Polish Combatants Hall. Sunday, February 22, 2009
Managed to have a nice nap before heading out for this, which I think improved my disposition a bunch. Sunday nights I generally prefer to finish off the chores, turn off the computer and so on, and go to bed nice and early and read for a while. Get a good night's sleep to set up the new week, etc. etc.
But alas, around the time I'd normally be climbing under the covers, there I was pulling my longjohns on to head out. Made me feel mildly grumpy as I was leaving, and made gig-attendance about the last thing I felt like doing, but by the time I got down to Beverly Street, I was in a pleasantly drowsy mood. Which I think made me receptive to what was going on. Sometimes amped-up razor sharpness is the best frame of mind for a gig, and sometimes languorous sleepiness works out well.
Because I was putting off leaving, only caught about half of opener Snowblink - the pleasantly folksy Daniela Gesundheit on guitar, supplemented by Dan Goldman providing extra instrumentation. The Hall was already rather full, so I just stood with the latecomers near the back and soaked in what I could. Her stuff was okay - not entirely unlike, perhaps, early Sarah McLaughlin at times. Finished with a nice piece using looped backing vocals.
During the between-set hubbub, I managed to move in a nab a seat and settle down to appreciate the hall and crowd around me. As with last week's Wavelength show, I felt relaxed in this room. This gig was set up in an all-seating configuration, and maybe that helped to bring out a pretty mixed crowd: the usual core of indie-show types, but supplemented by a lot of people who looked like they probably went to a lot more shows ten tears ago, and then the parental/elder crowd on top of that. The stage itself was nicely done up with ribbons and vines strung above the stage, which under the old curtains, turned it into a sort of garden gazebo set.
Alex Lukashevsky and his crew took the stage. I mostly knew him by his reputation as a twisted pop genius and work with various Blocks-y bands. He accompanied himself on guitar, mostly in a gentle fingerpicking manner and was backed up with two vocalists. The ornate vocal arrangements were the most distinctive element of the performance, at its most florid sounding like a rococo Swingle Singers arrangement of an xmas carol, but usually more reined in that that. Special note should be made of the female singer (whose name'd be worth looking up) who had tremendous range and a diversity of sounds from pretty harmonies to a theramin-like trill. It sounded like Lukashevsky had some interestingly idiosyncratic lyrics, but were it just him plus guit, I dunno if it'd've held my attention. The vox really made the set. Rather enjoyable.
Then the to-ing and fro-ing of getting ready for the main set while I reflected on Bruce Peninsula. I'd seen them live once previously (late '07, opening for The Acorn) and left the show not particularly convinced they were for me. Listening to their alb last week, I was still mostly on the same lines, rather able to appreciate that there is quality and originality in what they do, but not entirely moved by it. Meanwhile, various members (Peninsulans?) came on stage to tune up, call to the back of the room to wrangle other members and then pass out cupcakes. Cupcakes mean love, so that's one good way to win over an audience.
As they took the stage, I found out that the mild-mannered guy that was sitting beside me was a bit of a shrieker, letting out a few anticipatory whoops, and then once the band was on stage, shouting our "more Barker!" at regular intervals, apparently a paean to the bass player. But he kept himself quiet during the songs, so it's all good, I guess.
As the band played, I found myself enjoying it fairly well. Just the right combination, I guess, of that relaxed sleepiness, live spectacle, volume, and good sound. With eleven members on stage, there was a lot going on, but everything was clear in the mix, so props to whoever was doing the sound. I think the band's earthy throb in the live setting provided a bit more groove to frame the voices — whatever it was, I was suitably impressed and much more won over by them than I'd been previously.
The band were having a good time, humbled by the turnout and thanking everyone under the sun, and occasionally having to untangle instruments from the ribbons. They did tunes from the album, a good gospel shouter from last summer's 7", a new one, as well as a cracking cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" as an encore.
So I left pretty satisfied. There are some local bands that I'm willing to go see over and over. I can't say I'd bump BP up to that category, but I would see 'em again, and I do wish 'em well.
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