With the multiple number of shows that Jenn Grant performed in Toronto last week, with her band The Night Painters as well as a few solo shows, I was at the very least disappointed not to have caught her band performance at The Drake Hotel on December 12. Chromewaves did make it to the show though and has some fine photos of the event as usual. Unfortunately, I'd made up my mind that I needed to see The Lemonheads at Lee's Palace that night, because God knows if and when they'll be back...I'm glad I went though. Fortunately, the next evening(December 13) I did catch Jenn Grant and The Night Painters at the even-cozier-than-The-Drake The Casbah in Hamilton, ON. I'd try to time my arrival for Jenn's scheduled 10:30 pm set and had got there about a quarter after 10 pm but unfortunately it was a little off schedule. So I'd had the unfortunate experience of having to stand through The Grizzly Madams' set - although they were technically proficient, their jam-band/funk/rock/novelty-act music just wasn't my thing.
It was a real pleasure to see Jenn Grant perform. Stepping up from the trio she performed as the last time she was at The Casbah in May 2006, this time around she had a four-member band, dubbed The Night Painters, along with her. Her bassist Sean stepped up to the mic most of the night to provide nice backup vocals, most notably when the other Night Painters left the stage for one song as Jenn and Sean performed as a duo. I also really enjoyed the addition of violin to the music-fold from the only other female member of the group. With the recent release of a CDr single featuring new songs "Dreamer" and "Britt n' Kip" which will be featured on Jenn's upcoming album "Orchestra for the Moon", it was great to hear these songs live, particulary "Dreamer" as the song segues into the chorus' repetition of "Dreamer" against an infectious rhythmic backbeat and melody. Jenn also played several cuts from her first independent EP including a vibrant version of the bouncy "Don't Worry Baby". Jenn exuded a down-home charm which was really refreshing even making reference to Toronto and how she'd didn't get the streetcars and how the city was too much for her and how much more she fit in with the more modest city of Hamilton, which probably had to do at least in part with some friends/family(?) members being in the audience. It was great to see Jenn perform in such an intimate setting - the venue wasn't packed in the least - but I think this is only the start towards bigger things.
Here are some photos from the show.
MySpace: Jenn Grant
bonus media: Radio Session - Trish Turliuk - September 6, 2006 (featuring acoustic versions of new songs "Dancing In The Wind", "Rainy Day", and "In A Brown House")
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