Gig: Ohbijou

Ohbijou (Lisa Bozikovic)

The Tranzac (Main Hall). Saturday, November 21, 2010.

The news that the beloved Tranzac Club was in financial danger was, perhaps, not entirely surprising. Any member-run non-commercial enterprise is probably nearly always on an uncertain financial footing. But the notion that this space could be lost got a lot of people reflecting on how special the Tranzac is and there was a quick burst of organizing. A lot of that was done by Stuart Duncan (Out of This Spark records impresario as well as a board member at The Tranzac), who put this night together as a fundraising show — as well as a steady stream of events over the next couple months.¹

I showed up early for this one, and actually not only had time to secure a good spot, but also wander a bit. I found, in typical Tranzac fashion, an entirely different interesting show going on in the Southern Cross Lounge, and managed to catch the end of a jazz set before heading back over to the Main Hall. By now, it was filling in. I'd thought that something quieter like this would be set up as a sit-down show, but the dancefloor was left open. Some other people had the same idea and began to drag out chairs to claim a space in front of the stage, but were discouraged from doing so. Ultimately, there ended up being a lot of people sitting on the floor, and then a fringe of people standing behind them, and then the outer layer of people at the back who would be less attentive.

I was pretty keen to hear Lisa Bozikovic lead things off. The last time I'd seen her play her set was filled not only with songs from her fabulous album Lost August, but a smattering of newer ones as well. This time out, her warm and emotive voice was backed by a larger cast, although Bozikovic started alone with a quiet new one ("I sing all day"). She was then was joined by some extra voices (Felicity Williams and Jessica Moore) for an almost wordless song, mostly just beautiful harmonies until the end, when it was summed up with "now you see me, now you don't". One gets the sense that Bozikovic is in love with combining voices, intoxicated by harmonies, and it works very well — especially with collaborators such as these.

After that, she was joined by a malleable lineup of backing musicians, with people being added or subtracted to serve each particular song. There was a supporting cast of about eight coming and going, amalgamating members not only of the evening's headliners (Anissa Hart on cello, James Bunton on drums and Heather Kirby on bass) but also some of the bands she'd toured with, such as Kite Hill and Richard Laviolette & The Oil Spills, including Tyler Belluz (on bass and banjo) and Mike Brooks (on guitar and pedal steel). The full band did lovely versions of "Take and Take" and "New City", both of which are highlights from the album.

There was getting to be a lot of people chattering away at the back, but I was glad to see that those who had showed up to hear the music got impatient with them, issuing a chorus of shushes as each song started. The setlist mixed up familiar songs with newer stuff, so the tense nibbles of keyb-driver rocker "Phone Cord" and quieter "No Denial" were followed by the utterly gorgeous "Waterfall". The set ended with an a capella version of "The Letting Go" with harmonies from Williams and Moore, so intoxicating that even the folks jabbering at the back quieted down.

"My entire music life in Toronto I owe to The Tranzac," Bozikovic said in discussing why she was proud to be playing at this show. Whether it's within these walls or in another warm and cozy spot, Bozikovic is an artist worth seeking out.

Listen to a track from this set here.

There was a full house by the time Stuart Duncan took the stage for a fundraising pitch and a discussion of what the night was all about. The room was quite full and up front packed with people sitting on the floor — obviously I was not the only one who had been waiting for a chance to see Ohbijou, who hadn't graced the city with the orchestral sweep of their music for more than a year. Singer/guitarist Casey Mecija looked to be a little nervous to be breaking a layoff from playing, but the band didn't show any rust, jumping right into a new song, and then a few more familiar ones from their two albums.

Some of the new songs that Casey Mecija had been working on in her solo shows earlier in the year were now getting fleshed out with band arrangements — not just their cover of Nathan Lawr's "Barking At Your Door" (here ending with an audience singalong), but also some others we can expect to hear on the next album. Included in those was a swimmingly lovely song ("true one / we've only begun") that gives high hopes there will be no drop-off in quality for album number three.

Casey, as well as her sister Jennifer Mecija, took several opportunities to talk about why the Tranzac was important to them: "doesn't it feel like you're in your living room with a whole bunch of your friends?" Casey asked, looking down at the seated audience. Before the gorgeous "Steep", Casey talked more about the Tranzac, both in terms of her own musical history and the role it plays as "truly one of the most unique venues in Canada", welcoming a whole range of musicians into its informal, relaxed space.

The band finished off the hour-long set with one last new one, and then came back for a three-song encore, leading off with "The Otherside" before throwing in one more cover, a jaunty run through Chad Vangaalen's "Willow Tree", led by Heather Kirby's banjo. Then they ended the night, as they have so often done in the past, with the everyone-plays percussion closer "The Woods", ending in a vigourous clap along finish.

The band is busy working on their new album (you can get some periodical updates here), so hopefully it won't be such a long time before they're playing more.

Check out a couple tracks from this set: something old here and something new here.

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¹ As of this writing, it looks like The Tranzac is out of the woods, so we should pause to applaud the outstanding work by Duncan and everyone else who pitched in.