Thursday, May 26, 2011

Manchester Orchestra - The Mod Club, Toronto, May 16, 2011

So it's been a week and a half since this show.  And I've had a hard time finding the words to write about it.  (For those of you who know me, you are likely saying "who are you and what have you done with Lindsay?!  Generally, finding words is never a problem.  Reigning them in is usually the kicker).  I'm reminded of a conversation I had with my co-worker Mandy, also a music lover, who says she would have a hard time reviewing her favorite band's live show, because it would boil down to "They were awesome! (emphasis on the exclamation mark!!!  End of review)"  Have been kinda feeling like that until tonight where having listened to the new album on the way home my brain started churning and the floodgates have opened up!

I love this band.  Like, really, REALLY love them.  And it baffles me that they aren't so much bigger and well known than they are.  They have a great formation story, a fantastic group dynamic, and they are incredibly savvy at getting themselves out there to the public.  They have produced some great albums (for such a "young" band, they have a lot of very deep and meaningful material), and they are an eclectic group that have some interesting things to say.  They are a band that are right up my alley because the writing is from the depths of their souls.  They really mean it.  And a band that means it really does it for me.  Put more eloquently by Chris Shaban at the Far Beyond Footnotes 4 part article on the band, (and a highly recommended....no required (!) read to get the full goods on Manchester Orchestra in a very entertaining and freakishly informative presentation):  "Hailing from the area surrounding Atlanta, Georgia and weighing in at a combined weight of 5 dudes, Manchester Orchestra is the kind of band that doesn’t wear their heart on the sleeve, it actually removes it from their collective chest and places it directly in front of the listener".  A-Freakin-Men, Chris Shaban.  This is a band that bleeds its art. 

My attendance at a Manchester Orchestra show has been a long time coming.  I had a FB friend who a little over a year ago messaged me, saying it seemed I saw a lot of live music, and that one of his favorite bands was playing in Toronto that week and I should check them out. I didn't make the show at the Phoenix last year, but in further conversations with said friend, (he being the inspiration for this blog), I did end up acquiring, listening to, and loving Manchester Orchestra's material.  My first real post in this blog was actually a review of their stuff.  (read it HERE if you want to know how I felt about them having been freshly introduced).  Fast forward to a few months ago, eagerly awaiting the new album ("Simple Math"....listen HERE, then go get it!!) and word of a tour, there was no way I was missing their T.O. show this time around and grabbed tickets as soon as they went on sale.  Was pleased that the show was taking place at the MOD club - great venue for the vertically challenged in the grand scheme of Toronto bar type venues.  Open room to accommodate a sea of moshing music fans...but they have a balcony, where I can place my (elderly) "ass too close to the sidewalk" self in an elevated direct view of what's happening on stage without risk of bodily harm.  Sweet!

So settled into our primo balcony spot, we were ready for an evening of hard core music.  There were 3 opening bands:

Harrison Hudson:   I liked these guys.  Those who actually did the required reading referenced above will see that Harrison Hudson has ties to Manchester Orchestra from way back.  HH looked more like an accountant than a rocker, but they sounded great.  Drummer was extremely enjoyable to watch as well.  I've said it before, I'll say it again....there is really nothing more entertaining and enjoyable than focusing on a drummer going to it.  There was nothing especially attractive about this guy until he started pounding on his drums...and then I was mesmerized by him.

O' Brother:  (aka, Poster Boys for an Herbal Essence commercial).  These guys were absolutely fascinating!  They were hard core head banging rockers.  The singer/guitar player had a really great and unique voice, but the crowd pleaser was the bassist.  He had a long, flowing, shiny mane of hair that he proceeded to thrash around for the duration of the set.  We were absolutely hypnotized by it!  And then he spit sparkle dust into the air!  Twice!  (I'm not shitting you...he really did!).  As well as being entertaining to watch, they were a solid sounding band with a heavy alt-rock sound.  I may check them out further.

