Show #45 - May 4, 2010: Frightened Rabbit @ The Opera House w. Maps and Atlases, Our Brother The Native

"Is that you in front of me, coming back for even more of exactly the same. You must be a masochist..."

Frightened Rabbit is a punishing listen for a man like me with regrets about women. Song after song, just back from the Opera House stage, a cognitive split as I remember low and high moments. Late night calls, showing up at front doors, ignoring, drinking too much. Warmth in the bed, soft eyes, falling hair. Without really taking stock though, the damage can be easier to remember. It can pile up into this insurmountable heap; you're sure it's your problem, your fault. Guilt sets in. Frightened Rabbit is the soundtrack to your fuck-ups.

What could she possibly be thinking... it was a source of regret that introduced me to the Scottish lads and she had to have known what she was doing. Sending a message or not, she has good taste; the Selkirk band's latest album Winter of Mixed Drinks has been generally well received by critics. The show sold out as well, much like the band's Horseshoe stop last July in support of their previous release Midnight Organ Fight. The set drew from both albums on this night, a near 50/50 split leaning towards the crowd pleasing epic moments of their sophomore effort.

The openers were a mix of the new and familiar. Our Brother The Native, with their freak-folk energy, hectic vocals and incredible beats drew a grab bag of reactions. Beats pulled you in, vocals tending to grate. Maps and Atlases, are alumni of the project from Show #2; math-folk of the nerdiest ilk. Two handed tapping over poly-rhythms with beards abound, the Illinois band was more than liked.

"Leave the rest at arms length, leave your naked flesh under your favourite dress... when they reach out don't touch them, don't touch them."

When I first heard Frightened Rabbit, it was instantaneous. There was a magnetic pull. Midnight Organ Fight is the soundtrack to the last 2 (maybe 4) years of my life, that thankfully I hadn't heard until those years were over. Standing in the packed venue, there was comfort in knowing that so many others felt connected to the same thing. When making terrible decisions en masse, they feel less terrible I suppose. But there was a sense of loss too; of detachment and betrayal. I won't be able to see the music that I've grown so intimate with, in a more intimate venue than this. Hundreds of others crowded around, pushing their way forward.

The truth of it is that none of the songs are ours to hold though. We can't get upset that someone is texting during the tales because they're Scott Hutchison's; his songs and experiences. He's out there tonight, 2 weeks later, in Seattle, sharing the words and notes with some other fan. Chances are, they had a rough couple of years relationship-wise too. We have to take our relationships for what they are, not the things they seem to be. If we hold on too tightly to the ephemeral, we run the risk of being hurt. And we've got enough regrets. So instead we smile during the encore. We beam as Hutchison steps forward of the monitors and unplugs his guitar, leaves the mic behind and with a chorus of kindred, sings soft "oohs" aside lyrics of memory and loss. It's our soundtrack, but his life. 

Setlist / Encore (Album):

• Skip The Youth (WMD)
• Modern Leper (MOF)
• Old Old Fashioned (MOF)
• The Loneliness and The Scream (WMD)
• The Wrestle (WMD)
• The Twist (MOF)
• Swim Until Your Can't See Land (WMD)
• Footshooter (WMD)
• My Backwards Walk (MOF)
• Nothing Like You (WMD)
• Heads Roll Off (MOF)
• Good Arms vs. Bad (MOF)
• Poke (MOF)
• Living In Colour (WMD)
• Keep Yourself Warm (MOF)

Show #44 - April 30, 2010: Jonsi @ The Sound Academy w. Death Vessel

I am the subject of a rapturous moment. Hands pressed together infront of my chest, almost reaching up to hold my breath in my body as I smile in delight through "Grow Till Tall." Panes of projected glass fly off the set amidst a torrential rain and a flurry of lightning. Nature consumes the constructed set in reverse of the opener "Hengilas" where fire destroyed images of nature to reveal constructs of steel and grit. The broken facade of those industrial windows now barely obscures wind swept clouds projected against the patined grey sky as the stage goes dark and the decibels fade.

Beautiful is a word that can not begin to describe Jonsi's live show. The intricacy of the production was cause for the cancellation of a second night in Toronto, deemed to complex to be undone in time for the venue's next guests. Without enough time to deconstruct the set and clear the Sound Academy, two nights of ticket holders were invited in to the venue for Friday's show. Near the front it was unclear how many accepted the invitation, save for the exuberant applause that accompanied the end of each song; a communal overflow of joy and awe as walls of gorgeous sound dropped away.

It began unassumingly though. Death Vessel is a tightly built, thin man with hair to his waist and sunken cheeks. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, heavy boots on his feet, and draped with a simple acoustic guitar, sound-hole taped over, the last thing I expected was a voice like Brendan B. Brown over psychedelic acoustic blues. Like A.A. Bondy, Death Vessel's (aka Joel Thibodeau) live delivery and songs beg for humid days of sunshine and willows on a large porch. There's a heart of the south that seems to pervade. With just himself, his instrument, 2 lights and the scrim behind Jonsi's instrument setup, Thibodeau strummed and plucked through a short set before thanking Toronto for its kindness and waving goodbye.

The lack of drama, the absence of theatre was short lived. Jonsi took the stage. As the visuals built though the first few songs, as the musicians rotated through their roles, animal spirits crept their way into the music in much the same way Jonsi allowed them to when writting Go. Our hearts raced, breath shallowed as the stray lines of a sketched deer began to find form and movement; a wolf pacing close behind. As "Kolnidur" reached its climax, the deer's spirit took flight passing through layers of set, in and out of the ephemeral and corporeal realms before re-rooting itself in it's cervidaen vessel. Jonsi himself grew more animated; he and his band pushing the song in pursuit. Reaching it's limits, the deer turned to face its hunter. From the sides of the stage, lines curved up past pianos and drums, creeping over the burnt faces of metal boxes, rising as antlers to meet the leaping wolf. A screen dropped away and the lines that had formed such animated creatures, scattered themselves across girders and glass to give way to a more human landscape. Dawn after the air-raid; singed buildings and naked trees remained.

This was a singular experience. One of the most transformational live performances I have ever seen. I wasn't looking for the tricks of light; for the technical glitches that would end the suspension of disbelief. I paid no attention to the man behind the curtain. For Friday night, Jonsi was The Wizard and I never wanted to go home.


Live video of "Kolnidur" in Toronto shot by Almightymoon:

Check out other wonderful reviews:
ChartAttack
Sticky Magazine
chromewaves

Guide: New Spins (April 25 - May. 1, 2010) "Show #3, 4 and 44"

A longer one this week... going back into the earliest shows of the project (Show #3 and 4) and a prime example of what I experienced at the Sound Academy last night (Show #44).

Show #3 - September 26, 2009: Still Life Still @ Lee's Palace
Video for "Kids" from their 2009 album Girls Come Too.



Show #3 - September 26, 2009: The Hold Steady @ Lee's Palace
"Sequestered In Memphis" from Stay Positive. New album out Tuesday! Look for them on tour this summer.



Show #4 - October 15, 2009: Grand Archives @ The Mod Club
"Miniature Birds" video from their 2008 self-titled album.



Show #4 - October 15, 2009: The Most Serene Republic @ The Mod Club
"Jelly Chamber" from the just released EP Fantasick Impossibliss, the band's first release since the departure of vocalist/guitarist Emma Ditchburn earlier this year.



Show #44 - April 30, 2010: Jonsi @ The Sound Academy
"Sinking Friendships" from Go, the first solo album from the Sigur Ros frontman. This was shot during the tour's dress rehearsals, but there's lots of live video from Toronto on YouTube by Almightymoon