Sam Roberts Band w/ Jets Overhead @ Malkin Bowl -- 05/28/11

It has been far too long since three things happened: I've seen Jets Overhead live, I've seen Sam Roberts Band live, and I've seen a show at Malkin Bowl. And it was a gorgeous day to combine these three things last night. Fun fact*: The first time I saw Sam Roberts Band was also the first time I saw Jets Overhead. They were opening on a bill that was Jets, The Stills, Broken Social Scene, and SRB.
*fact not guaranteed to be fun.

Due to some aggravation with parking -- namely, waiting in line for 15 minutes to pay -- I missed the first song or two of Jets Overhead, running up to the park with "No Nations" in the distance.
They were on top of their game in the shining sun, with their infection melodies and catchy harmonies. They played mostly off their last full length, No Nations, but also had a few off Bridges and the newest EP, Bystander. The title track from the EP was definitely one of the highlights, with its soaring vocals, as well as a stripped down and acoustic-y "Where Did You Go?" and the simmering "Fully Shed". And the set came to a dynamic ending with the almost seven minute "Tired of the Comfort", building to an intense climax. And an awesome rock-star-jumping-scissor-kick from Adam.
They mentioned in the set recording a new album, which I am definitely looking forward to.

Setlist (may be a bit off at the beginning)
No Nations, Fully Shed, Seems So Far, Sure Sign, First Time, Where Did You Go, Bystander, I Should Be Born, Heading For Nowhere, Tired of the Comfort.

And then hitting the stage promptly at 8:15 (it was an early show) was Sam Roberts Band. They kicked off with "I Feel You", the lead single off the first album, psyching everyone up right off the bat. From there they played what ended up being a nearly two hour set with songs from all over their catalogue. The whole band had a great energy, especially Sam, but especially guitarist Dave Nugent, who couldn't seem to be still for more than a minute. They definitely had the crowd engaged from the very beginning, too, with lots of singing along, especially to the older hits like "Hard Road", "Where Have All The Good People Gone?" and "Brother Down"; the latter two had Sam hold the mic out for the crowd to sing parts of the chorus.
Most of the set was focused on the faster songs, but there were a couple moments where he slowed it down, like "Lions of the Kalahari", and he swapped for an acoustic guitar a few times, most notably for "Bridge to Nowhere". And while some of the newer stuff didn't quite pop as much as the older, there were still some great moments, like the pounding rhythms and rock sax of "Let It In" and the heartbreaking "Partition Blues". The sun was setting just as he finished the main set with "The Last Crusade" off the new album, but they were, of course, back out for a few more hits, ending the encore with "Them Kids", sending everyone into a frenzy.
At this point I was satisfied, if a little disappointed they didn't play my favourite song, "Mind Flood". But then, my worries were for naught as they hit the stage one more time and launched into its ten minute glory of swirling, psychedelic guitars for an incredible end to an already great show.

Not surprisingly, it was a fantastic show from a pair of bands that never fail to put on a great live show, in one of the cities best venues.

setlist
I Feel You, With A Bullet, Fixed to Ruin, Let It In, Lions of the Kalahari, Graveyard Shift, Hard Road, Up Sister, Partition Blues, Bridge to Nowhere, The Band vs The World, Where Have All The Good People Gone?, Without A Map, Brother Down, The Last Crusade.
(encore), Streets of Heaven (Promises, Promises), Detroit '67, Don't Walk Away Eileen, Them Kids.
(double encore) Mind Flood.

Review-kus.

Originally I wanted to review every album I bought/otherwise listened to this year. Clearly, I've slacked on that. Partially cos there have been a lot of albums that, for whatever reason, I don't feel like writing a full review for. So what I have decided to do is give a few really quick reviews all at once.... in haiku form. Here we go!

No Nations by Jets Overhead
Excellent second
They're not heading for nowhere
Quite the opposite.

Download Fully Shed by Jets Overhead

Sounds Like Zeus EP by Zeus
A kick-ass EP
Songs that will march through your head
Can't wait for full length

Download Marching Through Your Head by Zeus

Wilco (The Album) by Wilco
Aural excellence
The brilliance you would expect
Wilco (The Haiku)

Download You and I (feat. Feist) by Wilco

Riceboy Sleeps by Jónsi & Alex
(Sigur Rós vocalist Jón Þór Birgisson and partner Alex Somers, and also including Amiina)
Take some Sigur Rós
And remove all the vocals
Still heavenly

