Recording: The Dutchess and the Duke

Artist: The Dutchess and the Duke

Song: Scorpio

Recorded at Sneaky Dee's, January 12, 2010.

The Dutchess and the Duke - Scorpio

My notes for this set can be found here.

Gig: The Dutchess and the Duke

The Dutchess and the Duke (Medication / RatTail)

Sneaky Dee's. Tuesday, January 12, 2009.

Some nights it's tough. After thinking it over a bit, decided to forgo seeing local heroes Final Fantasy/Diamond Rings at the Mod Club for some out-of-town visitors, figuring I'd have more chances to see the former again.¹ And also, last time they were in town, I walked into The Dutchess and the Duke's show not knowing who they were and left a convert, after a beautifully ragged set that was one of my favourite shows of the year. It's always a mug's game to hope that lightning will strike twice in unexpectedly transformative performances, but I reckoned at least to give the band a chance at it.

Early starters and local openers on this night were RatTail. Leading off with a new song that sounded not unlike Sonic Youth covering a track from the Shanghai Lounge Divas compilation, the band's unique mix of elements was immediately in effect. Guitarist Jasmyn Burke's vox, with a flattened monotone affect that veers off into yelps, are the most immediately arresting thing. They fit well against the lean post-punk groove of the music, with Ryan Mounsey's bass often seizing the melodic lead space against the slashing guitar lines. There were some technical difficulties as drummer Jesse Matthews kept dislodging his kick drum and had to adjust between songs until offered a cement block from the sound tech. Meanwhile, Mounsey passed the time by making a series of increasingly hyperbolic claims ("I'd just like to thank Molson Canadian... they recently voted us the greatest Canadian band of all time...") that nicely filled in the gaps. The band weren't taking themselves too seriously on stage, but that shouldn't be confused with excess casualness in their delivery — they were tight and talented players. Decent entertainers, too, including during the rather catchy "Polka Dots", when Burke put down the guitar to roam freely around the stage and the front of the dance floor, Minnie Mouse mask perched atop her head. I could well imagine that her vocals might be a deal-breaker for some, but on the whole, I was into it for the duration of the band's six song set.

Listen to a track from this set here.

After getting a level check on the guitars, soundtech Chantal asked, "any pedals?" "No pedals", was the response. And, leaning forward, I noted indeed that Medication were a band with about as basic a setup as you could imagine — drums plus two guitars, both plugged directly into their amps. And that serves as a pretty good base point for their sound — no frills rock'n'roll, in a slightly garage-punk vein. The guitar work was mostly uncomplicated stuff, chugging away with occasional bursts of riffing.

Although the band had a pretty straightforward sound, they do seem to like the idea of preserving a bit of rock'n'roll mystery about themselves, picking a moniker that seems to be shared with two or three other bands, for one thing.² The members were certainly no showmen, playing without any gestural swagger and saying as little as possible. Letting their music do the talking for them did take them a fairly long way, as their material was definitely good stuff. Showing that their place on this bill arose from some sort of musical kinship, Jesse Loritz of the night's headliners was at the front of the crowd for most of the set enjoying himself.

After a steady burst of five songs, a broken string led to a momentum-killing guitar switch, with the show stopping dead for two minutes, with no sort of banter or acknowledgement from the stage. That sort of took me out of it a bit — I mean, an understated stage presence is one thing, but this was verging on cold-fish asceticism. Still — I guess I shouldn't complain about a complete absence of attitude from a band. Taking them just for their music, then, a pleasing set.

Listen to a track from this set here.

Playing as an acoustic duo, The Dutchess and the Duke had a slow start to the show. What might have seemed to be a very simple setup — two mics, two acoustic guitars — was causing all kinds of trouble. Something in Kimberly Morrison's signal chain was causing an audible buzz, and switching cables and the DI box didn't help. It actually sounded like a connection in the pickup was coming loose, and in the end, after about ten minutes of soundchecking and attempted fixes the show just went ahead, buzz and all. Starting with the wonderfully melancholy "Scorpio", from the recent Sunset/Sunrise, the pair were putting their best foot forward, working without a setlist and running off a series of top-notch songs from both of their albums.

