by schwenko » Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:42 pm
My ears are still ringing from last night's mega-concert!
I sailed into Toronto, flew right to the Pilot and up to the second floor at 8PM, one hour before the official "doors" time. I didn't have the official pass for entry; no pass, no problem!
While killing time before the music started I seredipiticiously ran into NW Outpost member Christsmasher! Very friendly, she filled me in on the local Toronto music scene, and introduced me to the other half of her band ProCon! Check out her profile for a homepage link, and watch for their winter 2007 tour, including Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn in January.
The show started shortly after 9PM with a world music/folk group (they have 2 tracks on the Ready Records cd comps). Then the Extras, whose evident claim to fame is a song about a condom.
Next up was, for me, the big surprise hit of the night, Steve Blimkie and the Reason. Steve himself describes his musical style as "Elvis Costello" (ca. 1978) and that is dead-on. He played a tight, power-pop, new wave fueled set that showed off his stage presence very nicely. He really knew how to put on a show, and his band was definitely cooking last night. Th encore was Take Me To The River.He also has 2 songs on the RR comps, quite tasty!
Blue Peter followed, playing seven high-energy songs, including Chinese Graffiti (way before Axl Rose thought of it; umm actually Axl Rose uses the term Chinese Democracy, still not out yet), and topped off by the anthemic Don't Walk Past. A real crowd pleaser.
And then the "headliners" if you will, Spoons. Gord and the guys (and gals) played a much too short set, in their typical fantastic style. Opening with Arias and Symphonies, followed by Tell No Lies, Nova Heart, Romantic Traffic,Uld Emotions, Waterline and ending with One in Ten Words (I may have missed 1 or 2 songs).
I had a chance to speak with Steve Blimkie after the show (he was amazed that I actually came from NYC to see the show); he was quite congenial, telling me the band hadn't played together in 20+ years, and had 1 practice session before the gig.
I met my friends Cheryl and Jeff who took numerous photos, including one of Cheryl, Sandy Horne and me which I'll post when I receive it.
All in all, a great night! Thank you to the musicians, The Pilot and Ready Records.