Download All the Big Trees by Jónsi & Alex

Jets Overhead @ The Chan Centre -- 10/08/09

In my all too humble opinion, one of the marks of truly talented musicians is the ability to take your songs and strip them down to an acoustic form. This is exactly what Jets Overhead did last night at the Chan Centre. They played a set, which was recorded for CBC Radio 2, that was pretty stripped down and raw. Not having heard them do any acoustic material before, I really wasn't sure how it was going to turn out or what to expect...
They came on just after 5, with no opening act, and played for about an hour and a half or so. Starting with a few tracks off their first album, Bridges, they then did something that I had never seen before, and something that was actually really cool. They played the entire new album, No Nations, back to front. Starting with the last song and working their way to the first. At the beginning, they mentioned how difficult it ended up being. Of course, by the second song they proved this to be true when the bass player started in on the second song of the album, but they just joked about it and from there it went off without a hitch. After the album, they played a couple more older songs, but then another brand new one, recorded at the same time as No Nations. I didn't catch the name of it, but I really liked and I hope to be able to find sometime soon. They closed the set, sans encore (which I liked, since my views on the "wander off, then come back on, when you could have just kept playing" practice are well known) with another older song, off their first EP. I also have to mention, they had, just off stage, an upright piano that was only used for a couple songs, but added a great sense of scope to the songs. Maybe it's just cos I'm a sucker for piano.
The whole set, aside from the one flub, was incredibly tight and pretty seamless. They all seemed completely comfortable to be up there, and a lot of the stage banter and stories were loose and natural. As much of a fan I was of the band before the show, I am even more so now, because of this show. I think I even liked some of the songs just as much, if not better than, the album versions, to the point where I was wishing for an acoustic album. I am really glad it was recorded for CBCR2, so I will be able to listen to it again and again and again.

Setlist
All The People, Seems So Far, Tired of the Comfort, It's A Funny Thing, Always a First Time, Fully Shed, Time Will Remember, Sure Sign, No Nations, Weathervanes ((In The Way) Heading For Nowhere, I Should Be Born, George Harrison, Get It Right, [New song], Sun Sun Sun.

The Dears @ Richard's -- 05/30/09

In my life, I try not to go into anything with high expectations. Concerts, movies, albums, TV shows, video games... anything like that. That is not to say I am always a pessimist with low expectations, but I find it healthy to have no expectations for things. "He who expects nothing never will be disappointed" and all that. Sometimes, however, that doesn't work out. Like when I am going to see one of my top 4 favourite band, The Dears, live. At Richard's. With another band I really like, Jets Overhead. And a third band, Black Diamond Bay, which, I found out the day before, is the new band of ex-Dears member Patrick Krief. How could I not have high expectations for a show like this?

The "early" show started a little later than advertised with Black Diamond Bay hitting the stage a half hour after the advertised showtime, at 8. Consisting of the aforementioned Krief, another ex-Dear, George Donoso III on drums, a keyboardist that had some Weird Al hair, and a bassist with a darker Kyle Broflofsky do, the band vaguely reminded me of early Dears, though I'm not sure if that was more due to their sound, or the fact that half of them used to be. They had that very indie-retro sound that seemed equally influenced from brit-pop and blues. In fact, I am inventing a new genre for them right now: indie-retro-rock-brit-blues-pop. Krief wasn't much of a talker, saying hi and thanks and the sort a couple times, but for the most part let the music do the talking. And holy shit did it ever. Between his face melting solos and Donoso's incredible controlled-chaos style drumming, they absolutely blew me away. I think I even fell in love with Patrick Krief a little bit. If I had any problems with the set, it was that it was too short, with them only playing for a little under 40 minutes, but at the time it didn't actually feel that short at all. Needless to say I picked up their new album, and I can not wait to see them again.

Then after a quick turnaround, Jets Overhead took the stage. I had seen then a couple times prior, and am quite the fan of them, but I hadn't heard anything from them in a while, since their 06 bedut, Bridges, so while I hadn't really... forgotten about them, rather they just fell off my radar a little. Their 45 minute set consisted solely of songs from their upcoming album, out next week -- though I snagged a copy early, as they were selling them at the show! -- which was a little disappointing, but understandable since they are promoting that. The new stuff, however, sounded pretty awesome and in the same indie-trance-rock vein as their prior sound, but without sounding too similar. The best possible analogy I can come up with for them is that their sound is like sitting in the surf at the ocean. Sometimes calmly washing over you and gently ebbing away, sometimes crashing down on you and threatening to drag you out to with them. Even with the unenviable task of following Black Diamond Bay, they performed an excellent swt that had me excited to hear the new album. Still, though, I wish they had played at least one or two from Bridges...