The "campfire punk" sound was stripped down compared to the full band I had seen them play with in the summer. Just listening to the songs, both live and on their recordings, I've found it interesting thinking on the positioning the band has chosen. With these exact same players and the exact same songs, they could very well be playing the folk circuit, bringing their music to a different kind of audience. Obviously, though, through their choice of labels and touring partners and where they play they feel more at home in the indie rock realm. It does make one wonder how that changes their audience and how their music is received.

And in this case, I certainly was less than thrilled with the crowd that had come out to see 'em. Worse than the people to my left having a prolonged conversation throughout the set, a trio of Inconsiderate Types ended up in front of me — one a tall, toque-wearing guy who apparently hadn't showered for a few days settling right in front of me, his friend a Dancing Woman who seemed content to bounce around in all directions with no real consideration of other people's space. During "Reservoir Park"³ things almost boiled over, Dancing Woman bumping into a woman in front of her one time too often, causing her to turn around and shriek an oath at Dancing Woman — for a moment I thought there was going to be a fight.

The band, meanwhile, kept moving forward. "I have a favour t'ask," Loritz drawled between songs. "Would somebody buy me a whiskey on the rocks, please? With a little splash of soda. If you get a chance." And by the end of the next song, said drink did indeed materialize. Their performance was fine, with the delicate guitar parts and vocal harmonies meshing nicely, but there just wasn't that ineffable magic about it. Plus, when you add the buzzing guitar still in the speaker and the less-than-ideal crowd, it was a bit of a recipe for taking me out of the moment. When the set got to the climactic "I Am Just a Ghost", the lift that I'd seen last time just wasn't there. "Come on the stage if you know this one," Loritz invited — and no one was willing to take him up on that. The song did get some of that energy (and no small amount of sing-along help from the crowd) in the end, but it was just reasonable immanence and not ramshackle transcendence. But so it goes.

Listen to a track from this set here.

Maybe because I was keenly aware of the show foregone for this one, but I walked away less than fully satisfied, although that faded a bit after the fact. On reflection, it was a reasonable show. Though they weren't compelling as showmen, Medication's music stuck with me afterwards, and Loritz' rakish fur hat and mellowly cool demeanour made me smile. And those songs by The Dutchess and the Duke are winners no matter what context they're in, and that's what's gonna stick with me most.

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¹ And indeed, as it turns out, the next Final Fantasy show has already been announced, albeit in the far-less-cozy confines of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

² Thankfully, they're most decidedly not the Medication that includes ex-members of Ugly Kid Joe. Of all the Medications, our lads' myspace can be found here. They also are cagey about names and so on, so I can't be much more specific in what I say about 'em.

³ "The supersonic jet plane taking people everywhere / Well, I wish that I could go there, I wish I could be somewhere / But I know I'm still right here / And I know here is still nowhere." — like the bulk of their songs we could hang the melancholy tag on this one, too.

2009 In Review: Best Concerts (Part II)

Part I of this retrospective can be found here. As with the first part, clicking on the headers will take you to my full review from the show.

The D'Urbervilles / Forest City Lovers

The Theatre Centre (Summerworks Festival Music Series). 2009-08-13 (Thursday)

An extra-long wait out on the sidewalk before getting into the stuffy basement space of The Theatre Centre did nothing to diminish the joy of this unique gig. A short set from Forest City Lovers melded seamlessly into The D'Urbs storming the stage, West Side Story style and playing a few songs before the bands took a break and emerged, seven players wide, in a combined joint force to play a collaborative set. "I wondered to myself whether FCL's more delicate edges might get overwhelmed by the D'Urbs' rollicking energy. As it shook out, the bands'd put enough thought into this to avoid that pitfall, and managed to put the extra hands into more texture rather than more volume. [...] The bands, though dripping in sweat, were clearly having a ball." The sort of thing that you go back and forth on after the fact — it'd be so cool to see that happen again, but as a unique singularity it's all the more precious.