An Horse:  By the time An Horse hit the stage I was cranky.  It was already 10pm-ish and I was getting a little antsy to see the band I was there to see.  Get ON with it already.  They were good - consisted of an androgynous looking girl who sang and played guitar and a drummer.  Again, good sound, but enough already, bring on M.O. and I was willing to accept no substitutes at this point!  It was Monday night and I was tired and it was very closely approaching "pastmybedtime" on a night I had to "havemyass@mydeskat9AMthenextday" situation.  I was seriously fading...(not very rock and roll of me, but cut me some slack.  I'm a single Mom who works in banking to pay the bills...Rocker chick is my side job/alter ego.  When I win the lottery, I can do this full time....kay?!).
Enter Manchester Orchestra:

The moment they hit the stage, all crankiness subsided and every fiber of my being was wide a-freakin'-wake.  I don't know a band that can rock the hell out of our national anthem, but MO did it to open the show.  (and seeing a crowd full of alt rockers/Andy look-a-like/wannabes belting out Oh Canada at the top of their lungs put a smile on my face that stayed there for the rest of the night!)

They played a wide selection from their older, and their newly released album and the flow of the show was fantastic.  Andy would whip the crowd up into a frenzy with a hard pumping tune like "Shake it Out", and keep THAT momentum going through the entire set.  These were fans...they knew every tune and belted it out along with the band.

Tim
Jonathan
I didn't really know where to focus!  Chris was a maniac on keys and drums (and barefoot - I've never seen such expressive feet before!).  The man did not stop moving for a second...the music flowed through his body like a non-stop electrical current.  Robert rocked the shit out of his guitar.  He's a tiny little man...and the dude can play.  Jonathan kind of hung back behind Robert with the bass but I found my eye line being drawn to him frequently.  M.O. songs have a lot of very cool bass lines throughout so it was hard not to be caught up by him.  Tim Very on drums was putting on a class in awe inspiring intensity.  But it was Andy, as any good front man should, that held my attention the most.  With frantic guitar playing, and a spectrum of vocals from whispery to belt out screams, Andy conducted the band, and the audience expertly.  We, especially, were at his mercy, worshipping at the alter of Manchester O.

Robert

Chris

Andy "speaking" to an audience member....

Non-musical stand out moments:  Andy bent over to speak to someone in the crowd a couple of times.  And then came to the mic to apologize saying he'd witnessed some woman beating and that "he isn't a fan!"  (caught on YouTube during "100 Dollars" if you want to see it).  And, as the crowd became more and more frenzied and the moshing became more and more violent, Andy actually worked a plea into the lyrics of the song for the crowd to calm....when they didn't take the hint, he marched to the mic and said "I'm serious...stop fucking moshing!" then changed the lyric to the next verse to "I'm sorry we aren't a hard-core band".  There was no more moshing happening - the disciples were told and obediently stopped!  When your God speaks, you listen!  

Loved as well the comradery between band members.  While their lyrics are sometimes deep and brooding, you can tell they all really like each other.  Any life drama they endure may get worked into their songs, however, there is a genuine affection for each other that is plain to see.  Couple of moments of Andy and Robert good naturedly ribbing each other, and then them hugging it out.

Stand out moments of the musical variety (my oh-so-favorite kind!):

For me, my favorite moment had to be when they played "The River".  This tune was a stand out for me when I first heard the recorded version - it's a definite "build" song.  It starts out soft but layers into a blistering intensity.  Hearing it live was mint.  Andy worked himself into such a frenzy wailing away on the guitar and feeling the lyrics that he broke his strap and it clattered to the floor...but no matter, he picked it up, carried on playing and singing while the tech came and fixed it for him.  Even with the guitar a little out of tune from the impact, it was a mind blowing display and made the performance a little more raw and real.


Also, a lot of my favorites off the new album sounded fantastic in a live setting.  There is a lot going on stylistically and structurally in songs like "Virgin", "April Fool" and my current favorite off the new album "Pale Black Eye", and even the title track.  Stripped down for the live performance, they sounded even better.  Just goes to show that a well written song, musically and lyrically, stands up and then some when altered for a live setting.  Only tune I didn't really care for live was "The Only One", because they messed with the tempo, but even then, I can't say it wasn't good.  
In a fitting ending, the band (joined by members of the various opening bands), sent out the final prayer/blessing with "Where Have You Been" on a darkened stage.  It was an epic and frenetic take over their bodies display, finishing with Andy, alone, curled up in fetal position on the stage uttering his last note while the feedback of the guitar droned on.  Everything they had in them, blood, guts, soul, was left on that stage.  And in a tell tale sign that I was enthralled for the duration, I couldn't believe it was over, as it felt like it was about 10 minutes even though they played a little over an hour and a half.

