Gig: The Old Soul’s 8th Anniversary Christmas Party

The Old Soul’s 8th Anniversary Christmas Party

Dakota Tavern. Wednesday, December 16, 2009.

Ah, The Old Soul. The local group, with three discs under their belt, fit nicely into that category of local bands that have a sprawling, scalable membership (you might see them with five people on stage, or you might see them with twelve, depending on the night and the venue) as the means to explore one songwriter-leader's musical vision. The guy at the centre of this tasty maelstrom is Luca Maoloni, able on records to play all the parts of his elaborate songs, but usually behind a keyboard on stage. Influenced by the edgier kind of 70's soft-rock with a special penchant for Brian Wilson-esque arrangements ("Vege-Tables" may be the most revealing cover song in their repertoire), the band surrounds Maoloni's honeyed yelp with smooth layers of oscillating synths and throws whatever else is handy into the mix. Although keeping a low profile lately, they continued their tradition of playing an annual December "anniversary" gig that always portends a good time.

Fearful of a repeat of the disappointment of the '07 xmas party, where I arrived with a friend at what we thought was an outrageously early hour only to find the crowd at the cozy confines of The Dakota to be at capacity, this year I decided to get down there in good time — at the very least it's far better to be warm and snug inside than embittered and freezing out on the sidewalk.¹ As it turned out, there was an unbilled early show already on as I grabbed a seat at the bar, with Hopeful Monster, the pop project of Jason Ball, playing a PWYC show relaunching their Metatasking album. Ball played mostly at the piano and was accompanied by Jose Contreras (of By Divine Right) on a set of numbers ranging from Beatles-y pop to 70's piano soft rockers. There was also some nice sweetening by Randy Lee on violin for a few songs toward the end. It was pleasant, though one might well say, "sufficient, but not necessary".

And then The Old Soul got set up as the room filled in some. Not feeling quite so packed (though even when at capacity, it generally still feels like there's room to breathe at The Dakota), with the band's low profile and the hardly-advertised nature of the show this was largely a crowd of friends and those who knew to keep their eyes out for it. Starting things off, the group demonstrated that haven't been totally idle, starting off the set with a few new songs and works-in-progress. Titles include "Family Ties" and "Growing Pains"², which imply that Maoloni is taking a whimsical view of fatherhood. Or watching a lot of syndicated 80's TV. The early contender out of the pack might be one called "Reading Rainbow Rider". The band's lineup at the outset had three of six players behind keyboards, causing Maoloni to quip, as an introduction, "we're called Synthesizor! Welcome to our eighth anniversary show."

The non-keyb-playing half of the band, meanwhile, might be dubbed the "Steamboat Rhythm Kings", as Nick Taylor (guit), Jay Anderson (drums) and Matt McLaren (bass) got focused on their own soul-rock unit while Maoloni eased back on The Old Soul for parental duty. These guys generally kept things grounded enough to put the lie to the band's banter of ill-preparation. Despite the rust, only on a cover of Harry Nilsson's "Bath" — that Maoloni claimed to have foisted on the band, who had not rehearsed it — did things sound a bit rough. After the new material and the covers, the first set (going about forty-five minutes) ended with a mini-suite of vintage Old Soul that found the band hitting their stride.³

Now fully warmed up, the second set started with a slow build to "The Old Soul", and soon enough the dance floor in front of the stage was full with moving people, and there was a different vibe in the air, and as the music segued into "You Are Gold", it was suddenly a lot less like a listening party and more like a dancing one. Maoloni switched over to guitar — which, given the space constraints, left him standing on the floor beside the stage — for a couple more new songs.⁴ And, once again, the band rewarded the audience's indulgence for the new stuff with a couple more covers, including The Rutles' "Cheese and Onions" and Loretta Lynn's "You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly"⁵, with Tara-Lynn White guesting on vox, treading barbs with #2 vocalist and utility player Andrew Innanen⁶. Most of the music was fabulous but the pacing, from a band that's not been spending so much time together, was a little ragged, with breaks for tuning and gear switches taking things down a bit. And even when they were a bit ragged, it suited their songs well, such as on the second set closer, a galloping run through calypso makeout anthem "Let's Neck". There were isolated efforts at starting a conga line that never quite meshed up, while meanwhile Michael Louis Johnson wandered the dancefloor, adding some trumpet licks. Fun times.

And then, making good on the promise of three sets, the band returned for a generous encore, mixing three more songs from their first album (leading off with the catchy "River of Daughters") with a couple more covers — the Beatles' "I Got a Feeling"⁷, and then as the showstopper to close it all out, a satisfyingly funky run through ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down", the sort of song that this band was built to play. So, over two hours on stage for the band — not bad for a bunch of guys just throwing something together — and the grins on the members' faces at the end showed they were having a fine time. The Old Soul are pretty good stuff, but people tend to forget that when you slip away from the scene for a year. If the band actually manages to get some of this new stuff out there, and maybe play more than annually, next year's anniversary show might be back into the "hot ticket" realm. But for this year, it was five bucks very well spent.

Listen to a track from this set here.

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¹ On that night, two years ago, the band were pretty fresh off their historically fabulous Gold album release party at Lee's Palace. In the end that night, we ended up knocking around the neighbourhood for a few rounds, before slipping in to catch the last half-hour or so of the show.

² I note that there's a demo for this one up at the band's myspace.

³ Maoloni credited drummer Jay Anderson — whose work on the night ranged from the Ringo-y fills on "Baby, I'm Amazed" to some Sabbath-worthy thunderous rolls on "E is for Estrogen" — for working out the deft arrangements stitching three or so songs together.

⁴ One of which, at this point in its evolution, appeared to have the title "F# Mofo" on the setlist, although that might just be a reminder of the key and the mood for the song.

⁵ Which isn't as completely out of place as it might seem. Although it's not the strongest flavour in the stew, the band does have a country side, as can be witnessed on their first album's "Nectar of the Nitwit". So there's a reason they play these shows at the Dakota and cover songs like Junior Brown's "Too Many Nights in a Roadhouse".

⁶ Innanen would later take some jabs for wearing a Jesus Lizard t-shirt on stage, with Maoloni suggesting that he'd have to wear a Yanni shirt next year to even things out.

⁷ Making it, weirdly, back-to-back trips to the Dakota where I've seen bands pull that one out.