Tag Archives: Daniel Romano
Poor Pilgrim’s Island Show 4, Toronto Islands
18/07/2010
I skipped out of work a bit early on Sunday to catch the ferry over to the Toronto Islands for the fourth annual Poor Pilgrim Island Show. My first time attending this event, I decided to go as much for the music as for the chance to explore the islands alongside some friends. The forecast for the evening called for a thunderstorm, and with most of the acts performing outdoors, I was a little worried that the event would have to deviate from its plan. Luckily, the storm just missed the islands, so everything pretty much went as planned.
The first act of the day, starting a 5 pm and performing inside the Franklin Children’s Storybook Garden, was Picastro. They’re a band that I’ve always heard about but never actually sat down to listen to or see live. In fact I don’t know a whole lot about them, but checking their bio on Wikipedia they’re described as a “sleep rock.” An odd descriptor for a band, but not entirely inaccurate. Singer Liz Hysen sings quietly and some of the songs stretched on pretty long; I feel their intimate, nocturnal sound would have been a good fit for later in the day, not as the first band. Still, I liked their set, but I feel if I acquaint myself more with their material they could be a band that I could really get into.
According the our handy maps (which were available to pick up at Soundscapes during the week leading up to the show), the next two acts were going to be performing at the Gibraltar Centre for the Arts. The mob of people, which I’d estimate at about 50 or so, made the trek westwards to find that there were already a bunch of people waiting at the next stop. While Eucalyptus was setting up on one end of the room, we were treated to a puppet show retelling of the ugly duckling story, with a few twists. It was fun.
Eucalyptus is a bit of an all-star band, as far as having a lot of great Toronto musicians among its ranks. Led by alto sax-extraordinaire Brodie West, members include trumpeter Nicole Rampersaud, guitarist Alex Lukashevsky, bassist Michael Smith, percussionist Blake Howard, drummer Nick Fraser, and Ryan Driver on piano. I won’t pretend I know all that much calypso music, but the band sounded amazing. Cool stuff!
As we were leaving for the next spot on our map we were informed to check out the art installation on one of the beaches. It consisted of a few boomboxes playing music buried under the sand. It was pretty neat! A lot of people were putting their ears up to the sand to hear better but I didn’t stick around long enough to try.
At the Centre Island Pier under darkening skies and light rain I watched Not the Wind Not the Flag, an impovised duo playing a variety of instruments including kalimba, a homemade-looking guitar, recorder and drums. My friend who is more into improvised music seemed to appreciate their techniques, but it mostly just went over my head. Still, they kept it short and the backdrop was nice, so I’m not complaining.
It was back indoors for the next band, Toronto-by-way-of-California’s Snowblink, performing at St. Andrew-by-the-Lake Church. I’ve been a fan ever since I saw them in January 2009 and have given their last album Long Live many listens. I’ve seen them play a bunch more in the last year and I thought I knew exactly what I’d be seeing on Sunday. Happily, the band was playing almost entirely new songs that, dare I say, kinda rock? I mean, I don’t know if Snowblink could ever really rock out, but to me their live show has always been very precious and careful. This time, the band seemed a bit looser and the new songs floated less like butterflies and stung more like bees, to use a cliché. Very much looking forward to seeing what else they have up their sleeves.
The last stop of the night (for me) was Snake Island where I arrived just as the sun was starting to set. THOMAS played a stripped-down set of pop jams to kick things off. I’ve caught them live a few times now but still haven’t given their album Self-Help a proper listen. I was situated pretty far back from where they were playing and kinda zoned out for part of their set, but I could tell it was good.
Once it was dark out we moved to another section of the beach for both Tasseomancy and Daniel Romano. I saw both of them play very recently and have already written a lot about them, so I can’t add much more. Artist Yuula Benivolski built a “dream machine” which spun around during their sets and from my vantage point fit nicely into the Toronto skyline. Tasseomancy used a very cool sounding pedal that made their mandolin sound like an organ or something, and the lightning in the sky behind them added some fitting ambiance to their eerie music. Daniel’s set was different enough from last week’s show to make it stick out, including a few new tunes and a cover or two. After his set my friend said, “That man can do no wrong,” and I’d have to agree with him.
There were a lot of people filming the concert so I’m hoping to see some footage surface. I had some technical issues (I forgot my battery at home and had to get my brother to bring it to me, missing out on the first half of the night) but on top of filming Snowblink, I got another song from Daniel Romano, which I’ll post here:
I was exhausted come 11 pm and having to work in the morning made me decide to sacrifice catching the last two acts of the night, Alex Lukashevsky Trio and Drumheller. Fortunately, by that point in the evening a lot more people had showed up so despite a fair number of people taking the ferry back to shore with me, it’s good to know the last two bands would still be playing to a good crowd.
