River Tiber in concert (Watch Out 2013)!!

I take this pause in reviewing songs, albums and videos to rave about River Tiber’s concert in Toronto last night in anticipation of their new album Synapses due January 1.

As regular readers know, I have been touting multi-instrumentalist  and vocalist Tommy Paxton-Beesley and his band since first hearing their From Now On album at the top of this year.  I’ve now seen three shows by them, heard the Remixes and Massachusetts EP’s, as well as two songs from the upcoming album, “What Are You Afraid Of” (video below, created and directed by Tommy) and “I’m Not Here” (also listen below).  By far, last night’s experience epitomizes why I go out to club shows to see new performers as well as my favourites.  You end up seeing a show that you were glad not to miss.

The set mainly focuses on untried new material, book-ended by “Someday” at the top and “These Are Centuries” (which both landed up my chart earlier in the year, at #1 and #13 respectively) at the end.  The rest of the show – which included “What Are You Afraid Of” – introduced a new River Tiber, incorporating ace guitar, bass, and drums/percussion work, as well as Tommy’s striking Jeff Buckley-esque vocals (hope you won’t get tired of that comparison ’cause it’s true 🙂 )which gave me chills of the best kind, along with very layered keyboard sounds and drum effects which might not sound out of place next to songs by the Chemical Brothers or Gorillaz.  The club (Silver Dollar Room) where it was held is noted for showcasing Blues, Jazz and Folk performers, and regulars to this club might have seemed like fish out of water last night, but it was clear from the attention being paid to the show that River Tiber totally won them over.

Watch my Twitter feed for more River Tiber news, including upcoming shows – if you’re in Toronto in early January for the next one, which will be a CD release show, you won’t want to miss it.