Since the beginning of the year, I've been excited about UK band The Guillemots based only on two singles: the horn-drenched Brit-soul of "Trains of Brazil" and the pure pop of "Made Up Love Song #43". They released their debut EP "From The Cliffs" in Canada this past Tuesday, and though I haven't had a chance to fully absorb it, I had a good sampling of their music yesterday evening when they made their live Canadian debut at the Horseshoe Tavern. With the blog-love picking up for the band recently, I was thinking the show would sell out, but for a Wednesday night, maybe I was being a little too optimistic. Not close to a sell out and a lot more elbow room than I thought, but I think there were enough people for Guillemots live Canadian debut that it wasn't a total embarassment(for both the band and Toronto music fans).Inconspicously, the 4 members of Guillemots marched towards the stage from within the crowd[I was standing right at the front of the stage], and from what I recall, were playing a variety of toy instruments. Band members Fyfe Dangerfield(vocals/keyboards) in striped shirt and tie, MC Lord Magrao(guitar) in a t-shirt and jeans, Aristazabal Hawkes(double bass) in a totally sexy sleevless long black dress and boots, and Rican Caol(drummer/percussion) in a blue gown sure looked like a motley bunch and their music really reflected it. Musically stylistically different from the getgo, it was somewhat exhausting. From the brit-soul and pure pop of the two singles mentioned above respectively, the band also made strides into pub-rock with rhythmic[ie drums and stand up bass] influences that sounded a little jazzy or hip hop at times. Lead singer Fyfe took a moment, while the rest of the band left the stage, to perform solo an innocent little love song with just his vocals and his ever so slight melodies of the portable keyboard which he cradled in his arm. It was one of the best moments of the evening, as a hush fell over the crowd as Fyfe sang that song. The gentlemen of the band were definitely the more maniacal of the bunch, each rocking out on their respective instruments, while Aristazabal, the lone female, was a little more reserved, not that stopped her from grooving with her stand-up bass when she came to a wicked bass line.
Really, the only disappointment, and it's actually a biggie, is that I didn't find myself as enamoured with ALL their music as I hoped I would be. The two singles I mentioned above were still the highlights for me, especially "Trains of Brazil" which substituted the song's horn section with Fyfe and especially Aristazabal, exhuberantly mimicing those sounds. Hmmm, Aristazabal looked and sounded amazing especially. The band definitely picked up momentum during the second half of the set, so while the first half of the set seemed to drag a bit, the second half was much more satisfying. Not the mindblowing experience I was hoping(and I blame part of that on the show not being sold out), but it was a more than decent Toronto debut.
Addendum: Forgot to mention that the guitarist at one point used a power drill to create some weird noises with his guitar. I'm all for experimentation, but it was a little too gimmicky for my tastes. Also, I missed openers, The Outfit. How were they?
[my photos from the show]
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