All in all, the mini-festival was a wonderful experience. It gave me the chance to see a lot of interesting bands I might not go see normally, and really let me see some cool parts of the islands that I had yet to explore. Kudos to the organizer Matt Cully and to all the bands that played for free. We live in a good city.
Daniel Romano, Baby Eagle, and Will Kidman at The Shop, Toronto
11/07/2010
So last night I visited Toronto’s newest venue, The Shop, located underneath the restaurant Parts & Labour in the heart of Parkdale. I remember last fall when I started hearing people talking about a new restaurant, an offshoot of Oddfellows and The Social, opening up at Queen St. W. and Sorauren Ave. that was going to have a small “punk” venue in the basement. I’m always happy when bands have new places to play, but I was mostly excited to have a venue opening up so close to my apartment (Toronto’s west-end is severely lacking in rooms to see bands I like play). The venue now known as The Shop finally opened about a month or so ago and I meant to check it out sooner but I’m glad I waited until a show I really wanted to see popped up, as was the case on Sunday night.
Will Kidman opened the night with a quick set of songs that have yet to appear on any of his albums as Woolly Leaves (I’m still not sure if he’s playing under that name anymore). I captured some video but I had a feeling, perhaps because he was still reading the lyrics off a sheet, that a lot of the songs were still being developed and I don’t like to put stuff on the internet when it’s still being worked on. You know what I mean? Maybe it doesn’t matter. Anyway, I thought all his songs were among the best he’s written, and his cover of Neil Young’s “Shots” (which he also covered in the Constantines on their 2006 split 12″ with the Unintended) was particularly cool to hear.
Next up was Baby Eagle (Steve Lambke, also of the Constantines) who brought a full band with him, which I believed he dubbed “The Proud Mothers,” composed of three quarters of Attack in Black (Spencer Burton on drums, Ian Kehoe on bass, and Daniel Romano on acoustic geetar). It was a fairly similar set to the one I witnessed back in March at The Horseshoe when he opened for Daniel, Fred & Julie, which was fine because it gave me a second chance to hear all his new songs. My verdict: I like ‘em! While not too much of a departure from the rest of his material, with song titles like “Fisherman or Fish” and “River Bank Sitter,” moving to the East-Coast definitely seems to have informed his lyrics, at the very least. He has a new record called Dog Weather coming out soon on You’ve Changed Records, but it was available at the show last night! I listened to it today!
Daniel Romano was last up, armed only with his trusty acoustic and Bruce Peninsula‘s Misha Bower singing in harmony – the same formation I saw just over a month ago at his album release show at The Dakota Tavern. It was nice to see a lot more people come out to Sunday’s show, the record seems to be picking up steam and there were a lot of people up front listening attentively, but enough people towards the back of the room talking loudly and playing foosball made for a worse experience than at The Dakota. That’s okay though, there a plenty of other venues in the city that are better geared towards folk music. I think The Shop will be a good place to see louder music, when a little bit of chatter isn’t such a distraction.
Now that I think about it, are there any good places to see quiet music in Toronto? I mentioned The Dakota before, but even that place gets loud when there enough people there. I guess the only time you’re going to find a quiet room is if it’s a large venue and people have paid a lot of money to be there (Massey Hall for example). Any bar with a cheap enough cover is going to attract people who aren’t there for the music, and that’s okay. I feel fortunate enough that I can even see musicians I like on a weekly basis playing rooms that I can afford. What are your thoughts on this subject?
Daniel, Fred & Julie, and Baby Eagle at The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto
15/04/2010
Last Thursday I went and saw Daniel, Fred & Julie play at the Horseshoe, the perfect venue to hear them play their gentle folk songs. Last fall when I first caught wind of this project, I immediately knew I’d love the record. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the music these three people make, so to have them team up for a record had me pulling out my wallet faster than you can say “Sackville.” Truthfully, it made sense for them to join forces: Julie played in Fred’s old band “Shotgun & Jaybird,” and when that band broke up, ex-member Shotgun Jimmie recruited Daniel’s band Attack in Black to be his backing band. Attack in Black’s album Years featured guest vocals from Julie Doiron, who in turn covered two of Fred’s songs on her last album.
Are you with me still? If so, please enjoy their song “Runner” from their self-titled debut record, out now on You’ve Changed Records.
Opening the show was Baby Eagle. What’s there to say about little ol’ Baby Eagle, other than it’s the project of the Constantines’ Steve Lambke, and that he’s great? I guess the first peep I ever heard from him was the last track on the third Cons album (Tournament of Hearts), a ditty called “Windy Road.” It had Steve singing, but instead of the usual scrappy punk song we got a pleasant acoustic number. It was an album highlight for me, so I was happy when he started playing solo shows later that year. Two quick albums in 2006 and 2007 followed by a split with Attack in Black late last year brings us to today. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from him soon – his setlist was all new songs, and it looks like he’s going electric.