as when he yanked down his pants, grabbed his cock, and then proceed to play the guitar for the rest of the song with his bare butt showing. Um, I didn't need to see that, but I guess it's all in the name of showmanship. The crowd seemed to like them. I liked them enough but I couldn't imagine listening to them often other than a party atmosphere.
Boy Ballz(Friday 12 am @ The Comfort Zone): Before making it to The Comfort Zone this night, my friend and I tried to take in Bonnie Pink's 11 pm set at The Cameron House. We almost got in but unfortunately the venue had already reached capacity by the time we got to near the front of the waiting line. My friend and I took off for 'Plan B', The Comfort Zone. We made it in time to catch Boy Ballz who rocked the house with their 80's influenced, G-Love, hip-hop, punk pastiche. The lead singer reminded me of Saturday Night Live's Horatio Sanz. The band's all about having fun, and fun they and the audience did have. The lead vocalist busted out some hip-hop lingo, about "licking pussy". You get the idea. They're alright, but my last statement about Vegomatic also goes for Boy Ballz.
The Zoobombs(Friday 1 am @ The Comfort Zone): What better way to wrap up CMW then a mind-blowing performance by Japan's The Zoobombs. Two previous nights of performances did not seem to have any effect on the band's energy whatsoever(I'm sorry to say that I couldn't say the same for myself). They were noisy, funky and sweaty. When they found a groove, especially on funkier numbers, it was booty-shaking fun! Of course, I had already caught a partial Zoobombs set a couple of nights before, and this Comfort Zone was already approaching 3 am, so I was kind of hoping that things would wrap up eventually. I'm either getting old, or I need more comfortable shoes, but I was exhausted after The Zoobombs. Exhausted but exhilirated. So ends CMW. It wasn't entirely the thrilling experience as I hoped. Nothing necessarily earth-shattering, some disappointments in not getting into certain shows, and some bands/artists I SHOULD have went to see instead such as Boy, Gentlemen Reg, Two Koreas and Creeping Nobodies. Well, NXNE is just around the corner.
[photos from Thursday March 3rd]
[photos from Friday March 4th]
For more CMW reviews, check out SHOT and Tbone.
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