Pick a Piper
(Wednesday,Rancho Relaxo)
Pick a Piper’s intense percussion section, including up to eight drummers at times, made for an impressive, even euphoric experience. But the novelty quickly wore off, as almost every song featured variations on the same beat and the band offered few other interesting musical arrangements. An extra point for the band’s efforts to engage the audience, tossing out dozens of tambourines to the eager crowd as their performance drew to a close.—Sean MacKay
2.5/5
Diamond Rings
(Thursday, The Garrison; Friday, The Silver Dollar)
The lights dimmed, the synthesizer started, and the stage was ablur with pink eyeshadow and zebra leggings. No, it wasn’t a Lady Gaga show, but rather Oshawa’s own John O’Regan (of The D’Urbervilles fame) going solo as Diamond Rings. With only a Pitchfork-approved single to his name, O’Regan burst onto the scene with his DIY blend of Depeche Mode-cum-Casiotone for the Painfully Alone synth pop, armed with a Grace Jones makeup job and dance moves that looked like Ian Curtis doing the funky chicken. The music was all looped Garage Band beats and keyboards, with O’Regan sometimes strumming out jangly guitar chords to match his aw-shucks couplets on love and youth. But for a musician whose primary cache is his play with gender and sexuality (think Boy George for the ’00s), O’Regan’s tunes are pretty fucking catchy. He’s admitted to being influenced by Judith Butler’s theories on performance, and it shows—based on the title of his upcoming LP Special Attraction, he seems totally aware of his glammed-up side-show shtick. Sure, it’s a pretty overt attention grab, but it’s working—this week, all of Toronto seemed to be watching.—Wyndham Bettencourt-McCarthy
4/5 (Worth seeing a second time!)
Make Your Exit
(Thursday, El Mocambo)
The five members of Make Your Exit were scattered onstage at the El Mocambo in a uniform of
neutral-coloured T-shirts and jeans, looking as though they’d just rolled out from their parents’ basements and found themselves with a guitar, drum kit, bass, and saxophone in front of them. They played in a sort of dazed bewilderment, bumping into each other and awkwardly pumping out their brand of traditional indie rock. Over the loud buzz of people shouting at each other over beers, it wasn’t much.—Emily Kellogg
2/5
Fields of Fur
(Thursday, The Garrison)
A good part of this year’s CMW felt like a renaissance of the early 1990s alt scene, and Fields of Fur fit right in as the festival’s new (and decidedly more attractive) Yo La Tengo. Despite being a scant three shows old, the band had YLT’s two-guy-and-a-girl brand of shoegaze fuzz pretty down pat—even considering frontman (and Holy Fuck member) Brian Borcherdt’s incomprehensible Cocteau Twins warbling part-way through certain songs. If the band can turn out some catchy, Ira Kaplan-esque melodies in the next few months, they’ve got the chops to make it to bonafide flannel fame.—WBM
3/5
Dead Messenger
Dan Mangan
(Friday, The Courthouse)
Of all the artists playing at the BC music showcase, Dan Mangan certainly drew the largest crowd. At least a dozen of those watching the show seemed to know every word to his affable, humour-injected folk tunes, a promising sign that his music is catching on across Canada. It was an energetic performance that saw the confident and charming Mangan playfully bantering with the crowd in between rousing renditions of tracks from his album, Nice, Nice, Very Nice.—SM
4/5
The Acorn
(Friday, Lee’s Palace)
Lee’s Palace was packed, and the audience swarmed around the front of the stage, bobbing their heads in time to The Acorn’s haunting indie folk. The bearded crew of musicians worked in perfect synchronicity, each echoing the other’s awkward charm with a slight tilt of the hips. For band members Roif Klausener, Jeff Debutte, T. Jeffrey Malecki, Howie Tsui, and Pat Johnson, the show seemed to be all about subtleties and timing—from their ever-so-slight dancing to their stirring harmonies, which created a charismatic trance through the room.—EK
4/5
PS I Love You
(Friday, The Silver Dollar)
Yelping like Paul Westerberg with a firecracker up his ass, burly Paul Saulnier of Kingston’s PS I Love You took the stage on Friday in a denim-on-denim ensemble and decidedly uncool temporary face tattoos. But for a band with so much sloppy charm, PS was pretty darn tight, turning out one Dinosaur Jr.–influenced guitar rock lick after another. In these days of expansive Broken Social Scene type bands, it can be intimidating to be just a gruesome twosome, but Saulnier and drummer Benjamin Nelson’s straight-up skills filled out the sound just fine. The most talented guitarist I’ve seen live in a long time, Saulnier rounded out the night by busting a series of wicked solos that would have done any guitar god proud, be it Doug Martsch or Slash.—WBM
Jason Collett
4/5
Ghostkeeper
(Friday, The Garrison)
For reasons unknown, Calgary’s freak blues-pop outfit Ghostkeeper was missing a member at the second of three Eye Weekly showcases taking place during CMW. The band still meted out a solid performance despite the circumstances, but their confidence was noticeably lacking during the first 20 minutes of their set, and the songs sounded a touch incomplete. They could also stand to work on their crowd interaction: at a festival where most people are likely seeing your band for the first time, it’s advisable to mention your band name at least once.—SM
2.5/5
Radius and Helena
Joel Plaskett
(Saturday, Mod Club)
Joel Plaskett is turning into a legend. The masses at Mod Club acted like they were having a religious experience when Plaskett took the stage early on Saturday night, accompanied by Montrealer guitarist and keyboardist Peter Elkas. With his particular brand of small-town charm, Plaskett seemed to take over the multi-coloured room with the simplicity that came from this “acoustic” show. Through a sometimes shoddy sound system, Plaskett’s soaring vocals were accentuated by the more diminutive guitar sound and the expansive audience couldn’t help but sing along.—EK
4.5/5
