With it being a Sunday night and an early show at that, Pony da Look and The Hidden Cameras aren't usually the suspects that'd come to mind who'd be playing at such a time. On one hand, you have the dark sexy synths, sinister rhythms and shrill vocals of Pony da Look. On the other hand, although The Hidden Cameras are sometimes very pleasant-sounding (a la Belle and Sebastian), their live shows have been an entirely different animal, full of homo-erotic imagery, and also exuding tonnes of punk-ish energy. Both bands put on admirable sets but they(and The Hidden Cameras in particular) were definitely more toned down than usual. I say 'toned down' but only slightly less than usual. If The Hidden Cameras were toned down it was only because of the restrictiveness of the space than anything else. The only other time I've seen The Hidden Cameras live was last summer at Harboufront Centre which featured a small army of band members, dancers and a 'choir' on the large stage there. The Phoenix stage is alot smaller and set the tone for a slightly more 'subdued' set. Pony Da Look occupy a particular brand of music that I really need to be in the mood to hear. Not that being a bunch of attractive young ladies(their frontwoman in particular) doesn't help, but still their darky, synth-y, new wave tunes can be hard to swallow at times. Yesterday, I found myself enjoying more them than when I'd seen them for the first time at the 2003 Pop Montreal festival. The creeping, stilted melodies and even frontwoman Amy Bowles' sometimes over-the-top vocals started to make sense. In CD format, they're definitely mood music for a pop fan such as myself. I think they're a band that needs to be enjoyed live, especially to see Amy Bowles and all her frontwoman-ess glory. She exuded alot of energy yesterday, with alot of hip and leg-shaking and robotic arm movements and when she shrieked the word "Fear!" during one song, it was absolutley piercing.
Forgive me if I'm not as familiar with The Hidden Cameras' catalogue as I should be. The only disc of theirs I owned previously was "Mississauga Goddam" so I found myself not knowing about half of the songs they were performing yesterday. Even so, everything was quite infectious. The set seemed to be an equal balance between quieter, folky, Belle and Sebastian-like, pop concoctions and, equally pop, but substantially more energetic rave-ups. For every lovely pop song like "Mississauga Goddam" there was a cooker like "B-Boy" or a punchy audience sing-a-long like "I Want Another Enema". I was a little surprised they didn't have masked dancers this time around, especially since there were two stage platforms on both sides of the stage which I figured were for dancers. Not that I was disappointed, but I always found the masked dancers a little distracting anyway. On a related note, there was a general absence of homo-erotic imagery this time around. Again I wasn't disappointed, and the night seemed to be all about the music and energy and less about gimmickery and shock value. The 'choir', the group of guys and gals singing and dancing along to The Hidden Cameras songs, were unfortunately shoved towards the back of the left hand side of the stage, behind the string section, so it was a little difficult to see them. Had the 'choir' been more front and centre, or at least on the right hand side of the stage near the keyboard setup where there seemed to be more room, it'd be better in my opinion. BTW, I loved the string section. I think they added so much dimension to the music. Drummer Lex Vaughan was very spunky shifting between the drums and other percussive instruments. With keyboardist Maggie Macdonald(of Republic of Safety) and Mr. Gentlemen Reg experiencing recent successes with their own projects it's nice to see them on stage with the 'Cameras still giving their 100 %. A surprise of the evening was when The Organ's vocalist Katie Sketch joined the group on one song to add her distinctive vocals[Sorry, I can't remember what song it was. Anyone?]. If the 'Cameras two encores were planned, I was so glad they pulled out "I Believe In The Good of Life" during the second encore. I was thinking after the first encore that a Hidden Cameras gig isn't one unless they played it and then for their final song of the second encore, they finally pulled it out(there's a joke there somewhere, 'natch). Perfect ending to an incredible night. And a Sunday night, no less. If it weren't quite a packed crowd as it could have been, the faithful were rewarded with a great set of "beautiful music". [more photos from the show]
As an aside, Sloan 's Chris Murphy was working the merch table yesterday . I think he was specifically looking after Pony Da Look's merch since he's friends with the band. I thought I also saw Andrew Scott but I didn't get a good enough look so I'm not sure.
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Neko Case and Her Boyfriends will be performing a live session for MPR 89.3 The Current tomorrow[June 7th].
Aversion speaks with Of Montreal. As I've already mentioned, they'll be back in these parts in Toronto and Hamilton on August 29th and 30th respectively.
The Dears 'get happy' on their new album which is scheduled for release in 2006. Says frontman Murray Lightburn, "This next album is more about love than any record we've ever made and if anybody wants to crap on that, then they are just crapping on love and I think that's really sad." [via Billboard]
Also from Billboard, Bloodshot Records are turning 10 and will celebrate with the release of a 2-disc compilation tentatively titled "For a Decade of Sin" which is due in October and'll feature mostly unreleased and newly recorded material from all of the usual Bloodshot suspects.
Soul Shine Magazine reports that touring machine controller.controller continue the trek with a slew of Southern Ontario dates beginning at the end of June, before hitting their first US date in Washington, DC, on July 14th. They'll be in Hamilton, ON at The Underground on June 24th and in Toronto on July 2nd at Sneaky Dee's and July 20th at Lee's Palace. VHS or Beta will be opening the Lee's show and controller.controller will be one of the openers for ARI-UP (The Slits) & The True Warriors at the Sneaky Dee's show.
The Hamilton Record Show yesterday wasn't a total loss. The prices weren't as low as I was hoping for at many of the booths even for the same old crappy records you'd find at some flea markets. Of course, the good stuff(some of the late 70's punk and early 80's post punk stuff) was priced out of the range I set for myself($5 and under). I did manage to find a couple of gems for $2 each, including Everything But The Girl's "Come On Home" EP and Katrina and The Waves' debut LP "Walking On Sunshine"(not to be confused with their self-titled 1985 LP which contained rerecorded versions of some of the songs). I also picked up a Wilco pin featuring the artwork from "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot". Overall, I didn't find it that enjoyable. Too many records to go through and not enough bargains. If you're willing to spend a little money, yes you'll find some interesting stuff. But if I see another worn-out copy of "Hotel California", someone's gonna get a beating.
So I decided to use my time today on my day off from work to finally finish my taxes. Hello refund, come into my life.
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