While listening to albums is one of the great joys in my life, my true passion is live music.
These were the 10 best moments of my year:
St. Vincent – Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn
While I may have recently praised the looks and skill of Ms. Stern, Ms. Clark is my one true love. Slinky green dress, piercing eyes, a collection of fuzz pedals. Her red lips matched her red airliner guitar. With a live band perfectly capable of re imagining the songs on 2007′s Marry Me, I think that night in February was the closest I’ve come to falling in love in a very long time.
Xiu Xiu – Sala Rossa, Montréal
I went to this concert with the expressed intention of bragging to a friend of mine who names Xiu Xiu as his favourite band. I’ve never been extremely enamored of their records, but the live concert blew my mind. The shear expressiveness of Jamie Stewarts voice was crippling. I could barely breath. Never before have I seen auxiliary percussion executed so well: bowed glockenspiel, 15 cymbals spread across the stage, and a single focused machine specifically designed for creating tension utilizing more tools than I knew were available. Absolutely Stunning. This is an absolute contender for the best concert of my life.
Radiohead – Parc Jean Drapeau, Montréal
Probably the most heavily anticipated concert I’ve ever been to, Radiohead delivered about 86% of what I was hoping for: a totally remarkable feat. 2007 was the year of my total obsession with Radiohead, 2008 was the year I got over them and moved on. Still, a commendable performance, and the most impressive stage show I’ve ever witnessed. Had I been there with fewer than 40,000 people, I expect I would have enjoyed it even more. Radiohead are the band I’m most proud to have once called my favourite band, but that title is no longer theirs.
September was one of the best concert going months of my life, these next three shows took place within 8 days of each other.
Shellac – Sala Rossa, Montréal Sept. 17
Shellac have the greatest recorded guitar tone in the world. I can now attest to the fact that it absolutely translates to their live set. The bass hit me in the gut, the drums were right at the front of the stage and the mix where they belonged, and seriously, Steve Fucking Albini. I have no words.
Sigur Rós – Pier Jacques Cartier, Montréal Sept. 20
Sigur Rós have never been my favourite band on record, as I find them a little to melodramatic, almost to the point of being cheesy. Live, however, they had me from the first note. They totally pulled off their epic post rock, every dramatic moment was believable. The confetti at the end was icing on the cake, and the surroundings (out on the water on a crisp September night) couldn’t have been more magical. Spell binding.
My Bloody Valentine – The Kool Haus, Toronto Sept 25
Seeing My Bloody Valentine perform live was a dream come true, one with seriously high expectations but unlike Radiohead, MBV delivered more than I could have ever imagined. A concert unlike anything I’d ever seen before in my life. The now legendary half hour noise squall at the end of You Made Me Realize completely redefined my own listening experience. An homage to the concept of amplitude itself, MBV made me feel something new. Like being totally submerged in sound waves, I was shocked by the incredibly physical manifestation of sound. I felt it in my stomach, everything shook, it was like being under water. It’s a good thing they gave away earplugs at the door.
The Neighbourhood Council + Azeda Booth – Martha Cohen Theater, Calgary
Seeing your friends out perform their idols is an incredibly gratifying experience. Opening for Deerhunter (their lead singer’s self professed favourite band), the Neighbourhood Council (now known as Braids) blew away the entire audience, and then brought them to their feet. I sat a few seats over and one row in front of Bradford Cox, who was perhaps the second or third person to rise, leading entire room for a multiple minute standing ovation. Other Calgary locals Azeda Booth continued by giving the best show I’ve ever seen them play. Sadly, headliners BBQ and Deerhunter were not up to the standards set by the openers, with almost 3 quarters of the audience leaving the room before Deerhunter had finished. TNC’s set was so impressive, they were invited to open for Deerhunter again in Montréal and Toronto this fall, and continued to amaze audiences with their performance at such a young age. I am so excited to see where they end up.
The Baltimore Round Robin – Eastern Bloc, Montréal
I only attended Feet Night of the Round Robin tour, and I feel like I missed out. I’ve got to hand it to Dan Deacon for pulling together the coolest touring concepts I’ve ever heard of, first with his collaborative film project Ultimate Reality and then again later in the year with the Round Robin. The later rounds of feet night were the sweatiest moments of the year, in the best way possible.
The Shearing Pinx + Getting Laids Wolf – Divan Orange, Montréal
The Shearing Pinx are my second favourite Noise Rock band. AIDS Wolf are the first. When during Pop Montréal they decided to form “the post-no-wave supergroup Getting Laids Wolf” my head just about exploded. Never have my muscles contracted so intensely in a response to sound. It was hallucination inducing. God Damn!
Kevin Doria/Dave Bryant/Johnathan Parent/Karl Lemieux – L’envers, Montréal
The only composed drone piece I’ve ever seen performed live, this show was one more nail in the coffin of traditional music for me. Karl Lemieux was playing three film projectors simultaneously, using film loops, burning frames and melting film on the screen, and providing a clickity-clackity background for the glorious guitar and electronics work provided by the three other performers. Seeing as this is the last of the concerts whose virtues I must extol, I find myself running low on adjectives. Trust me when I say that this performance deserves them all.
And an Eleventh for Good Measure:
Constantines – Club Lambi, Montréal
I’ve seen the Cons probably 7 or 8 times. This year was undoubtedly the best I’ve ever seen them. In a tiny club, on a stage no more than a foot high, with guitars mercilessly crashing into each other a meter in front of my eyes, the Constantines proved to me that guitar rock in the vein of Fugazi is alive and well in 2008. Thank goodness!
Honorable Mention: Dan Deacon – Ultimate Reality Tour, Black Mountain with Bon Iver, A Silver Mount Zion, Dillinger Four, Yo La Tengo, Silver Jews.
