Tokyo Police Club @ Mississauga Civic Square (July 24, 2009)

Tokyo Police Club, a product of the suburbs (Newmarket that is) made a return to the suburbs with their Mississauga debut this past Friday night. Actually, they were suppose to have played Mississauga's Beating Heart Festival during the summer of 2007 but had to cancel that show for reasons I never really could confirm. Although if I had to guess, it may have been due that year to the band having been caught up in a whirlwind of publicity and perhaps didn't have the time to play a measly indie music festival in Mississauga when they could be playing higher profile gigs and festivals. I almost never forgave them for cancelling that show but I'm finally glad they finally came around to play a free show for us even if it took two years.

Performing as part of the My Mississauga music series at the outdoor stage set up in Mississauga Civic Square, a mostly all-ages crowd(many who looked not even of legal drinking age) had gathered for the show. Although it seemed like a relatively small crowd, as the start of the show grew closer, the crowd numbers seemed to exponentially grow. A definite help to anyone trying to write down the set list that night, the band had an easel on stage with each page of paper showing which two songs were next in the setlist, definitely stirring the crowd's anticipation at times.

It was an energetic set with the band playing all the favourites from their album "Elephant Shell" and their EP "A Lesson In Crime" plus their cover of The Rentals' 'Friends of P. Funny how I ignored them for so long, only giving a few of their songs a cursory listen and liking them but not wanting to explore them further, but since earlier this when I uploaded "Elephant Shell" to my iPod, I swell with Canadian pride every time I listen to it. The unbridled joy of youth dwells within the spiky guitars, jittery keyboards, vibrant drums, melodic bass lines, and the occasional shout-out lyric and when they sing "you don't need to change, the future is ours" you feel it. But what ultimately reels me in with the band, as they more competently displayed that night, is the band's grasp of melody. Catchy as fuck.

Every good band needs a theme song, perhaps one that even references their own name, so when Tokyo Police Club launched into "Cheer It On"(which has the band shouting out their band's name a couple of times during the chorus) during the encore, it was like an exclamation mark to a thoroughly exhilirating evening.

Photos: Tokyo Police Club @ Mississauga Civic Square (July 24, 2009)
MySpace: Tokyo Police Club

The Mississauga News has a brief write up on the show.

Fortress

concert review: Dala @ Mississauga Library Square, July 25, 2008



Scarborough natives, Sheila Carabine and Amanda Walther, aka Dala (taking the last two letters of each of their first names) brought their breezy acoustic folk pop to Mississauga's Library Square last Friday night. Their MySpace site hints at the duo's talents (most notably their vocal harmonies) though the polished sheen of their most recent album 2007 "Who Do You Think You Are" and 2005's "Angels and Thieves" wasn't necessarily a drawing point that was consistent with my usual indie tastes. But a free show in my hometown and nothing planned that night eventually drew me out to the show. I'd checked out shows at the Square in the past (like past years' Beating Heart concert series) only to be turned off by the all-ages (primarily teen) vibe of the events. Dala, on the other hand, drew a bit more of a varied audience, from seniors, to couples, families and others. A relatively small turnout considering the size of the Square, but thems the breaks when you're relatively unknown. I find it a bit surprising they haven't yet broke into the mainstream when they have several things working for them - talent (most notably vocally), an accessible (somewhat polished) sound, they're attractive, and they have a major label (Universal) behind them having released their last two albums. They've been gaining experience having done (and continuing to do) the folk-festival circuit and having completed opening slots for Tom Cochrane and Matthew Good most recently.

Though their MySpace presents the girls' music as performed with a band, they're apparently more likely to perform live as a duo as they did this time. Playing two set, they performed a mixture of covers (like Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now' and a medley of Buffalo Springfield's 'For What It's Worth' and Rolling Stones' 'You Can't Always Get What You Want') and polished acoustic folk-pop originals. Though there was a safeness, sometimes wide-eyed innocence, to songs they performed like '20 Something' off of "Angels and Thieves" or 'Marilyn Monroe' off of "Who Do You Think You Are" they did also display a knack for introspective, melancholy with tunes like 'Fortress' (which most recently was featured in a scene in the pilot episode of television show "Flashpoint"), 'Hockey Sweater', and 'Sunday Dress'. I could have done without the cover songs for the most part - during their encore, I wasn't particularly feeling their jazzy accappella version of 'Hit The Road Jack' which segued back and forth with '(You Give Me) Fever' which they did an admirable job vocally though I'm not really fan of those songs). However, if one cover song counted it was their version of Neil Young's 'Ohio' (a version of which they contributed to the tribute album "Borrowed Tunes II: A Tribute To Neil Young") which they performed with just electric piano, acoustic guitar and their vocals. Overall, the gals definitely have things working for them, most notably their great vocal harmonies, and as displayed during their live set, charming and humorous banter. With a little musical fine-tuning (a little less polish, more lyrical abstraction) they could definitely be essentials on the music scene.

Photos: Dala @ Mississauga Library Square (July 25, 2008)

MySpace: Dala