Then finally, it was time for The Dears. They had one of the most incredibly opening to the show that I have seen in quite some time. Just after 10, the stage grew dark, the house music went off, and the prerecorded instrumental part of Savior, the final song off their latest album, Missiles, started up. Then, with everything still dark, Murray Lightburn's disembodied voice began singing softly and heartfelt. Where was he? Backstage? About to come out? Nope. He was at the very back of the club, behind everyone (or below us on the balcony) and slowly wading through the crowd towards the front of the stage. With a small flashlight in hand, illuminating himself, shining on everyone around him, he made his way through the crowd singing at and to everyone there. Soon after, the other six members of the band took the stage for the backup vocals of oohs and aahs, with the sold out audience joining in as well. Jumping back on stage near the end, the members grabbed their instruments for the finale of the song, then went right into Money Babies (the first single from Missiles) and Demons, also from Missiles. From there, they went back a bit, to their previous album playing There Goes My Outfit, with Murray giving some a raw, emotional performance of the song I thought he was going to breaks down right there on stage... and that wouldn't be the last time that happened, either. You & I Are A Gang Of Losers, one of my favourite songs was next, and then they went back even further with Lost In The Plot, which included a really cool new ending to the song, with it slowly fading out and ending almost acousticly, with just Murray & his guitar. Murray then took the opprotunity to thank everyone for coming and all that before going into a few more songs from Missiles, with Disclaimer being pretty great live and Crisis 1 & 2 highlighting Natalia Yanchak's amazing vocals in a "starring" role, and not just as backup vocals (Natalia being not only the only other surviving original member of the original lineup, but also married to Murray). Going back to Gang Of Losers, they played the higly energetic Whites Only Party, which at one point had a funny visual moment of Murray at the back of the stage, then the guitarist & bassist moving in front of him to block him, only for Murray to "shove" his way back out front. Hate Then Love had Murray running all over the stage, from the back to sing, singing to the people on the balcony behind them, to the front and then right back in through the crowd, followed by Meltdown In A Major where Murray broke out the keytar (awesome). They ended the main set after an hour and a half by dedicating the last song to Stars Torquil Campbell (and/or his young child) before going into another one of my favourites, Lights Off. And holy shit, if that wasn't one of the most amazing live performances I have ever seen. I was a little sad Pat krief didn't come back out and do his amazing guitar solo for the song, but the new guitarist did just an amazing, and then the ending of the song, was just absolutely amazing and insane and intense and raw... and then! about half way through the song, during the long instrumental part (it's a nine minute song) a gentlemen in all white jumped on stage to assist in the backup vocals, the oohs and aahs. That gentleman? Torquil Campbell! The song came to an end with Murray shaming Torq off stage with his powerful vocals (jokingly, of course) and left the crowd not only in awe, but roaring for more.
They came back, of course, with a No Cities Left-focused encore, but not before some tomfoolery. The normalls quiet Murray joked about getting into their time machine to go to 2050 before trying to get the crowd to silence for anticipation for the next song. I'm sure you can imagine how that went, as there was always one jackass ruining the moment. After a couple tries and some more joking around on stage, we finally got silence enough for a ten second countdown and then launching into the opening chords of We Can Have It. Followed by a brief acoustic verse from Expect The Worst/Cos She's a Tourist, they ended the night off with 22: The Death of All The Romance (yet another favourite of mine, and one of my favourite music videos of all time), which again, climaxed to an incredible energetic end of the show.

I know I use a fair amount of hyperbole when I talk about shows. Every show is incredimazing and are frequently my favourite or best of the year. But this show? From the amazing opening through the crowd, the incredible raw emotion of the performances (I swear, the band, but Murray especially, must be a wreck after each show), the absolutely sublime Lights Off, with Torquil being simply the preverbial cherry on top. This is a show that I will never, as long as I live, forget. It hasn't even been 12 hours since it ended, and it is already one of my favourite shows of all time. Favourite all around, shows, too, since I have to give both Jets Overhead and Black Diamond Bay their due. Just another reminder of why The Dears are, as I mentioned above, one of my top four favourite bands/artists/musicians of all time.

I also kept track of the setlist, which is as follows!

saviour, money babies, demons, there goes my outfit, you and i are a gang of losers, lost in the plot, berlin heart, disclaimer, crisis 1 & 2, dream job, whites only party, hate then love, meltdown in a major, lights off. (encore) we can have it, expect the worst/cos she's a tourist (single, acoustic verse, segue to), 22: the death of all the romance