[...music...]

2013-03-19

shows of 2011

yes, i'm still alive, even though this blog has been dead for a while.

i'll start the update by listing the shows attended during the remainder of 2011.

sept. 21 - [popmontreal] arcade fire @ metropolis

grimes was the opening act:

arcade fire on stage:

i purchased grimes' "halfaxa":

sept. 22 - [popmontreal] arcade fire @ place des festival

kid koala played his set dressed in a koala costume. cute!

karkwa was the other polaris-prize-winning act on the bill.

arcade fire played a free show; a zillion people attended.

sept. 23 - [popmontreal] the planet smashers @ club soda

a ska/punk night! east end radicals, the fundamentals, and the creepshow were the opening acts.

the planet smashers were a lot of fun, as always.

i purchased their "life of the party":

oct. 6 - explosions in the sky @ metropolis

opening act was wye oak:

explosions in the sky:

setlist here.

~~~

Labels: arcade fire, cd purchase, club soda, east end radicals, explosions in the sky, grimes, karkwa, kid koala, metropolis, popmontreal, shows, the creepshow, the fundamentals, the planet smashers, wye oak

2011-03-08

yann tiersen @ metropolis

i had not planned on seeing the yann tiersen show that was part of the high lights festival, but i realized that it was during my midterm break, and i needed something fun to do. the show was on monday, two weeks ago.

the opening act was breathe owl breathe, a quirky indie band. half the set felt like a story-telling period, with the singer acting out the lyrics of the songs. it was alright.

yann tiersen's set was nice. a quiet evening for me.

when tiersen started speaking english in between songs, the crowd reacted by yelling "en français! on est au québec!". of course.

he and his band played all the songs from the most recent "dust lane", including the title track, which is my favourite on that release. i'm glad someone posted a video online:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdaVWSS6YuY
(the audio quality is not too bad.)

when he played "sur le fil" on solo violin, it was the highlight of the show, for me. that song is pretty amazing in a live setting.

setlist (as posted on stage):
count down
dust lane
dark stuff
kala
amy
till the end
the wire
the train
ashes
chapter 19
palestine
fuck me

encore:
best of times (the trial)
le quartier
amélie

it doesn't seem complete, since "sur le fil" doesn't appear. or did they translate it as "the wire" on their setlist? seems strange...

the end of the show was perfect, with a re-worked version of "la valse d'amélie poulain". i left feeling all happy inside.

~~~

Labels: breathe owl breathe, metropolis, shows, yann tiersen

2011-02-15

underoath + thursday @ metropolis

about a month or two ago, i saw the show listing for underoath playing at the metropolis, with thursday as one of the guests, but i did not plan on going to the show for an opening band. then, two weeks ago, i noticed the finer print on the tour poster indicating that thursday were playing "full collapse" in its entirety in celebration of its tenth anniversary. this is one of my favourite albums of all time, so there was no way i'd miss this.

i went to the show last night. it was immediately apparent that this was not my scene. while waiting in line before the show, people around me were young, and talking about all these bands i'd never heard of, but sound like emo/screamo/hardcore stuff, judging by the band names.

first openers were animals as leaders. wow. a math-y instrumental prog band, without the wankery. they played eight-string guitars, showing off technique. at one point, guitarist tosin abasi played on the neck of the instrument, and it sounded like keyboards; cool effect. as a new listener, it was slightly hard to follow, with all the mid-song switching and unusual time signatures. to me, they sounded like a heavier version of all the post-rock stuff i listen to, so i really enjoyed this set.

next band was a skylit drive. ugh, a skinny-white-boy band, with more style than substance. they were like a boy band (there was the blonde, the dirty blonde, the redhead, the light brunette, the dark brunette, and the dyed black-haired crazy one), with their carefully slashed jeans, the perfectly rehearsed posturing and synchronized jumping. i wondered who their target audience was. oh right, the 14-year-old girls standing behind me who sang along to all the songs. i definitely felt too old for that.

then, it was thursday. their show about a year ago at the foufs was pretty good, so i was really excited to hear "full collapse" played live. it turned out slightly disappointing; i must have been standing at a bad spot for sound, because the vocals were completely drowned out. the energy level was high, and the band really gave their all on stage, but i did not hear any of the vocals. the guy standing next to me made fun of the fact that we saw rickly's lips move, but with no sound. damn.

at least, i heard when he introduced "standing on the edge of summer" as "easy listening". well, i guess it qualifies; it is the "ballad" of the album.

