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Concert reviews Music

Explosions in the Sky at Nathan Phillips Square

EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY at Nathan Phillips Square, Monday, August 10. Rating: NNNN 


One of the highlights of the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games has been its incredible musical programming, which has brought everyone from the Flaming Lips and Tanya Tagaq to Janelle Monáe and Death from Above 1979 to the main stage at Nathan Phillips Square. 

Texas post-rockers Explosions in the Sky played a rare gig – their first Toronto headlining set since 2011 – that emulated the epic finesse of the competing athletes. With the regular lineup of three guitarists and drummer joined by a touring bassist, EITS weaved through an hour of dramatic build-ups and emotional climaxes, each player’s timing as precise as a rhythmic gymnast.

Your Hand In Mine from 2003’s The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place brought huge cheers (and recording devices held high in the air) as the cascading drums and swelling guitar crescendos peaked in a ringing flurry. The song is often credited as Friday Night Lights’ theme song, but in fact after EITS turned down the licensing opportunity, the producers hired TV soundtrack composer W.G. Snuffy Walden to make a rip-off. Even if many concertgoers/FNL fans thought they were hearing a live rendition of the theme song, Your Hand In Mine was still the highlight.

At the end of the band’s set, which kept the hundreds-strong crowd rapt, guitarist and defacto leader Munaf Rayani told the amped-up audience, “To allow the type of music we play on a stage like this, we are forever grateful.”

music@nowtoronto.com | @SamEdwardsTO

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