The Hot Rock

concert review: Sleater Kinney w/ Dead Meadow @ Phoenix Concert Theatre(Toronto, Ontario), June 18, 2005

I made it out to the Sleater Kinney show this past Saturday after passing on going to see Sloan at the Burlington Sound of Music Festival. Sloan will undoubtedly play around the Golden Horseshoe again, but who knows when Sleater Kinney'll come back. I almost-literally left it till the last minute(more like an hour before the show) before I picked up a ticket at Rotate This. Surprisingly, it wasn't sold out. First good news of the day. I made it to the Phoenix in plenty of time to catch openers, Dead Meadow's set. The trio, who I assumed were playing songs off their most recent CD, "Feathers" were better than I expected, although not my cup of tea. There was a sludge-rock vibe to them that reminded me a bit of Dinosaur Jr. with a hint of 60's psychedelia thrown in for good measure. I prefer my 'rock' more on the post-punk, and sometimes the garage rock side of the spectrum. Had Dead Meadow's music leaned more towards the melodicism of Dinosaur Jr at least, I'd have been more convinced. Although the the big drums/heavy bass/guitar-solo infused music of Dead Meadow was decent it's not something I'd go back to very often. Next.

Preceding Sleater's Kinney's entrance to the stage, the lights dimmed and sound effects of chirping birds emanated from the darkness, I guess in reference to the title of their new cd "The Woods". When the girls crept from the darkness of the backstage door, they were met with an enthusiastic response from the crowd. I can't be any help in the song-names department since I haven't really listened to them that much in the past[anyone have a set list? Update: Zoilus has the set list as well as a review of the show!]. The girls started off in heavy rock fashion with blistering drum fills from drummer Janet Weiss and some heavy guitar arrangements from Carrie and Corin. I'd have to assume they were songs off the most recent CD. As the set wore on, the more familiar angular guitar arrangements and melodies appeared. There was some nice guitar interplay between Carrie and Corin, Corin focusing on more complex guitar-picked arrangements, while Carrie was all about the barre chord. Meshed together it was absolutely fantastic. I can't think of anything more than Carrie's warble which defines Sleater Kinney's sound, and her vocal delivery played off Corin's urgent vocals was pretty awesome. As SHOT mentioned, the band played a lengthy jam during one of the songs, which normally isn't my thing, but was tolerable if not mesmerizing. What the set lacked in stage banter, was made up by the totally awesome musical pummelling. These girls can rock but with just the right dose of pop to make things go down easier. I'm a little disappointed that the closest thing they have to a 'hit', "You're No Rock N' Roll Fun" they DIDN'T play, but other than that misstep the set was awesome. [photos]
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If you can't get enough of Sleater Kinney, just a reminder but they'll be on Late Show With David Letterman on June 27th.

Feist will be performing a live session for Morning Becomes Eclectic tomorrow June 21st. Listen online at 11:15 am PST[2:15 pm EST].

Pitchfork reports that The White Stripes have added more tour dates, including dates that'll bring 'em to Toronto at The Molson Ampitheatre and Montreal at the Bell Centre on September 16h and 17th respectively. And just think, the last time The White Stripes played these parts was the fuckin' Hershey Centre in Mississauga.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives will be bringing their brand of psychedelic rock for a club date at the Horseshoe on July 6th, tickets $20.00, on sale tomorrow. [note: They are opening Robert Plant's show at the Molson Ampitheatre the same night and the Horseshoe gig is the afterparty.]

Britain's The Cranes will be at Lee's Palace on September 15th.

Secretly Canadian artist Scout Niblett will be returning to Toronto for a gig at the Horseshoe on August 1st. [from Pollstar]

Catbirdseat[June 20, 2005 post] has news of a couple of new Final Fantasy related 7-inches to be released in July and August. And as Catbirdseat mentioned in his June 17, 2005 post, The New Pornographers' new album has been leaked...I have the sucker sitting on my hard drive in mp3 format just begging to be listened to but I'm afraid of spoiling the impact of it's official release by listening to it now. Ah, it's killing me.

The Arcade Fire performed a fantastic version of "Rebellion(Lies)" yesterday at the Muchmusic MMVA's. Making the most of that cramped interior stage, the band was spot on musically. The sleeping marching band, lying on the ground dormant for most of the song, and rising(figuratively and literally) to the occasion towards the end was a nice touch. As the marching band marched out onto the sidewalk, the members of The Arcade Fire followed in procession with Owen and Sarah trailing behind, playing their violins as the last remnants of the song echoed over the crowd. It was such a sublime performance. Too bad most of the crowd couldn't care less. Watch the video here.