after playing "full collapse", they played a new song, "turnpike divides", from the upcoming album. hard to judge if it sounded good. even though i'm not a super big thursday fan, i always find a couple of songs to like on each album, so i'll probably end up getting the new one.

i stuck around to hear what underoath is about. their sound was meh, and their lights were blinding me. i left after the second song.

~~~

Labels: a skylit drive, animals as leaders, metropolis, shows, thursday, underoath

2011-02-01

robyn @ metropolis

last thursday, i went to the robyn show with my cousins. turns out she has a good following here: the show was sold out, and i heard the scalpers were trying to sell tickets for $60 (originally $27).

the first act was natalia kills. i had seen shows with circus acts before (dresden dolls, emilie autumn, devotchka), but i think this was my first time seeing backup dancers:

this was perhaps the shortest set i've seen. she performed four songs, where the fourth was actually a dance version of the first. sure her songs are catchy at first listen, but not my kind of thing.

next act was diamond rings. i had seen him open for owen pallett last year, and was pleasantly surprised. this time, i was looking forward to his set. his outfit this time: fuchsia jacket, pink tank top, gold chains, and gold leggings. so glam.

almost all the songs he played were from his album "special affections", so i recognized them. he punctuated his set with fist pumps and skinny-white-boy dance moves. so kitsch.

finally, robyn appeared on stage, with a band consisting of two keyboard players and a drummer. her outfit: black bomber jacket, stringy white vest, black top, floral print leggings, platform ankle boots.

wow, she was so full of energy, dancing a lot, all over the stage.

she performed all her hits from the self-titled and "body talk" albums. the crowd was really into it. she kept it electro-pop, closely like the album version, so it was like one big dance party. i had a lot of fun: dancing and singing along, generally acting silly. eh, who cares.

for her first encore, she did a mellow version of "u should know better", without the snoop dogg parts, followed by more badassery with "konichiwa bitches".

she ended the set with a "dancing queen" medley that transitioned into her classic 1997 hit "show me love", re-worked for 2011, of course.

setlist posted here.

even though this was my first show of 2011, i think it will be one of my favourite for the year.

~~~

Labels: diamond rings, metropolis, natalia kills, robyn, shows

2010-12-26

broken social scene @ metropolis

for my birthday, roxanne gave me a ticket to see broken social scene at metropolis. the show was last saturday the 18th. we got good spots, front and centre, yay!

roxanne has already blogged all about it. i don't have much else to add.

openers were here we go magic:

broken social scene:

my favourite part was when they played "kc accidental". it's too bad they played it so early into their set; i wasn't even warmed up yet.

i've realized that this is a band i love so much more in a live setting. their albums are kind of meh. in concert, they have so much more energy. singer kevin drew has a cult leader-ish charm to him. during "ibi", he mentioned that a rage against the machine tribute band was in town, and that "we can do better than them", so he had us all shout the lyrics "fuck you, i won't do what you tell me" in increasing intensity.

i found this video of "anthems", with guest amy millan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz3HqbRzXd4

~~~

Labels: broken social scene, here we go magic, metropolis, shows

2010-05-02

gogol bordello + devotchka @ metropolis

ayoye, i've fallen behind on my blogging. this entry will be brief.

on april 18, i went to the gogol bordello show with roxanne and fil. devotchka was one of the openers. this was the line-up we'd been dreaming of. we got our tickets on the day they went on sale, more than two months before the show.

we got a spot in the front, right at the barrier. the first opener was jesse malin & the st. marks social. it was typical rock, with hints of folk/punk, i guess. they had a couple of catchy songs.

the next openers were devotchka. i'd been wanting to see them play ever since roxanne introduced their music to me, via a mix cd, some years ago. their live show was really good. the singer had an old-fashion microphone. for one of their songs, they had an aerial silk performer. so cool!

they played my favourite song "how it ends" so i was happy. i tried to steathily capture a video before the security dude stepped into my camera's field of view, ruining the shot as he gave me the bad eye...

devotchka setlist:
basso profundo
venus in furs
the clockwise witness
head honcho
i cried like a silly boy
vengo (manya)
we're leaving
how it ends
poland
international
the enemy guns

finally, gogol bordello were on stage. i managed to snap a few pictures before it got too crazy.

and oh my, it was pretty crazy. it was so packed. the whole time, there was someone on my back; in any other context, it would have been some form of sexual harrassment. for most of the time, i was thinking "i'm getting too old for this...". i spent more energy trying to push people off my back than trying to enjoy the music.

i only recognized the few songs from "underdog world strike", such as "not a crime" and "start wearing purple". i guess most of the set were songs from the new album.

there are some videos on youtube.

