Here's a shot from the last concert I attended before lockdown. There hasn't really been much going on with my site since then, due to the obvious lack of concerts.
I was never super happy with the photos I took at that last show - Control Top's fantastic performance at The Monarch Tavern on March 11. I've been thinking about sending them through the editing process again to see if I can get some better results. This is what I have so far.
Here's the original:
I think that new one is worlds better. Off I go to remix all the rest and update the original post.
Love you and can't wait to be out to enjoy live music again, whenever that will happen.
If you're reading this post in the period relatively soon after I published it, then you're acutely aware of what's going on. If you're looking back at this from quite a time along, you might forget exactly what was going on at this exact moment in human history. I hope the world has returned to something resembling normal. Whatever that actually means anymore.
I'm well known for taking some time with my edits and my posts. Some of it's due to lifestyle, some it it's to do with juggling responsibilities, some of it's to do with awaiting the editing muse. This time, it might be different. This time, it might be due to the fact that I don't know when I'll see another live band, in front of me, in a live music venue, and publishing this post is kind of an end.
When I finished editing all my photos from 2019 I felt like I’d cleaned the slate and was optimistic about what 2020 would hold. I’d get better at posting quickly and being on top of my concert calendar. I was optimistic and hopeful about the year ahead for music and for my place in it.
Now that the world is a different place, I have been procrastinating on editing the photos from this last show. While we have to stay in our homes, and certainly not gather in close and sweaty proximity to each other in front of musical acts like Control Top, I long for the busy concert calendar that laid out before me, and the innocent plans I had for 2020 including travel and adventure, and I think I just don't want to accept the change.
Now back to our regular programming...
Back on March 11, I attended my first-ever show at The Monarch Tavern. It was headlined by Control Top and featuring Weeping Icon and The Effens.
I knew Control Top from their Covert Contacts album and the fantastically energetic and addictive tune "Chain Reaction". The tune impressed me enough to land on my Favourite Songs of 2019 list. Check it out.
Control Top are a post-punk power trio from Philadelphia. They put on a show of unrelenting intensity that got me and everyone else hyped. They played The Monarch back in June and were happy to be back. Their tunes all sounded great live and amped up the energy and power of their recorded music.
When will they be back? When will another band perform at this venue? Who knows. Until then I'll be looking forward to the return of live music and to hearing the new music that Control Top are working on.
Cherish the good times life gives you, or that you go get. Show gratitude for what you have, because you'll never know what the future will bring. All the best, everyone. Be well.
Please check out my shots or Weeping Icon and local personal favourites The Effens from this show.
Weeping Icon were the second band up on The Monarch Tavern stage on March 11. Check out my phots of headliners Control Top and local openers The Effens, who joined Weeping Icon on this bill. The Brooklyn band gets the distinction of being the second last live band I saw before Toronto, and so much of the rest of the world, was shut down.
Weeping Icon are intense, with songs that communicate through hypnotic sonic manipulation and sonic severity. Lyrics like, "I'm really trying to perfect the art of screaming into a paper bag and I want to look good doing it" from the song "Control" reflect their unique, perceptive art and social commentary. A quote that stood out from the show, "We’re from the United States. Pray for us." was poignant then, and has only become more so as the days have gone on.
Sometimes you witness something and know that it’s art. This performance by Weeping Icon was one of those times.
It was March 11. The virus that would shut down much of the world, and the live music industry along with it, was looming for North America, and getting more foreboding every day, but life carried on. I didn't know it at the time, but this would be my last live music show for the foreseeable future. That fact is probably the most significant reason why I'm posting this so long after the show when I've had an abundance of free time to edit, write and post. Publishing this leaves a void.
It was another killer set from The Effens at The Monarch Tavern. I've seen this band a ton and I truly love them; their music, their live energy, their passion and their overall vibe. Their sound is unique with familiar sonic touchpoints. I love the impassioned vocals, the driving beat, the thick, rumbling low end from the bass and the massive guitar sounds. It was cool to hear one of my favourite tunes of 2019, "Human" live again.
Check out my photos of Control Top, who headlined this show at The Monarch Tavern, and Weeping Icon who were on tour with Control Top.
March 3rd kicked off one of two shows in Toronto as the first Canadian stop of The Lumineers - III World Tour. Mt Joy and J.S. Ondara kicked off the night. Click through to see the photos of their sets.
Wesley Schultz began at the mic stand on stage left of the extension and Jeremy Fraites at a secondary drum kit at stage right. Being left to fend alone, despair that comes along with not being able to pursue dreams, and the possibility of losing one’s partner are echoed in the opening numbers with Sleep on The Floor and Life in the City. Hard hitting subjects and dark undertones were explored through the entire set with compelling visuals on screen backdrops such as a flaming piano in Left for Denver or a star field among trees for Leader of the Landslide. The relatable feelings and rhythmic choruses balanced those the subjects and undertones.
Earlier in the performance, The Lumineers graced the stage with a wonderful rendition of Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homestick Blues. Fan favourite and chart topping single Ho Hey followed. When the band migrated along the hexagon stage extension intersecting with the swarm of onlookers in the pit, those surrounding were energized and drawn closer to every word spoken. At different points of the performance, other band members made their way down towards the crowd including violinist and vocalist Lauren Jacobson who joined the band to replace Neyla Pekarek. Having seen Neyla live with The Lumineers and now Lauren, I felt Lauren meshed well with the other musicians and did not skip a beat.
