BY DIVINE RIGHT at Harbourfront Centre, Wednesday, July 1. Rating: NNN
If By Divine Right’s 25th anniversary show at Harbourfront Centre – featuring nearly all of the two dozen musicians who have ever played in the project – was any indication, the best version of the band is the one with 11-plus members.
It took two hours to get there, but the all-star lineup – complete with three drummers, half a dozen guitarists/backup singers (including Leslie Feist, Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning and Holy Fuck’s Brian Borcherdt) and tambourine-smashing children – delivered the mightiest version of BDR’s 1999 classic 5 Bucks ever heard.
The set’s bombastic second last song added an infusion of energy into the proceedings, which dragged here and there over the two hours and countless personnel changes, seamless and as exciting as they were. Band leader José Miguel Contreras, who never once left the stage, deserves massive credit for his stamina and engagement – not just at Harbourfront on Canada Day but for keeping his project alive and inspired for a quarter of a century.
Plus, the current lineup – featuring multi-instrumentalist Alysha Haugen and drummer Geordie Dynes – is killer.
