finally, the long-promised show reviews

I have to say, this was a completely mind-blowing weekend - how often does one get to experience so much good music in a row? What follows is my attempt to convey the sheer awesomeness of it all, a task almost instantly doomed to failure. But here goes anyway:

Saturday, May 12: Mando Diao/Pop Levi/The Films at the Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto

First up was The Films. For an American band, they have a very Brit vibe to them, all jangly rock which one wouldn’t be worng to say has a certain Ferdinandian Mokeys quiality to it. That said, it’s not bad, and rather well put together. As for their performance, they did well in the thankless slot of First Opening Band. And apparently their lead singer is possessed of an innate and undeniable charisma, as during the first song, when he chided the audience to come up close and fill the vacant front-of-stage floor area, they actually did, and in droves. Now that’s a rock star.

Pop Levi came next. They came out and began with an extended intro to the new album opener, “Sugar Assault Me Now.” It was kind of a cool idea, but after a couple of minutes, it felt like time for the song to actually begin. The band were on, and sounded pretty much just like on disc, which could be good or bad depending on one’s outlook. The upshot was the almost parodic point after the first song where Levi kept asking the sound guy for more reverb on the vocals. “More reverb. Mo-orrre reeverbbb. Mooorrre rrreevveeerrbb.” Still, good fun.

Then Mando Diao came out, and everyone in the place met their new favourite band. From the first note it was all systems go!, and the band didn’t pause for a second. The band was giving everything, were blood-brother tight, and energetic like an ADD-addled ten year old on a sugar buzz. And the audience was giving back as good as they got, waving hands, dancing, totally into it. It was one of those perfect rock and roll moments that you wish could happen at every show.

Sunday, May 13: Lisa Gerrard at the Danforth Music Hall, Toronto
A better writer could give you all kinds of details about the show: the intimacy of the venue (roughly 1,100 person capacity), the minimal stage set up (white cloth draped in the back, piano and keyboard behind Lisa), or technical details about the performance (her range, pitch control, etc.). And I’m sure if you do a search, you’ll find that better review (and if you do, send a link). However, all I can say is this: I’ve only been to two shows that have had an almost transcendant quality to them, where the music just took over. This was the second (the first, in case you’re wondering, was Diamanda Galas in a church somewhere in Canada). Her voice was amazing, and however good it sounds on disc, whatever effect it has, that’s nothing compared to the live experience. I’ll spare any more cliches, suffice it to say if you ever get the chance to see her, run don’t walk to it.

Monday, May 14: Morrissey at the Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor

Say what you will about Mozzer, but the man can put on a show. The set was a decent mix of new and old, peppered with some classic Smiths tracks (opening with “The Queen is Dead” is a recipe for success). The band was on, his voice was great, and he threw not one but two shirts into the crowd. For the most part, the idea of being fifteen again holds no appeal whatsoever, but in this case, it was perfect.

(For a real, properly written review, here is a recap of his performance in Milwaukee (and it even has a picture of Steven sans shirt). It features the exact same set list, so there you go.

(And you can see a photo from the show here, which is much better than one taken from a camera phone in front of the stage.