Alone At The Microphone

concert review: Three Gut Records 5th Anniversay afternoon show @ Club Tranzac(Toronto, Ontario), August 20, 2005

I just have to say that the afternoon Three Gut Records 5th anniversary show at Club Tranzac was pretty sweet. Nothing like rocking out in the afternoon. Well, actually it was a pretty loose, casual affair. The show took place at Club Tranzac in Toronto which is located just off Bloor St. on Brunswick Ave. in the vicinity of Lee's Palace. It was my first time going there and it was a pretty decent venue. The show started at 2 pm but by the time I got there it was about 35 minutes into the show. Apparently, Nathan Lawr had performed. Too bad I missed it because I was interested in hearing his music after having heard a couple of Sea Snakes songs.

I walked in while The Constantines Steve Lambke was performing solo with an acoustic guitar onstage. It was pretty mellow folky stuff and there was an off-the-cuff feel to the performance. Fellow Cons member, Dallas WehrleWhil Kidman joined in to add some subtle bass guitar noodling. DallasWhil then took his own turn onstage, and picked up the guitar for his own brief set of acoustic Elliot Smith-sounding tunage. I was really impressed actually. If Steve's set was off-the-cuff, then Dallas'Whil's was downright ramshackle, as his whispered voice strained for a barely attainable falsetto, and songs came to abrupt endings. Such circumstances made for a charming set and the strength of the songs was what shone through.

If I remember correctly, I think it was Gentleman Reg next. Reg started off his set performing with a bassist only, but then the rest of the band, including Royal City's Simon Osborne, came onto the stage to perform the balance of the set of intelligent pop music. Good stuff - I need to check their music out.

Next up were Pat and Rachel of Oakley Hall who were actually unknown to me at the time. I only found out after the fact who they were from reading cmedley's account of the show. They performed a brief but good set of country-ish songs on acoustic guitars with vocal harmonizing, highlighted by their country-ish turn on The Cons' "Young Lions" which they had preceded with a "challenge" to the audience to guess what song they were playing. Uh, yeah it was really difficult. ;-) Considering I didn't know who they were beforehand, they impressed me right away with the lovely vocal harmonizing, Pat with his country-ish drawl, and Rachel with her lovely higher-pitched vocals.

Next up, Bry Webb of The Cons played an all-too brief two song set of rustic acoustic tunes. It was definitely a sharp contrast to seeing him as The Cons' frontman.

Finally, Jim Guthrie finished off the afternoon with a full band to perform his set of articulate and inspired pop music. In between songs he took on the task of thanking everyone involved with the show that afternoon; and he did it in an alliteral fashion, such as when he said "Reg was Righteous"; you get the picture. Later on in the set, I believe during "Turn Musician", Jim prompted his friend Vish to come onto stage to take a turn on the mic for some rapping, which Vish then preceded to bust out some "hockey rhymes" until he exhausted his lyrical arsenal and got off the stage to an appreciative crowd response.

It was a memorable afternoon for sure. No corny speeches but there was birthday cake, and it was delicious!

So to Three Gut, thanks for the music.[I only have some photos of Jim Guthrie's set, but cmedley has more.]