 In closing (yes, finally...is anyone even still reading?), I do need to say this.....I had a conversation with a fellow music lover about Manchester Orchestra where he admitted that they were very cool in my various attempts to get him on board with them, but that they just didn't "viscerally kick him in the ass". I get his point - in order to love a band the way "I" love Manchester Orchestra, you need to feel that connection to them, where they reach you on an emotional, or "feel it in your guts" way. As a music fan who "listens to feel" as opposed to "listens to hear", I get it.... They just hadn't reached him. (Yet.  I shall keep trying!).  Love of music is not something you can quantify... it's a lyric that grabs your attention and means something to you, or a melody that sticks with you and draws you in as it flows through your brain.  Or an emotional punch of a piece of a song that you can personally connect with that opens you up to them.  It's not something you can achieve by watching a few YouTube videos or listening to a couple clips of songs usually.  You need to give in to a baptism, and it will either happen or it won't.  However.....  Had he been at this show, he'd have walked out a convert, no question.  His ass would have been viscerally kicked black and blue, and he'd be feeling the reverberation of it for a good long while.  There is no way you could walk out of this show and NOT leave having been affected on some deeper level.  God I love the live band experience!

Hallelujah and Amen.  Religious experience (of the musical variety) achieved.  (and then some!)

Set List:
(Note:  I have yet to find a complete set list for this show - the below are tunes I know they played, but in no particular order.)
Virgin, April Fool, Pensacola, Simple Math, Shake it out, Pride, The River, Everything to Nothing, My Friend Marcus, 100 Dollars, I've got friends, The only one, Where Have You Been.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Neil Young - May 11, 2011, Massey Hall

Neil Young is one of those musical treasures.  He is unique (his hauntingly beautiful voice is instantly recognizable to anyone, regardless of age) and is a true poetic artist who tells stories through his songs.  It is my opinion that we don't have enough storytellers in music today (a belief further cemented by our pre-show eat and drink at Jack Astors where repetitive thumping nonsense was pumped through the speakers for the duration to my supreme annoyance).  You may not dig Neil's sound, but I don't think there is a person around who doesn't appreciate the talent of the artist he is.

To witness Neil Young live, at Massey Hall (a place that other artists I've seen here even refer to with great reverence as "Neil's House") was a real treat...one for the books, for damned sure.

The opener:

Bert Jansch, a Scottish folk singer opened the show.  I have no idea if I liked him or not because I was tense with annoyance for his entire set.  I don't know about you, but when I enter Massey Hall, I am not under the impression that I'm sitting in my living room.  And when trying to listen to a one man with guitar folk act, there shouldn't be a competition for my attention between him on stage, and the guys behind me discussing their hot yoga class that day.  Loudly.  I was ready to throw down with these two.  I've said it before, I'll say it again...not into the opening act?  Cool - hang out at the bar until the act that you paid to see hits the stage or shut the hell up if you're too lazy to move your yoga toned ass out of your seat.  Have some friggin' respect.  And then...the people who owned the four seats in front of us showed up.  3 guys, one girl.  The girl and her boyfriend were obviously having some kind of spat.  The two other guys (the word "lunkheads" immediately came to mind) were a little too bulky for their seats and couldn't sit still.  At one point, Lunkhead A knocked his hat off his head and it landed in my lap.  To my surprise, he turned around and reached into my lap to retrieve it.  Seriously.  (shaking head).  Sigh.... once Bert was done, we headed outside for some air, sending up a silent prayer to the Music Gods that the crowd would behave when Neil came on.

