Thu, Nov 11
GRINDERMAN at the Phoenix Rating: NNNNN
Listening to Grinderman’s recorded music is a near-physical experience: screaming waves of psychedelic feedback relentlessly pound your speakers, and you can practically taste the spittle flying from the corners of frontman Nick Cave’s mouth as he buzzes, growls and howls with self-lacerating, middle-aged rage.
In concert, the grizzled four-piece lays all of that down even heavier, amping up Cave’s depraved preacher-man persona from the Bad Seeds to maximum effect.
In their Toronto debut, Grinderman tore through their entire sophomore album and most of their first for an enraptured, sold-out crowd at the Phoenix. Cave, one of rock’s most revered performers, spent much of the show where he belongs: teetering at the foot of the stage, violently flapping his elbows, contorting his body to the music’s deranged force and, in a moment of pure camp, squealing comically on his “tippy tippy toes.”
One of the best things about Grinderman is their morbid humour, and in concert the blistering din serves as an excuse to magnify it, inflate it and then hurl it at the audience like a snarling sonic spitball.
Kevin Ritchie
BIG BOI at the Guvernment Rating: NNNN
Last time Big Boi was in Toronto, he played at a Playboy event during TIFF to a crowd of about 100, many of whom watched with vague curiosity between sips of white Zinfandel.
His Guvernment show as part of the Peace Dot Love festival was wa-a-a-y different, largely because the giant crowd of people actually knew who he was. That whole cliché about live acts feeding off the audience’s energy? Yeah.
His voice cutting through a haze of weed smoke, he cycloned through a long, varied set of classic OutKast material and cuts from his unjustly slept-on solo album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty. The crowd went especially pecans for ATLiens, B.O.B., The Way You Move and the Troutman bounce of Shutterbugg.
It should also be noted that 15-year-old Toronto rapper Reema Major killed the spot just before the main attraction with choreographed dance moves and an energy that lived up to all the “next big thing” hype.
Jason Richards
TWIN SHADOW and GLASSER at the Drake Rating: NNN
You have to feel bad for Glasser’s Cameron Mesirow. The critically acclaimed solo project (beefed up with a full band) had a musically and visually slick live show and an intriguing, unique sound. But that didn’t stop more than a third of the sold-out crowd from leaving before Glasser played their first note. Seems that at some point after Twin Shadow got added as openers, that act’s rapidly growing hype overtook the headliner’s, which must make for some awkward vibes backstage.
Not that Twin Shadow don’t deserve the love. It’s also a solo act touring with a full band, but main man George Lewis Jr. doesn’t have the theatrics and showmanship of his tour mates, and his 80s pop fetish is definitely not as forward-thinking. He does have a set of songs that stick in your head for days. Ultimately, great tunes are still what touch fans the most.
See a video from the show here.
Benjamin Boles
Fri, Nov 12
THE MELIGROVE BAND with RUBY COAST and MORE OR LES at the Great Hall Rating: NNN
On the final leg of a lengthy tour in support of fourth album Shimmering Lights, the Meligrove Band made a hometown pit stop before heading back down south. While their work ethic is commendable, life on the road seems to be taking a toll. The four-piece tried to provide the energetic good times their fans have come to expect, but things never really took off, despite a promising start by charming local rapper More or Les.
The biggest problem was singer Jason Nunes’s voice, which was obviously suffering from too many nights of hitting high notes. To compensate, a series of ringers, including Allie Hughes, Cuff the Duke’s Wayne Petti and Justice McLellan from opening act Ruby Coast, was brought out to sing some of the more demanding songs. It was a cute idea and added to the homecoming spirit, but waiting for people to enter and leave the stage added to the night’s tentative feeling.
Joanne Huffa
