Gig: Thirty Years of Owen Pallett (Part III)

Thirty Years of Owen Pallett (feat: The Phonemes, 10,000 Watt Head, Mantler, Currently In These United States, Wyrd Visions, Diamond Rings, Hank, Domaine D'Or, The Magic)

Lula Lounge. Sunday, September 6, 2009.

This is the third part of the day. For an introduction and an account of the first part of the day, click here. For the middle part of the day, click here.

9:45 The Phonemes — During the onslaught of Brides' set, I didn't notice the screen being set up on the side stage. Turns out Magali Meagher and Bob Wiseman had worked out a song "with a subliminal message" for Owen, which turned out to be a fantastically fun take of The Beatles' "Birthday", with synchronized backing vox on the screen. Magali then played one of her new songs accompanied by John Tielli before inviting a crowd of friends on stage to add voices and improvise percussion to "Steeples and People". The server station against the wall was raided for salt and pepper shakers to clink together, cymbals were overturned, Bob strapped on his accordion and everyone joined in. Everyone stayed on stage to finish off with a rousing take of "Pain Perdu". Open-hearted and rousing indeed.

10:01 10,000 Watt Head — And then for something completely different. 10,000 Watt Head, revered in some quarters but an unknown quantity to me, turned out to be a fairly visceral experience. Imagine a rock band fronted by one of the zombies from 28 Days Later, but with dreads spilling out the top of a ski mask, and singing in a mic connected through a synth/vocoder that turned his voice into something like an angry cartoon fly.¹ As two drummers and a bassist back on the risers kicked up a heavy beat, the front line was more committed to chaos — or in the case of the guitarist, attempting to play on as vocalist Grasshopper fell over him, twitched about, and humped the air. The band's set consisted of eleven minutes of non-stop music — whether that was one or more "songs" or just an improvisation was pretty much irrelevant. There was a punkish sense of adventure to it, but not in a GG Allin sort of threatening/dangerous way — more of an unplanned/no safety net kind of way, like the drunk kids next door having a pillow fight while jumping on the trampoline.

Listen to a track from this set here.

8:14 Mantler — That quick , face-melting burst left an opening for Mantler, who was ready to go on the side stage, to play a bit of an extra-long set. Which was a welcome thing. Mantler (the nom de guerre of Chris Cummings) plays solo with electric piano and a primitive drum machine. Dressed in a white tuxedo, he affects the vibe of a lonely lounge singer crooning heartbroken lyrics² masked behind a jaunty Curtis Mayfield rhythm. A fine songwriter, the extra time for a couple more songs was welcomed by Owen, who was calling out requests. A guaranteed good time.

Listen to a track from this set here.

10:48 Currently In These United States — A bit of a blast from the other end of the decade³, CITUS were most active in a time that I was less attuned to cool local bands, and I must admit I had not seen them before. Centred around the boyish charm and yelpy vox of Matt Collins, the band harkens back to some sweet pillars of 90's alt-rock, like Archers of Loaf on pixie stix or a polemicizing Superchunk. Hit me in a Pavement-y sweet spot, it did.

Listen to a track from this set here.

11:23 Diamond Rings — Not just the pop sensation with the song all the kids have a crush on, Diamond Rings is, in fact, the alter ego of John O'Regan of the D'Urbervilles.⁴ Dancing up a storm as well as playing guit and keybs, John O. played three glammy new-romantic songs leading up to the "hit", all with a deft pop touch. His keyboards were decorated with a blanket or towel with a picture of a unicorn under a rainbow, a sign, perhaps, of the somewhat campy level at which he is pitching his persona. But there's also the seriousness of well-written songs underneath it, as well as a gee-whillikers sincerity projecting from the stage. A delightful romp — definitely waiting for more.

Listen to a track from this set here.

11:44 Wyrd Visions — During the first song, with the crowd chatter conflicting with the delicately intricate songs it looked like the experience might suffer in comparison with the incredible set from the night before. But an in-set imprecation to silence from Owen made things a lot better. Still, not quite the same magic of the stars and the crickets, but, on the other hand, even if it dispels the mystery, it was cool this time to see the artist and to be able to watch how he went about his work. Colin Bergh turned out to look like a mild-mannered radio announcer or travelling salesman, albeit one with a book of demon lore tucked away in his valise. Even with the crowd effect, still pretty enjoyable, and after two songs he looked to Owen, who raptly gave the nod for a third, stretching the set out beyond a half-hour.

12:17 Hank — Another legendary Blocks combo, the Hank collective is singer/guitarist Cab Williamson, backed by what could be dubbed an all-star cast, including Magali Meagher and Mantler (both seen earlier in the day on their own), plus Lex Vaughn on drums. British expat Williamson gripped his microphone like someone who had been reared on "proper" brit pop singers in full-on grim seventies light entertainment mode while the rest of the crew played like a hillbilly swing band aiming for doo-wop sophistication. Heckled by Owen into playing "Danes In Peril!", Williamson tried to get out of it by claiming not to remember the chords, at which point, Owen reeled them off, and then jumped up on stage to sing along.

12:46 Domaine D'Or — "This next band is so VIP," Owen told us, "I have to soundcheck their gear for them." It turned out to be creepily costumed Domaine D'Or, a duo named after the luxe vintage. They dramatically took the stage in frilly wedding gear, their faces covered by nylons with featured markered on, creating a wholly unsettling expressionless effect. Playing a florid style of goth-y dance rock, the pair was nothing if not captivatingly entertaining, even if all the weirdness kinda overshadowed the songs.

1:01 The Magic — "When did The Magic get so big?" shouted someone in the crowd just as the band was about to start playing. Not sure if meant the extent of the membership (eight, I believe, including horn section) or the fact that the room was pretty well-filled at this point. I was trying to remember why the band's name was vaguely familiar and it clicked when I saw Sylvie Smith, who had recently impressed while moonlighting on vox with Evening Hymns, at her keyboard. The Toronto/Guelph combo plays a sort of "big pop", 80's style, incorporating a wide range of sounds: various synth squiggles, vague reggae rhythms, country flourishes, all tied up in a bow. Having lived through a decade's worth of smooth 80's pop once already, I admit I found myself looking over my shoulder to see if this was history repeating itself as farce or tragedy. But that's my limitation, I guess, and I realize there are more than those two options. And the band was by no means narrowly aping anything. The songs were catchy, at least, so that counts for a fair amount. I wasn't won over, but am at least benignly neutral towards this lot, who I'm guessing I'll have more chances to evaluate.

Admittedly, I was also pretty beat by this time, having been standing around for pretty much all of the past, oh, nine-plus hours. As the band left the stage and the DJ's started up in earnest, I ducked out, trying to get myself home with what strength I had left. A great show overall, but not the way you'd want to spend every weekend.⁵

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¹ The vox were buried way down in the mix, ending up sounding like an insistent memory in the back of one's mind that would neither fully reveal itself nor just go away.

² "I've Been Destroyed" and "Lately I'm Sad" are typical song titles.

³ Their band website can still be found on Geocities, which feels like coming across a Neanderthal in a glacier. Some cool Wavelength gig pix from shows at Ted's Wrecking Yard can be found there, tho.

⁴ It's possible that as Diamond Rings, John O. is also fighting crime, costumed crusader-style when summoned by a giant diamond ring spotlight in the sky. At least I'd like to think so — I mean, that's what the tights are about, yes?

⁵ Which is, ironically, what I'd concluded one weekend previous, in no way figuring that I'd be at another all day marathon so soon.