Coast To Coast

concert review: Bella @ The Drake Hotel(Toronto, Ontario), part of NXNE, June 9, 2005

After the early Martha Wainwright show at The Mod Club this past Thursday(which I'm still planning to share a writeup and photos for) I decided to check out Bella's NXNE set at The Drake Hotel. I'd been diggin' them for just under a month now and I had been happy to find out that the Vancouver-based band was coming to Toronto to play as part of the NXNE festival. This was the band's first time in Toronto. For a young band(younger in person than they looked in their publicity shots) I didn't perceive an ounce of nervousness, although they did a thorough sound check before getting things started. With one EP[or is that LP?(there are 10 songs)] entitled "Pretty Mess" out I think they played just about everything off it, from the New Order-ish "Crystal Tears", featuring one of the best falsettos I've heard in a while, to the beggin'-for-a-horns-remix of "Summer" which is a sunny pop song complete with handclaps and jubilant background vocals. The two female members of the group were on drums and bass guitar. I loved it when the bass guitarist would rest her bass guitar on her thigh and guitar-pick a punchy bass melody. I particulary enjoyed when the drummer pulled out of her arsenal a simple but spectacular sounding New Order-ish high hat/snare drum combination on several songs. New wavey keyboards and programmed beats were featured on some songs giving them a Postal Service feel. Guitar arrangements were simple but effective although I'd have preferred a little more complexity. Vocals alternated between 3 members of the band, although I think the first gent(with the great falsetto on "Crystal Tears") was the best and definitely was the most energetic on stage. Overall, it was a great set and I think they've managed to carve a niche for themselves in the indiepop scene. [photos]
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Jens Lekman will be returning to Toronto for a show at The Music Gallery on October 18th. He'll be playing with singer-songwriter Nedelle. [from Kork]

Also from Kork, Jim Yoshii Pile Up will be at Sneaky Dee's on August 17th. I hadn't heard of these guys until yesterday when I sampled an mp3(of "Silver Sparkler" from their upcoming album "Picks Us Apart") from their web site. Really nice stuff.

Live session later today on MPR 89.3 The Current from Spoon. Or if you're going to Ivy's show tonight at Lee's Palace(which I'm still debating going to), their June 8/05 MPR session has already been archived for your listening pleasure.

I might have been excited about this 10 years ago, but Tori Amos with The Ditty Bops and Imogen Heap will be playing a show at The Molson Ampitheatre in Toronto on August 27th. [from Pollstar]