Katuwapitiya

Toronto had a great line-up of concerts last week, most of which were in town for Canadian Music Week. Let me tell you a little bit about the bands that I saw. It’s been a blur but I’ll write what I can remember.

Silversun Pickups and Muse at the Air Canada Centre (March 8th, 2010)

It’s been ages since I’ve been to the Air Canada Centre for a concert (Coldplay in 2006?) and I can’t say that I miss sitting a hundred rows away from an act. With that said, the act that I was there to see definitely knows how to fill arenas with their brand of rock. The openers, Silversun Pickups, were as good as I expected. The stuff from their new album was tight but “Lazy Eye” was definitely a highlight. Here is a video of that performance:

Next up was Muse and they definitely had a shitload of stage effects (lights, platforms, lasers) that made the show a great audio-visual experience. I must say that I’m not the biggest Muse fan. I find that there are times when they take themselves way too seriously and tracks from their new album pale in comparison to songs from Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations. With that said, Muse puts on a hell of a live show and it’s tough to compare the acts that I normally see to such a bombastic production. Here is a video of their performance of “Plug In Baby”, complete with a rain of eyeballs:

Parlovr, Winter Gloves, and Handsome Furs at El Mocambo (March 12th, 2010)

What a contrast to the stadium rock from earlier in the week! El Mocambo didn’t even have a place to check my coat. Besides that annoying aspect, the venue was definitely a great place to take in my first Canadian Music Week experience. From what I can remember, this was a hell of a show. Parlovr really impressed me with their stage presence and instrumentation and I now consider myself a fan. Here is a video of their performance of “All The World Is All”:

Winter Gloves followed with a great set, complete with free CD’s handed out to the crowd.

Great energy for some great indie tunes. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from them soon enough.

Handsome Furs ended the night on an even higher note. So much energy from two people (Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry), a guitar and some buttons on a synthesizer/drum machine.

Dan Boeckner

Alexei Perry

The songs from Plague Park lept off the stage and had the entire crowd moving. Really surprised me how well the songs translated to a live performance.

Here’s a video of “I’m Confused”, complete with an earring flying off of Alexei Perry:

P.O.S. at Sneaky Dee’s (March 14th, 2010)

My memories of this night are a bit hazy but I do remember the headliner, P.O.S. quite vividly. I missed most of the sets of openers Astronautilus and Dessa but they did join P.O.S. during his set and were quite impressive.

P.O.S.’s lyricism and ability to control the crowd made this concert one of the best rap shows I’ve ever been to. His underground rap-punk rock style had the crowd going batshit crazy in parts. The night left me wishing that I knew more of his catalog. Definitely think that he’s one of the most underrated MC’s in hip hop today. Here are two videos, Drumroll and Half Cocked Concepts:

Overall, an amazing week of concerts. Next up, Temper Trap on March 30th!