Yesterday's discovery was Jason Collett's hotness. Today's was Kidstreet's awesomeness. Kidstreet! So good! So fun! I danced!
The night started off at the Great Hall. A couple friends and I---wisely, as it turned out---arrived at about 7:30pm, a half hour before scheduled door time, and an hour before actual door time. And a good thing, too, because only a handful of pass- or wristband-holders got in after we did. (Only 30 were accepted.) Why so popular? This was an Arts & Crafts showcase featuring Timber Timbre, Dan Mangan, and Sally Seltmann, who came all the way from Australia.
Seltmann was on first, performing nice pop tunes that didn't have a huge impact on me, but that I'm sure I'd enjoy in my living room. But the Great Hall is not my living room, and that being the case, the audience wasn't really paying attention. Too bad, and damn rude, to my mind. Why come to a show just to talk through it? Why put on a show just to talk through it? Bah. The talkers didn't quiet down much during Dan Mangan, who's star has been rising since winning a bunch of money back in September. He was louder, though, and maybe his warm on-stage personality had something to do with why fewer people were talking through his set. He ended things off with a rousing rendition of "Robots," which featured a great sing-a-long. Good set; I'd like to see more. I think a show of his could well be outstanding.
Timber Timbre was clearly the night's main draw. The place was pretty packed by the time he---Taylor Kirk and his bandmates, including Mika Posen on violin and Simon Trottier behind a lap steel and synth---started playing. We were treated to a long set; it was well over an hour. The band performed a handful of songs off their fantastic self-titled album (2009), as well as a few older tunes. We got extended versions, and the arrangements were fantastic. The effect was nearly mesmerizing, certainly haunting, and only sullied by (you guessed it) a few determined talkers. Otherwise, perfect. Big cheers and a nice two-song encore.
Seeing as how TT went into the midnight hour, I had some time to kill, and slowly made my way to Sneaky Dee's, where I was looking forward to catching Kidstreet at 1am. I've heard lots of good things about this Waterloo trio, but had yet to see them play. And they were awesome! They got a record coming out soon, and I will clearly need to investigate it and them further.
I stuck around Sneaks for Times Neue Roman, and though it seemed like they had some good rhymes and tricks up their sleeves for later in the set, I bailed after 10 minutes. I wanted to show some love to Sandman Viper Command and my friends over at the Audio Blood showcase, so off I went to the El Mo. I saw most of the young Burlington band's set, and was happy I popped in to see how things were going. Neither Sneaky Dee's nor the El Mo were anywhere near capacity when I was there, but everyone seemed to be in good spirits and in a party mood. Must be what kept me awake.
Now I sleep. Tomorrow I ponder my options. Woodhands is the secret guest at Wrongbar at 1am. (Why am I telling you this!?) I must---must---be there.
6 comments:
Hm, glad I didn't try again for a limited access kind of show.
Talkers aside (they always seem to be in attendance at The Great Hall), did you notice the apparently-new sound system? I've always thought of that as a place that could be good for gigs, but it's usually let me down.
It did sound good in there. Just the talking... Arts & Crafts people needed to shut up.
Talkers at shows make me mental! We must've missed just each other at Sandman Viper Command. I was there for about 3 songs or so and I thought they were a lot of fun, but I also thought that I was going to fall down from exhaustion so I had to go to bed.
If it would have been at all appropriate/feasible, I would have gone up to each and every person talking and help up a "SHUT UP---they came from afar to play for us, you asshole" sign.
At the David Ford show on Tuesday, the crowd was quiet and respectful except for TWO girls sitting in the middle of the crowd who wouldn't stop talking to each other. Now THAT takes a lot of nerve. And stupidity. And general inconsiderate-ness!
There were times during Timber Timbre when the same thing happened... three people talking so loudly in the mid-back that I could almost make our their conversation word-for-word. And I was sitting up in the balcony on the other side of the room.
During a silent moment in a Dan Mangan song, some guy called out his friend's name. It ruined the moment. Dan Mangan's soaring vocals, split-second pause---"Chris!"---and then Dan Mangan's soaring vocals again. WTF?!
Etc. So mad.
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