British Sea Power, A Classic Education @ Lee's Palace, Toronto (March 24, 2011)

  British Sea Power: photo by Michael Ligon

Not counting Canadian Musicfest, last week's British Sea Power show at Lee's Palace was just my second real concert of the year. Off to a slow start you might say, but quality over quantity, my friends. The last time British Sea Power played Toronto was in May 2008 when they played Lee's Palace in celebration of their then-new disc Do You Like Rock Music? and in the same fashion the band were again back in Toronto to promote their new record Valhalla Dancehall.

Openers for the night were a band from Bologna, Italy called A Classic Education. This was a band I'd seen briefly during CMJ in New York City this past October but even given my brief encouter with the band I'd already been impressed with the band's music. It was a real treat to see the band live again given how much I already liked them. A random patron shouted out "Welcome back to Canada" alluding to the fact that the band's vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Jonathan Clancy is from here - in fact, Clancy revealed this was their first time playing in Toronto, and he also mentioned that he used to go to school at a school on Lawrence Ave. The 5-member lineup in addition to Clancy on vocals/guitar included a girl on keyboards, and gentlemen on lead guitar, bass and drums. Given Clancy's Canadian roots, there is indeed something distinctly European about the band's approach to pop music - the band do possess a certain level of pop sophistication that I just don't hear in most North American indie acts. Clancy's swooning vocals and the band's lead guitarist melodic guitar lines are by far the best elements of the band's sound, but the songs themselves are indeed wonderfully crafted pop tunes, drenched in a bit of reverb and sounding every bit as classic as the word classic in their band name alludes to. Songs such as the summery "Gone To Sea" and especially "What My Life Could Have Been" are some of the most fantastic pop songs I've heard in recent memory, and on that alone I recommend them highly. To show a raunchier more playful side, the band also played a cover(L'il Red Riding Hood?) of a song by 1960's Tex-Mex rock 'n' roll band Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. Delightful.

As with every other visit to Toronto by British Sea Power, introducing them to the audience was Toronto resident, British ex-pat, and the terminably ageless Kayvon who in his hyper-kinetic talk rambling non-sensically, integrating references to the band's albums then introducing the band on to the stage. For this show, the band was less chaotic and whimiscal overall than on previous visits, but the band was as musically as satisfying as ever through a main set and even breaking tradition with no encore and playing not one, but two encores. Even with a new album to promote, there was quite an equitable representation of all the band's four albums (Valhalla Dancehall, Do You Like Rock Music?, Open Season, The Decline of British Sea Power) and also a smattering of songs from some of their EP's. For a Thursday night it was a healthy crowd, but given that Lee's Palace has been their resident venue every time they've come to Toronto, and that this show wasn't sold out, one wonders what's preventing them from reaching the next level. Musically their urgent, slightly orchestral pop-rock is as exhilirating as ever, and while some of the band's earlier material is a bit more eccentric, much of their more recent material is exciting yet accessible.

Breaking the tradition of no encores, the band played not one but two encores, the first encore including their stupendous single "Waving Flags" and the instrumental interlude "The Great Skua", plus a few others and then coming back surprisingly on the enthusiastic prompting of our host Kayvon to play the eccentric, garage-rock of "Apologies To Insect Life". During this last song lead singer Yan had picked up Kayvon and plopped him onto his shoulders for most of the song before dumping him into the front rows of the crowd on the floor. At this point even, other Wilkinson brother Hamilton (who Yan had mentioned had lost his voice) was even making attempts to do some back-up vocals. Multri-instrumentalist Phil Sumner was quietly impressive throughout the night playing a range of instruments including guitar, horns and keyboards while, drummer Wood and violinist Abi Fry provided consistently augmentation to the band's sound. Guitarist Hamilton was perhaps the most energetic onstage with his guitar playing and at the conclusion of the second encore, after the rest of the band left, fell over into the audience for a bit of body surfing. It was a great show overall that will hopefully increase the client's fanbase in Toronto and if that means playing a bigger venue, I will totally be okay with that. Really.

Photos: British Sea Power, A Classic Education @ Lee's Palace, Toronto (March 24, 2011)
MySpace: A Classic Education
MySpace: British Sea Power

Do You Like Rock Music?!

concert review: British Sea Power, The Rosebuds @ Lee's Palace (Toronto, Ontario), May 16, 2008



I started off my evening with Raleigh, NC's indie pop-rock trio The Rosebuds. (For an account on first opener Jeffrey Lewis, check out It's Not The Band I Hate ...). Not much has changed musically since I saw them in July 2005 at The Mod Club opening for Teenage Fanclub. They're an amiable bunch with their sunny pop melodies, girl-boy vocals and just enough ooomph in the instrumentation(electric & acoustic guitars, drums, and keyboards) to keep the twee to a minimum - over time I really think I could get into them. That said, their set was more a pleasant rather than exhilirating experience for me, although the opposite was true for that one vocal male fan in the audience who yelled out a request and which the band later did perform and dedicate to him to his delight.