Sometimes, stepping back to find that sweet spot in the venue's sound-field takes a back seat to just, like, being right there up front, so my recordings from the night aren't immaculate, but they get something of it across.

The Dutchess & The Duke

Bicycle Film Festival afterparty, Studio Gallery. 2009-08-22 (Saturday)

Another sweaty night, in a show at a ramshackle semi-venue, had an enjoyable undercard¹, but then I was taken by surprise by the headliners, a band I knew pretty much nothing about: "not long into the set, I realize I'm being completely fucking blown away. R&B in the sense that early Stones or Them or The Animals were R&B, the band had a batch of excellently-written songs, delivered here with off-the-cuff casualness blearily sagging into exhausted raggedness. It really felt like there was zero distance between performer and audience: shakers and tambourines were shared around, we sweated like they sweated, and the drummer's bottle of Johnny Walker Red got passed around so everyone could get a swig. By the end of the set, the walls were dripping with condensation and guitars were well nigh impossible to keep in tune. A singalong of 'I Am Just a Ghost' capped the set — one of the best shows of the year."

Check out recordings from The Dutchess and The Duke, as well as the night's other bands, here.

Wyrd Visions

Bite Your Tongue 1, The Guild 2009-09-06 (Saturday)

This entire show — sending the downtown-bound concert crowd through Scarborough to the beautiful bluffs at the Guild Inn — was a pretty special time, but this transporting set was the most affecting: "Playing on a double-necked guitar, with occasional accents from a looping pedal, his songs were droney folk rambles — folk in the olde Brittania sort of way. Imagine Jandek as a minstrel singing songs of the boggy dew, and you're kinda on the right track. The fact that his set, just over a half-hour, consisted of four songs indicates that his tunes are designed to unspool themselves in their own dreamtime. All of these elements could go so wrong, and could veer to the unlistenable or the precious. But in these circumstances — the near-dark and the first stars winking on in the sky; the fecund descending dampness; crickets chirping in the background — it was perfect, almost sublime."²

If I dare say so myself, I think my recording from Wyrd Visions' set is rather good. My other recordings from the evening are pretty nice, too.

Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests

SPK Polish Combatants Hall 2009-09-12 (Saturday)

An Ethiopian New Year's special, with a mish-mash crowd merging folks from the Ethiopian community with grizzled old leather-jacket punks and younger Wavelength types, all drinking strong Polish beer and getting funky to a Dutch punk band backing a musical legend. "Most of all, throughout, it was sax heaven. Mekuria, now in his seventies, plays with a rich, groovy tone filled with vital emotion. There is undoubtedly tonnes to be said about the technical side of his craft, his technique, and how he bridges Ethiopian and European styles, but while playing with such vitality it's hard not just to slip into the richness of it. There were no few times where I just wanted the song to keep going, which isn't always (usually?) the way I feel in the midst of a ninety minute set."

I got a decent, not great, recording of that set, but it's still plenty groovy.

The Vic Chesnutt Band

Lee's Palace. 2009-11-07 (Saturday)

Damn damn damn. This show should have been memorable for different reasons. For pairing a gifted and unique songwriter with a powerful band, including members of the Silver Mt. Zion & Tra-La-La Band and guitar hero Guy Picciotto, adding depth and widescreen sweep to his songs for an intense ninety minutes. Or for the laconic, deadpan wit that Vic Chesnutt exhibited on stage. But now, all I mostly think about is "Flirted With You All My Life", when he sang, "O Death, clearly I'm not ready yet." And then, not so many weeks later, changed his mind about that.

R.I.P. Vic Chesnutt, 1964-2009. His music will be remembered; my recording is here.

