BELLE AND SEBASTIAN at Massey Hall, Wednesday, April 1. Rating: NNNN
Belle and Sebastian’s ninth album, Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance, has added some unapologetic Europop to their discography of sensitive balladry. So it was appropriate that the Scottish band’s first Toronto show in five years began with a dance routine, albeit a balletic duet to a pristine-sounding rendition of torcher Cat With The Cream.
It was a lovely, unexpected opening to a show that mixed their stylistically varied and ambitious new material – Stevie Jackson’s charming new wave ditty Perfect Couples, Sarah Martin’s string-laden Power Of Three – with the scruffy energy of back catalogue hits that comprised the majority of the set.
The seven-piece band and their epic backing section (strings, horns, standup bass, background vocals) then launched into I’m A Cuckoo and recent single The Party Line, prompting many in the crowd to rush to the front. They kept up the momentum with more surprises (Electronic Renaissance, La Pastie De La Bourgeoisie) and climaxed with an onstage dance party to The Boy With The Arab Strap, just as they did on the same stage five years ago.
Frontman Stuart Murdoch’s wry observations about Toronto (the masculine and feminine aspects of the city’s urban geography, how TTC tokens make excellent cufflinks) added a personal touch. Like many touring bands, B&S have their go-to tricks and tracks, but they excelled at making us feel like this show was extra-special.