~~~

cd purchases: i got the devotchka albums that i was missing, "supermelodrama" and "una volta".

hearing damage: yeah, my ears were ringing. my arms and knees were also bruised from being constantly pushed against the metal barrier. ugh; i'm too old for this shit.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, devotchka, gogol bordello, jesse malin, metropolis, shows

2009-07-20

beirut @ metropolis

on saturday of the last weekend (july 11), there was the beirut show, that was part of the jazz fest (even though they are not jazz as all). i went with rox and glo.

rox has already posted a detailed entry about the show, so i'll be lazy and post a few pictures instead.

the openers were the dodos. i had never heard of them before. i found them alright. for some reason, their music made me think of twee-pop (mostly because of the singer's soft-ish vocal style), but more upbeat.

we had already seen beirut before. this time, it was at a bigger venue, but there seemed to be less musicians on stage... and zach condon sang a song in italian; i realized that no matter in which language (english, french, italian) he sings, i cannot understand the lyrics.

they only played one song from the "realpeople holland" disc, "my night with the prostiture from marseille". i really liked how they translated the electronic sounds to the accordion.

a clip of "postcards from italy":

they ended with "la llorona". i realized that not only does that track make a good album opener, it also makes a great show closer; it's so dramatic.

~~~

Labels: beirut, metropolis, shows, the dodos

2009-05-16

mogwai @ metropolis

sunday, two weeks ago, i went to the mogwai show with rox. we had bought tickets for the show that was originally scheduled in september, but postponed until now. of course, this was mogwai (!) so there was no way i would miss this.

the openers were the twilight sad. previously, i had only heard their "here, it never snowed, afterwards it did" ep, a folk-ish release. the live show was more rock. of all the times i have seen mogwai, this is the first time i have liked the opening band. the songs were catchy; the songer's scottish accent was quite strong, rolling his r's. the only songs i recognized were "and she would darken the memory" and "cold days from the birdhouse".

the twilight sad:

this was my fourth time seeing mogwai, so i kind of knew what to expect: a good mix of the loud, the soft, and the epic. it was my first time watching them from a seat on the balcony; we had a pretty good view of the whole stage.

setlist taken from bright light:
- yes! i am a long way from home
- scotland's shame
- travel is dangerous
- killing all the flies
- i love you, i'm going to blow up your school
- autorock
- i'm jim morrison, i'm dead
- small children in the background
- hunted by a freak
- mogwai fear satan
- thank you space expert
- 2 rights make 1 wrong

encore:
- like herod
- batcat

no, they did not play my absolute favourite "christmas steps". but they did play"2 rights make 1 wrong", and i captured a video:

also, they did not play the epic "my father my king" as an encore. but that's alright, because they ended with "like herod", followed by the very loud "batcat". again, a video:

mogwai doesn't disappoint; i was quite giddy that night.

~~~

cd purchase: i got the twilight sad's ep "here, it never snowed, afterwards it did".

hearing damage: my ears were ringing the rest of the night; that was expected.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, metropolis, mogwai, shows, the twilight sad

2008-11-30

stars @ metropolis

the show was on friday evening. i went with six other friends; it was my first time going to a show with so many people.

gentleman reg, with a full band, were the openers. it was good; i liked it. i probably would have enjoyed it more if i had checked out his material before the show...

there was one song i liked a lot. luckily, roxanne recognized it as "it's not safe" from the "shortbus" soundtrack. (i had forgotten about this, but wikipedia says that he makes an appearance in the film.)

stars gave a really good performance. there were no surprises, since i had already seen them about a year ago, and their setlist was pretty similar. again, they had tons of flowers on stage, except they were roses this time, which they threw into the crowd frequently.

they played one of my favourites "take me to the riot" near the beginning, which is a great song for getting the crowd excited. they also played my other favourite "what i'm trying to say".

compared with the show last year, one noticeable difference this time is, the show seemed much more fun, largely because of the energetic crowd. everyone was shouting with excitement and singing along with all of the songs. i was screaming a lot myself. and the band was really into it. the singer looked so passionate while singing. especially near the end of the last song, when he was all folded on himself, and he looked like he was about to pop a vein and collapse. yeah.

after the show, i did not get a setlist, just a picture of it.

~~~

cd purchase: after the show, i saw that gentleman reg himself was manning the merch table. i asked him which songs he played tonight. he pointed at the album "darby & joan". so i bought a cd and asked him to sign it. i also bought stars' most recent release, the "sad robots" ep.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, gentleman reg, metropolis, shows, stars