The Hidden Cameras

The Opera House. 2009-12-05 (Saturday)

In my older, crankier years, I'm becoming increasingly resistant to large-venue shows, so that this show at the not-well-loved Opera House was one of my favourites speaks to the band's talent for scaling their spectacle to the size of the room and showing all challengers how to attain collective glee. Let's see: choir, dancers, banners, audience participation, the band in the crowd and the crowd on the stage. Add to that a delicious opening set from Gentleman Reg³, who'd be one of the many extras on hand for the main act, and this was an excellent night out, that made me feel, upon leaving the venue, optimistic somehow.

This was a treat for more than just the ears, but you can check out a track here.

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¹ Including fine sets from The Bitters and now-already-defunct local shoegazers Heaven, as well as Austin spazz-punks Mutating Meltdown, the band that I was actually sorta there to see.

² An honourable mention should be made here to this concert's sequel, Bite Your Tongue 2, held in November at circus training school Centre of Gravity, which was also an excellent time. Especially memorable was Corpusse's maximally-committed electro-metal. Note to the folks at Bite Yr Tongue: more, please.

³ Gentleman Reg's live work as a whole throughout the year merits him a special citation on this list as well — I can't pick one set, but his many local shows throughout the year, with his band building up steam from month to month, were a definite highlight.

Recording: The Dutchess and the Duke

Artist: The Dutchess and the Duke

Song: Out of Time

Recorded at the Bicycle Film Fest Afterparty, Studio Gallery, August 22, 2009.

The Dutchess and the Duke - Out of Time

My notes for this gig can be found here.

Gig: Bicycle Film Fest afterparty

The Dutchess and the Duke / The Bitters / Mutating Meltdown / Heaven (Bicycle Film Fest afterparty)

Studio Gallery. Saturday, August 22, 2009.

Made one slight error on this night in failing to write down on a scrap of paper the address of the unfamiliar place I was heading to — walked up and down on the south side of College a bit before I realized I was looking for an even number, and then crossed the street and found the spot I was looking for. The venue had a small poster outside the door, but nought else. Up a flight of stairs and pay the cover. The woman running the door has a copy of Ulysses on her table, and I off-handedly ask, "if you finish it before the end of the night, do you get a prize?" She looks at me, confused, and I wince internally — evidently this is not my night to win people over with my wit. Or not yet, anyways, as I find the bar and crack open a PBR.

The space is largely made up of two long, narrow rooms, parallel strips beside each other. One is black-walled and has a small stage at the far end, a DJ set up at a table one one of the long walls, a futon couch at the back beside a sad-looking fake plant. The other room is lit and filled with the slightly muffled sounds coming through the wall, but well-suited for mingling/conversation. The improvised bar is set up in the back. Minutes before eleven, when the first band is scheduled to play, both rooms are pretty much empty. Somewhat trepidatiously, I settle into the couch, and take another look around the darkened room — one entrance, no sprinklers, exposed wiring near the stage, big hole in the ceiling with dried plaster dangling down. The words "Great White" whisper through my mind and my inner Fire Marshall winced a bit.¹

In due time, Heaven take the stage. Having seen them just a couple weeks ago, I basically know what to expect, and get a fairly similar set — a bit more compact with five songs in just over a quarter hour. Interestingly, it seems like with a less powerful sound system, the songs are a little less awash in noise and the tunes have a bit more room to creep in. Familiarity might've helped, too, as I recognize a few hooks from the first time 'round. Not out to get you dancing and not out to win you over with onstage amiability, Heaven are putting on a good show regardless. Picked up their CD after the set, though on a quick examination the recorded output is a bit anaemic compared to what they're doing on stage.

Listen to a track from this set here.

After a break and a fairly quick turnover, Mutating Meltdown, out of Austin TX, hit the stage. A three-piece (drums, bass, keyb and everyone singing), they play a slightly herky-jerk kind of de-evolutionary post-punk — imagine early Six Finger Satellite as a surf band. The room is now looking a little emptier — I'm pretty much right up front and not exactly blocking anyone's view. The sound is pretty rough at the outset, and not a lot of vox are getting through, but the band has a fun groove. When Chad said, "this next song is a Styx cover", my recorder inexplicably shut itself down. Towards the end of the set, it all comes together, the songs finding the right balance of sci-fi keybs and feedback and the vox getting back in the mix. There didn't seem to be a large contingent of folks out for this band, but they were right down my alley.