Addressing the crowd, lead vocalist Schultz exclaims: Can’t stop us from making this music, we are grateful to be here. Slow It Down followed which had every other attendee in mobile flashlight mode swaying to the request of Angie coming back to bed. Schultz then casually goes off the stage transitioning into Angela and makes his way down the left floor aisle passing by yours truly bringing the mesmerized crowd one step closer into the lure of The Lumineers. If that wasn’t enough he made his way into the crowd and finished in the floor pit with a circle of screaming fans locked in with video mode. Angela then led into Gloria, a song that puts perspective on addiction has Wesley showcasing his astounding vocals. During Gloria, Jacobson made her way with the violin to a corner of the hexagon only to pick up the piano keys on the song that followed.
Leader of the Landslide is transitioned to, identifying trials of homelessness and addiction with an engaged audience clapping along at high tempo moments. Cleopatra then sparked the crowd with everyone chanting and hopping. The vocals on Wesley are undeniable and the note he held towards the end of Cleopatra was triumphant. Looking over my shoulder at any given moment, I could spot someone singing along and it made the atmosphere full of euphoria.
Mt Joy’s Matt Quinn and J.S. Ondara, the lead singers of the opening bands, then joined The Lumineers for a nod to Canadian singer songwriter Leonard Cohen with their Bonus Track, Democracy, from III that still holds up today with the political turmoil in the USA. Leonard Cohen, 1992 graced the video screen. Big Parade followed with band member intros: Byron Isaacs - bassist & vocalist, no shoe wearing musician on the keys - Stelth Ulvang, Lauren Jacobson, Brandon Miller, Jeremiah who dresses the same everyday with T-shirt and suspenders and finally Wesley Schultz. White confetti was blasted into the air during the song as a exclamation to a stellar Act.
The Encore. The title track on III, Donna, launched the encore, followed by a crowd favourite Ophelia. Stubborn Love, the end-note of a spectacular show, had the arena at the top of their vocals singing along. The entire band for the finale were all decked out in Raptors’ gear showing their team spirit with custom jerseys. Further gratitude was sprinkled into the sea of people in the Toronto arena by The Lumineers, but it was us attendees that felt a huge sense of gratitude.
Going to many concerts allows you to benchmark and to some degree compare the live experiences with personal takeaways. For this experience, it has been a while since witnessing an energized level of interaction by band members with the music lovers, devoted fans and first time listeners. I absolutely loved my time with The Lumineers from start to finish.
Brad Goldstein is a freelance Toronto photographer, photo journalist and artist that focuses on live music experiences, festivals, and events.
American indie-alternative rock band Mt Joy played with The Lumineers and J.S. Ondara at Scotiabank Arena. Please click through for photos from those sets.
Photos by Brad Goldstein
Brad Goldstein is a freelance Toronto photographer, photo journalist and artist that focuses on live music experiences, festivals, and events.
Singer songwriter J.S. Ondara, born in Nairobi, Kenya and now based in the USA, performed along with The Lumineers and Mt Joy at Scotiabank Arena. Please click through for the photos from those sets.
Photos by Brad Goldstein
Brad Goldstein is a freelance Toronto photographer, photo journalist and artist that focuses on live music experiences, festivals, and events.
Sometimes we try to do too many things at the same time and we end up wishing we were somewhere else. It happened the night that Dave Hause opened for The Hold Steady during their four-night Constructive Summer Horseshoe Tavern residency in 2018. My photos of The Hold Steady are here. I was out to another show and missed Dave's set. I feel like I missed a bunch more of his Toronto shows. It was time to correct that oversight.
This Saturday-night show at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern was Dave Hause and the Mermaid's biggest show in Canada yet. It was everything I wanted it to be. I know the songs and they're amazing. I figured the band would deliver those songs with power and passion, and I wasn't wrong. The rhythm section was everything they should be, with powerful driving beats and a low end rumbling groove. The guitar sounds and playing were incendiary. I admired the vintage instruments - the Les Paul Jr. with it's exquisitely cracked finish, the Epiphone, the Ricky, the Martin - all drool worthy, and the Fender backline made them all sound perfect.
Dave's music is so much of what I love of classic rock and punk-influenced folk music, but with a voice of these times we are living in. It's got the power and passion along with great stories and Dave's great big heart. For me, it channels the pure essence of rock and punk music.
The set was packed with amazing tunes from 2011's Devour, 2013's Resolutions, 2017's Bury Me in Philly and his most recent release, last year's Kick. "Weathervane" was a killer opening track followed by the one-two punch of "We Could Be Kings" and "Saboteurs". "C'Mon Kid" and "The Flinch" are a couple of personal favourites that came up later in the set. They slowed things down with "Paradise", "Shaky Jesus" and the dark "Bearing Down" with a bit of Frightened Rabbit's "The Woodpile". "Eye Aye I", "Dirty Fucker" and "With You" closed out the main set before the quick shift into encore-mode of "Fireflies", "Time Will Tell" and "The Ditch" to close out the incredible night. Check out the full setlist here.
Chris Cresswell did a great job of delivering a solo acoustic opening set on this night. Check out my photos of his set here.
If you're not familiar with Dave's music, give some tunes a listen below, and if you can't already tell, I'd strongly recommend getting out to his next live show near you.
