I'd been pondering all week about going to see Matt Pond PA at The Mod Club. After hearing the news of their gear being stolen recently in New York City after their show at the Bowery Ballroom, I thought maybe they'd cancel but surprisingly hadn't heard any news of any cancellatons. Actually, I probably wouldn't have gone had my ski plans not fallen through, so I dashed down to go see Matt Pond PA. Yesterday was the fourth time I've seen them and by far my favourite so far. I'd seen them previously opening for Ted Leo at The Mod Club in December 2004[review], then a headlining show at The Casbah in Hamilton in June 2005[review], and opening for Liz Phair at the Phoenix in October 2005[review].I made it down to The Mod Club just as dios(malos) were finishing up their last song. I'd already missed Wayne Petti's set, and had I known he'd be performing(originally, I believe it was suppose to be Willy Mason), I might have made it a point to show up earlier. The nice guys of dios(malos) have been lending their gear to Matt Pond PA since their gear was stolen in NYC. Matt Pond PA performed an hour-long set of teetering delicate/urgent chamber pop which were near-note-perfect renditions of their album versions. Normally, I'd find such perfection in a live setting a little redundant - why not just stay home and listen to the CD? However, what kept the set interesting for me was a set that leaned towards their up-tempo numbers, focusing squarely on Dana Feder's sharp cello arrangements, the sparkingly guitar melodies of Matt Pond and Brian Pearl, the chipper drum rhythms of Dan Crowell and the humming bass of Steve Jewett. They played alot of great songs including older ones like "Canadian Song", "The Hollows", and my personal favourite "Measure 3". Moving on to their previous album "Emblems", they performed "Closer(Look Out)", "New Hampshire", and "Last Song". Matt Pond PA performed standouts from their new album "Several Arrows Later" including the title track, "Halloween", "So Much Trouble", "The Trees And The Wild", "From Debris", "Brooklyn Stars" and "The Moviegoer".
While the crowd was in a quiet mood at the beginning of the set, the crowd gradually warmed up. Other than the prerequisite mentions of the politeness of the crowd, and the recent theft of their gear(which drew boos from the crowd), and a minimal amount of cajoling with his bandmates, Matt didn't speak much between songs except to say "here's another song". I did find the sound sort-of muddy from my vantage point near the front of the stage. I was also disappointed that other than Matt and I think Dan, the other members didn't have mics which leads me to say that while I think Dana was absolutely electrifying on cello, the only thing I miss from previous celloist Eve Miller was her pretty vocals. I could see Dana singing on several songs; too bad she didn't have a mic so that I could hear her.I think it was on "Brooklyn Stars" that Matt Pond PA put down his guitar and picked up the mic to sing, sort of like karaoke as he put it. Later on drummer Dan came out from behind the drumkit to shake the tambourine on the the minimalist-pop of "Last Song". Matt Pond thanked the good people at Gibson guitars for lending(giving?) him a guitar to use for the rest of the tour; yeah, it was an interesting colour(teal/seafoam/some sort of blue) but at least one girl in the audience thought it was 'sexy'.;- ) Lovely set all around. Can I also mention that Dana is quite the cutie. No encore unfortunately, but blame The Mod Club and their damn 10:30 pm curfew. I hope next time Matt Pond PA comes back they'll play "Grave's Disease". [photos from the show]
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