BBQ at the Garrison, Friday, January 7. Rating: NNNN
Garage rock one-man band BBQ (aka Mark Sultan) is known to be a bit of a curmudgeon, which sometimes translates into an antagonistic relationship with his audience. For this Garrison show, however, he tamed his punk provocateur side and came across as positive, cordial and even a bit shy. Maybe moving to Toronto from Montreal has helped him chill out? The mellower attitude suits his newer material he’s slowly becoming more of a romantic soul singer than a rock ‘n’ roll maniac.
Sultan’s minimalist set-up – he plays the drums with his feet and backs himself on guitar – allows him to blend each song into the next and change tempo whenever he feels like it. He basically played continuously for more than an hour, taking a brief break before his encore. The set-up also keeps the attention on his voice, a much more impressive instrument than he gets credit for. At times, his crooning evoked Sam Cooke if the Ramones had been his backing band.
BENJAMIN BOLES
ENTIRE CITIES with the STRUMBELLAS and WAYNE PETTI at the Dakota Tavern, Thursday, January 6. Rating: NNN
Cuff the Duke’s Wayne Petti put on a brave face about being background music as the Dakota filled up. Using a second mic for reverb-soaked whistling, he got the crowd singing along. Perfect Dakota band the Strumbellas were up next, and their well-oiled set spun the crowd into a gospel-bluegrass frenzy. Too bad they played too long.
I’m not usually a proponent of swearing onstage, but it sounds right coming from Entire Cities’ Simon Borer. It was a rough set for the sprawling, geeky prog/psych rock ensemble, who employ banjo, pedal steel, flute and shifting time signatures. Borer broke a string, and Andrew Bartle’s drumming drowned out the vocals and acoustics, a loss given Borer’s story songs and Tamara Lindeman’s beautiful voice.
But the band proved that an album launch is as much a celebration of where you’re from as where you’re going, playing a song from their first set five years ago before inviting Ivy Mairi up to add soulful backups to their new material.
SARAH GREENE
PEZZNER at Footwork, Saturday, January 8. Rating: NNN
Look only at his solo discography and you’d think that Seattle’s Dave Pezzner is a newcomer to the dance scene. Actually, with 15 years as half of West Coast duo Jacob London, he has more than paid his dues. But whereas his work with Jacob London is light-hearted and funky, his solo material is out-there and hypnotic, bridging house and techno, with some disco flavours thrown in for good measure.
Instead of DJing, Pezzner chose to perform his own tunes live, a strategy we’re seeing more and more as technology for making electronic music in real time continues to improve. He took advantage of this format by going even more psychedelic than he does on his official releases. In someone else’s hands, this might have meant losing the dance floor, but he’s got the skills to find that delicate balance between creativity and pleasing the crowd.
BB
THE RUBY SPIRIT with HEARTBEAT HOTEL at Toronto Underground Cinema, Saturday, January 8. Rating: NNN
Up-and-coming acts tend to get stuck playing the same handful of bars, so it’s nice to see alternative venues like Toronto Underground Cinema stepping up. The audio-visual environment was fertile ground for a few local risers Saturday, and they made the most of the tools at their disposal.
For the Ruby Spirit, this translated into excess, but the madcap array of expressionist video clips, garish stage costumes and Kanye-esque ballet dancers fit their ostentatious cabaret pop. The band practically bleeds charisma, so the performance’s chaotic, celebratory vibe suited them.
Heartbeat Hotel were decidedly more laid-back, but their fluid, hazy Animal Collective-indebted set also matched the room. Psychedelic visuals were a nice touch, but the brief glimpse of the Windows Media Player interface was a bit like seeing behind the wizard’s curtain. Oh well, live and learn.
RICHARD TRAPUNSKI