2005 was also the last time I saw British Sea Power live when they played a frenetic live set in May of that year, also at Lee's Palace. As with that show in 2005, local Toronto anglophile/eccentric Kayvon was on hand again(handpicked by the band themselves apparently) to introduce British Sea Power to the excited crowd(and really 3 years is way too long of a wait!). The 6-member strong group took the stage holding in their hands leaf-adorned tree branches(presumably from the neighbourhood) which they proceeded to decorate the stage with. Yes, they did this last time they were in Toronto but I haven't tired of it yet. With a set heavily focused on the new disc "Do You Like Rock Music?", with several from their debut "The Decline of British Sea Power" and only one(unfortunately) from their second album "Open Season", the band's urgent melodic rock songs swelled with the mix of the energetically performed guitars, drums, keys, viola, cornet and Yan's(or sometimes Hamilton's) vocals. The physical antics(eg. shoulder-carrying of members) of the band were kept to a minimum this time around except for a moment when guitarist Noble lifted Kay-Von(who had a camcorder on hand) and carried him off stage to the side of the club for a moment as Kayvon continued to shoot. Shooting footage for a DVD perhaps? I don't know. Bass guitarist/occassional vocalist Hamilton was an interesting subject to watch for most of the night - wearing a loose sleeveless top(which in all honesty I think was a women's top, though showing off his muscular biceps) he gave off this eccentric weirdo vibe, with facial expressions that alternated between vacant gazes toward the audience and pained expressions of energy. Energy spent by the end of the more than hour long set and drenched in sweat, Hamilton and the band continued their tradition of no encores, and left the stage with the audience wanting more although thoroughly satisfied with what we'd already got. Overall, their set ranks as one of the most exhilirating I've seen this year.

Photos to come. Update: Photos over at my Flickr. In the meantime, check out reviews/photos of the show over at It's Not The Band I Hate... and The Panic Manual.

MySpace: The Rosebuds
MySpace: British Sea Power

Record Store Day

On a glorious sunny day yesterday, I 'celebrated' Record Store Day down at Soundscapes who were offering 10 % off most of their inventory. Going a little old school & new school, after a little deliberation I picked up The Modern Lovers' self-titled 1976 released album and British Sea Power's most recent disc "Do You Like Rock Music?".

British Sea Power will make their way back to Toronto for a show at Lee's Palace on May 16 while The Modern Lovers' Jonathan Richman only has a handful of US/Canadian dates on his itinerary(including a date at the Sled Island Festival in Calgary at the end of June) but unfortunately none in Toronto. The last time he played in Toronto he played three nights at Lula Lounge in 2004, one of the nights which I went to, so it's not like he's adverse to playing here I guess. C'mon Jojo, put Toronto on the sched.

Youtube: The Modern Lovers - "Roadrunner"
Youtube: British Sea Power - "Waving Flags" (music video)
Youtube: British Sea Power - "No Lucifer" (music video)

ps. Speaking of Soundscapes, Toronto's Born Ruffians will be performing for an instore on Sunday April 27 at 4 pm.

The Coast Is Clear

In celebration of their debut album "Expatriate" set to be released through Aporia Records on April 1, Toronto's The Coast are lining up tour dates as we speak - a lot dates are up at their MySpace right now. A Toronto date has been confirmed for April 18 when the band will play a CD release show at Horseshoe Tavern with The Wooden Sky, The Ghost Is Dancing and NYC's Mixel Pixel. The preceding day(April 17), they'll be performing a few songs live for MTV Live - to be part of the studio audience call 1-888-491-6888, or email liveaudience@mtv.ca. From a press release I've read, the band's new album's a bit of departure from their atmospheric, shimmering pop-rock sound, a few songs of which I got a taste of when they played NXNE in 2007 - I remember the songs not being as immediate as their self-titled debut EP's material but I hope in the least the new songs are growers.

Chartattack speaks to New Jersey native Nicole Atkins about her hometown-named debut album "Neptune City". She and her band The Sea perform their Toronto debut headlining gig at Lee's Palace this Sunday.

Prior to their show at Kool Haus this coming Monday February 18, Celtic-punkers Flogging Molly will be at Sonic Boom Records earlier that day for a free instore performance and autograph session - autographs at 3 pm and the performance at 4 pm. Via Stille Post.

I thought it strange when I didn't see a Toronto date for Kanye West's upcoming "Glow In The Dark " tour reported by Pitchfork a few days ago, but as Pitchfork subsequently reports more dates have been added putting to the rest all the "WTF, where's the 'insert city name here' date?" questions. Kanye's "Glow In The Dark Tour" featuring himself as well as N.E.R.D., Rihanna, and Lupe Fiasco will hit Toronto on May 21 for a show at Molson Ampitheatre.

Some more quick show news: The Roots are back in Toronto for a show at Kool Haus on March 30 - tickets on sale February 18. As already reported by others, British Sea Power(in celebration of their recently released new album "Do You Like Rock Music?") with openers The Rosebuds hit Lee's Palace on May 16. Funk soul brother Jamie Lidell is at The Mod Club on June 5.