Elbow at The Danforth Music Hall

Elbow are an interesting act for me. I like lots of their stuff. But as one can see from a quick trip around this site or through the list of tags on the side, I tend to go for bands on the less mellow side of life. But when I heard they were playing Toronto, I had to go see them. When their show at The Danforth Music Hall quickly sold out, I just knew I was in for a treat.

I suspected that Elbow would be a band that would excel in the live environment. While their quiet songs can sometimes fade into the background on the subway or in the home, the volume and attention commanded by the music in the concert environment paid off in an understanding of just how incredible the songs are. Guy Garvey is the kind of singer who holds his fans in the palm of his hand with his presence, lyrics and immaculately emotive melodies. There was something about the sombre beauty of the stone angel looking down on the band and the crowd that fit the mood of the show perfectly.

Another wonderful thing I discovered is that we've got a talented audience in Toronto. Two key highlights for me were "Grounds for Divorce", probably my favourite Elbow song, and the last song of the night,"One Day Like This", both because of their incredible sing-alongs. "One Day Like This" was especially beautiful because of the extended sing-along, but also because of the quality of the crowd's singing. When Guy instructed them to harmonize, it happened! The audience at The Danforth Music Hall turned into a choir singing the rousing chorus of "Throw those curtains wide / One day like this a year would see me right". Absolute perfection.

Check out some highlights from the set below:
"Charge" from their newest, The Take Off And Landing Of Everything

"The Bones of You" from 2008's The Seldom Seen Kid

"New York Morning" from The Take Off And Landing Of Everything

"Grounds for Divorce" from The Seldom Seen Kid

Set closer "My Sad Captains" from The Take Off And Landing Of Everything

Encore tunes "Lippy Kids" from 2011's Build a Rocket Boys! and

"One Day Like This" from The Seldom Seen Kid. Just imagine around 1,400 people harmonizing on this tune.

Blood Red Shoes stop in Canada and rock out at The Garrison

I'm glad that I don't pretend to have any objectivity or lack of bias in what I write about - I write about the music I like. Or love. And I love the music of Blood Red Shoes. A quick look at my best of lists from 2012 and 2010-2011 clearly demonstrate this.

• In Time to Voices on my Favourite Albums of 2012
• "Heartsink" at number 2 on my Favourite Songs of 2010-2011 along with "Light It Up" at 33, "It Is Happening Again" at 48, and "Don't Ask" at 54.
• Fire Like This at number 3 on my Favourite Albums of 2010-2011

The last time they were in town they appeared at the relatively tiny Drake Underground. It was one of the first shows that I decided to take a few pictures at. A quick look at what I captured with my blackberry and then decided to post to the blog should give you a chuckle. But it set me on a path.

On Friday night, May 16, Blood Red Shoes played Toronto again. This time at The Garrison in support of their recently released self-titled album. This marks the only Canadian stop on their current tour and they noted that this is a shame. Hopefully they'll swing back soon with more Canadian dates. As the night progressed and many shots were consumed by both band and audience, they stated that they were having a lot of fun. Of course they were. Toronto rocks.

Over the relatively short time that I've been covering the Toronto concert scene, I've been surprised a few times. I've walked into clubs expecting a small audience to find the place sold out and packed with enthusiastic fans. I've walked into clubs expecting that I needed to get there early to get a spot up front and found the place more than half empty. It's always staggered me that this band doesn't fill venues five times the size of The Garrison. The songs are incredible, their show is fun, and their energy is perfection.

Check out some of my personal highlights of their set below and if you like what you hear, go see them live. You won't be disappointed. And if you do, bring them some poutine and mousse. They'll know why.

"I Wish I Was Someone Better" from Box of Secrets

"Don't Ask" from Fire Like This

"The Perfect Mess" from Blood Red Shoes

"An Animal" from Blood Red Shoes

"Cold" from In Time To Voices

"Lost Kids" from In Time To Voices

"This is Not for You" from Box of Secrets

"Say Something, Say Anything" from Box of Secrets

"Speech Coma" from Blood Red Shoes

"Heartsink" from Fire Like This

"Red River" from the Water EP

"Light it Up" from Fire Like This

"Colours Fade" from Fire Like This

New music from Cymbals Eat Guitars

Cymbals Eat Guitars, from New York, have a new album called Lose coming out August 26. For now, we get the tune "Jackson" to whet our appetites. It's a powerful, emotive tune.



Pic from Facebook.

No Sinner have blues rock soul, and Canadian thighs

From the moment she starts to sing, I knew I loved No Sinner's singer Colleen Rennison's sultry, soulful voice. They're a blues-rock band from Vancouver. Great stuff.

Check out "Runnin'" from their Boo Hoo Hoo EP.

Pic from Facebook.

New video from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's Days of Abandon: Until the Sun Explodes

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart just released their new album Days of Abandon. They recently stopped in at The Horseshoe Tavern on their tour and I shot them. They've now released a video for the track "Until The Sun Explodes" from the new album.

Check it.