Though I’ve seen many concerts in my life, I’m not what you call a regular concert goer, in fact I’m pretty selective. But this past week, with Two Door Cinema Club & Penguin Prison on one bill on Monday, and then Matt & Kim in town on Friday, I trekked into downtown Toronto at the Phoenix Night Club for these shows. Though they’re not great, I did add some photos for visual flavour, so excuse the blurriness.
Two Door Cinema Club and Penguin Prison
I tweeted in the week that Chris Glover is a human sponge of styles. Mr. G, aka Penguin Prison, thoroughly rocked the socks off of the audience and won many new fans with his tight set of songs which previewed his long-awaited full length release due next February. He and his four piece band cranked out the groovin’ “Something I’m Not”, the 70’s pop paean “The Worse It Gets”, and the soulful “Multi-Millionaire” amid a smoothly flowing half hour set. For someone who doesn’t even look like a rock star, Mr. G. held a comfortable confidence which definitely made you wanting more. And dance? Yes I did!!
I was presently surprised at how Northern Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club continued the dance party that was ignited by Penguin Prison. Alex Trimble’s earnest and low key lead personality was offset nicely by frenetic bassist Kevin Baird and the rest of the on-point quartet. TDCC are another band that appears to have a small but pretty darn rabid following, judging from the audience’s reaction to the songs. “I Can Talk”, “Undercover Martyn”, “Something Good Can Work” were all well done by a band eager to please and about to return for more favour in early 2011. Well worth a concert visit folks!
Matt & Kim
If you want a really, really, no holds barred good time, then be sure to attend a Matt & Kim concert. I got to know their music in 2009 with the chipper stunner “Daylight”, one of my very favourites of that year, and I’m so glad I did. Brooklyn-based Vocalist/keyboardist Matt Johnson and drummer Kim Schifino absolutely make the most of what a two person band can do on stage. Most of all, that includes pleasing the audience. They seemed a bit overwhelmed at the 1,000 or so at the Phoenix, but it was Friday and they were more than up for the party. So they cranked out a multitude of edgy and danceable pop-rock songs with R&B/rap and ska influences in the hour long jam-packed set with an energy level so high it made you want to reach onto the stage to grab some. “Lessons Learned” (from that naked-in-Times-Square video – Matt’s idea), “Yea Yeah”, new single “Cameras”, “Silver Tiles”, “Ice Melts”, and of course “Daylight” were all showcased, and they even broke into brief covers of Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend” and Alice Deejay’s “Better Off Alone”! Most of all, I loved their interplay with the audience, throwing out balloons for people to blow upand knock around (see pic below), climbing onto the stage decorations, and Kim daring to walk out onto the audience for some crowd surfin’. Matt’s words about “Daylight” hit home for me – their performance was dedicated to anyone who had a bad day, a bad week or a bad year – 2011 will be better. Amen!! Their new CD Sidewalks is out November 2.
BILLCSMUSIC BLOG 