Jonathan Demme came on stage to introduce Neil.  He was filming the show to round out the Neil Young concert trilogy.  He asked for the crowd's cooperation in interacting with Neil between songs instead of during, and having experienced the bad behaviour of the audience for the opening act, I figured he was S.O.L.  But I'm pleased to say that the crowd dug deep and found their respect for the artist about to take the stage....  There was a lot of hollering in between songs, and to Jakki's and my amusement, the screams of "I love you Neil" all came from men (!)

Neil:

Neil lumbered on stage wearing a straw hat and looking rather dapper, slowly picked up his guitar and opened the show with "Hey, Hey, My, My", and it was absolutely amazing.  We've started seeing some artists that have had decades long careers in the past couple of years out of respect for their legendary status and because who knows if we will get the opportunity to see them again.  I can honestly say that Neil Young sounds as good at 65 as he did in his prime...the voice is the very same:  haunting and incredibly unique, and the man still radiates a cool that artists a fraction of his age will never capture.  Filled me with pride that this jewel is one of ours.  He moved across the stage with laid back ease.  He was great to watch between songs, taking a moment to decide which instrument he was going to pick up next and ambling over to it.  The crowd was bent forward, watching, and his movements were slow and deliberate... and he always had a place to hang his hat while he took it off to either slowly and deliberately remove or put on the harmonica.  Just cool... best word to describe the man.  Cool.

He played a close to 2 hour set that was filled with old classics and a pretty hefty selection off the new album "Le Noise".  The new stuff  has a lot of more electric guitar driven tunes.  While I enjoy the album, I'm still a bigger fan of his older more intimate stuff.  "Down by the River", "I Believe in You" and "Helpless" were pure magic in the Massey Hall setting.  (Hear the audio only recording of Helpless here from his May 10th show).  But surprisingly, one of my favorites of the night was off the new album - "Peaceful Valley Blvd".  When he strummed the last chord, Jakki leaned over to me and whispered "Best History Lesson Ever" and she was absolutely bang on with that sentiment.  This one was presented to us with truth, sadness and bitter sweet beauty, and the sold out crowd took it in with a well deserved quiet respect and awe.

There were a few parts to the show that I didn't really care for.  For the majority of the electric guitar driven tunes played, he seemed to be experimenting with the sound by way of feedback coming off the amps/speakers.  While I say "good on him" for being experimental and respect the hell out of creative license, it just didn't really appeal to me.  During the encore for example, while playing "Walk With Me", he took his guitar and waved and twirled it back and forth in front of the amps to produce sound out of the resulting feedback.  T'was not pleasing to me.  I'm not sure if it was the venue (I've seen some heavy electric driven stuff in Massey and it CAN accomodate it), or the fact that I like my Neil a little more Tom Thomson than Jackson Pollock, but I personally didn't find it worked.  (I shudder to say that it sounded like "noise" lest I be accused of showing my age....but it sounded like "noise").

Every show, I pick a song I want to hear going in.  I love "After the Gold Rush".  Like, really, really love it.  But I didn't enjoy it performed at the show because he chose to play it on the organ.  I'm not a fan of the organ.  It reminds me of church.  While it can be argued that we were at the church of Massey Hall and worshipping at the alter of Neil, I find the choice of the organ took away from the beauty of the song.  I find organs tend to remind me of "Muzak", and what a horrible thought to run through your head listening to one of your favorite songs.  Again, poetic license and good on him for changing things up, but I'd have liked to hear this one, especially, classic.

And finally, as great a story teller as he is, there was only one short moment where he actually addressed the audience prior to playing "Leia" on the piano.  Neil is such a great story teller through his songs, I was hoping to hear the man speak to us in his non-musical voice.  However, this wasn't a huge problem for me as his work talks volumes and I was content to let the music be the voice for the evening.

An incredible night of music, with an incredible musical legend.  Even the lunkheads were filled with respect.  And if that doesn't tell you something about the man and his ability to teach us with musical magic, I don't know what does.

Set List:

Hey, Hey, My, My (Out Of The Blue)
Tell Me Why
Helpless
You Never Call
Peaceful Valley Boulevard
Love and War
Down by the River
Hitchhiker
Ohio
Sign of Love
Leia
After the Gold Rush
I Believe in You
Rumblin’
Cortez the Killer
Cinnamon Girl
ENCORE:
Walk With Me