Listen to a track from this set here.

Between sets, the room starts to fill up. The Bitters' crowd has arrived — rambunctious and passing around 40's of Old English. Once ready to go the band plays a powerful short set — "We only have five songs, so we're just gonna chill a minute" singer Ben Cook³ tells us in a tuning break between songs. It was sweaty fun, but I realize after the fact that I don't actually remember the music at all. Checking the recording, it comes back to me some — good old fashioned rock'n'roll energy with a punkish edge, co-ed vox up front from Cook and Aerin Fogel, and a beachball bouncing around the crowd. The band also brought along a good old-fashioned anti-most-things punk rock attitude ("Keep shoplifting our records from Soundscapes!") which the BYOB crowd ate up. I was mildly worried about the audience, but aside from some beer being mouth-sprayed into the air, this was a decent crowd of people to be in.²

Listen to a track from this set here.

After a quick break from the Black Room to cool off a bit, I return and note that the last band of the night are eschewing the stage, and setting up their gear on the floor. Before things get too crowded, I figure to stake out some real estate near the front of the crowd. Except for having been told that this is their DIY gig on the side after being the night's openers for Modest Mouse, I know pretty much nothing about The Dutchess and the Duke. But not long into the set, I realize I'm being completely fucking blown away. R&B in the sense that early Stones or Them or The Animals were R&B, the band (a five-piece co-fronted by the titular Kimberly Morrison and Jesse Lortz) had a batch of excellently-written songs, delivered here with off-the-cuff casualness blearily sagging into exhausted raggedness. It really felt like there was zero distance between performer and audience: shakers and tambourines were shared around, we sweated like they sweated, and the drummer's bottle of Johnny Walker Red got passed around so everyone could get a swig. By the end of the set, the walls were dripping with condensation and guitars were well nigh impossible to keep in tune. A singalong of "I Am Just a Ghost" capped the set — one of the best shows of the year.

I note that their sophomore album is due in early October, so hopefully it won't be long before they pass our way again.

Listen to a track from this set here.

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¹ I got the same feeling a bit later on heading to the bathroom, noting that all the party's patrons' were sharing a co-ed facility with one urinal and one toilet stall — less than pleasing, I'm guessing, to the line of women consigned to waiting on that one toilet.

I actually spent a bit of time while at the show — and more after the fact — thinking about the tensions between the event's DIY spirit and the sort of amenities I usually take for granted at a venue. While I realize I sort of have a vested interest in the folks putting these things together keeping the overhead low — so that it's cheap for me at the door and (hopefully) the artistes are getting paid at the end of the night — but I do appreciate some of those "finer things" at a venue. Call me soft and decadent. On the other hand hand, if it had to go through all of the nanny-state's bureaucratic wrangling, there's no way that shows like this would go on at all. I dunno, I guess — I'm totally not in the loop enough to know much about shows taking place in the "grey market", so maybe I was worry too much about small things.

² Which applied for the whole night, really. Partially just due to the two-roomed layout and the sheer volume by the stage, anyone not there for the band was wise to stay next door, meaning this was an attentive, well-into-the-music crowd, far less yappy than many a show I've been at.

A special note of praise for DIY kingpin Mark Pesci, the guy who put this whole thing together. This was an event serving several different audiences — I'm sure there were plenty of folks there for the party part of it and indifferent to the bands, as well as some like me who were just the opposite. (there were even a few peopel there for the "bicycle" element of it, based on a couple of guys I saw wearing spandex shorts and those little Tour de France hats.) It was nicely set up so as to keep the "just here to make the scene" crowd separate from the bands, which I appreciated.

³ Also of Fucked Up, and holder of a lengthy punk CV.