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Concert reviews Music

John Grant steps out from behind the piano

JOHN GRANT at Mod Club, Monday, October 19. ­Rating: NNNNN


The last time John Grant performed in Toronto, he spent a lot of time at the piano and only flirted with the new-wave turn his music had taken.

Two years later, the Reykjavik-based American singer/songwriter has gone from sardonic and gut-wrenching (drug addiction and HIV) to sardonic and jovial (mid-life crisis and loving it).

Accordingly, he spent much of the show at centre stage fronting a four-piece band that was more than capable of channelling the throwback punk-funk sound that features prominently on his third LP, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure.

Grant warmed up with a string of ballads at the keyboard, but it wasn’t long before he turned up the vocal effects, squelch farting, disco riffs and psychy synths to give songs such as Disappointing the power-belting rock-star treatment they deserve. His sense of humour occasionally extended to the arrangements, like the momentary pauses between effects pedal noodling at the end of the chorus and the verses on signature song Queen Of Denmark. He might sound more like a rock star, but can’t resist taking the piss out of rock star flourishes.

A duet with Irish folk singer Conor O’Brien from opening act Villagers on the beautiful Glacier had the audience in beardy bliss while showcasing Grant’s baritone at its mellifluous best. By the time he returned to the keyboard for a round of robust solo balladry – interrupted by a full-band rendition of It Doesn’t Matter To Him by audience request – the communal energy between stage and crowd had its own momentum going.

Grant has been a critical favourite in the UK but with this show, which attracted a comfortably full house to the Mod Club, it seems like Toronto is catching on.

kevinr@nowtoronto.com | @kevinritchie

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