Thanks to the most excellent Panic Manual, Tuco and IKvsDK got a chance to take in some Dream Pop all the way from Sweden.
In preparation, we started out at the Keating Channel Pub that had somehow run out of 1664. Shortly after arriving, a women's curling team pulled up in a tour bus and would later try to pick up IKvsDK ("The Hammer", they called him). Decent fare too.
Got to the Sound Academy. Young crowd milling about. The merchandise table had shirts, vinyl, CDs and flash drives - Tuco would get one of the drives. Settled in midway to the stage, Amsterdam in hand, until the first band, Penguin Prison, emerged.
After a short wait, Penguin Prison from NY took the stage. This foursome featured a bass player, a synthesizer, a drummer and a frontman who would take on a number of other instruments throughout the night. PP launch into their set which has a kind of indie rock feel. The frontman adds some vocals and a few girls at the front scream on cue. It's all very Bieberish to me and I start to drink faster.
Second track has the frontman switch over to working a Stratocaster and we start to feel the influence of the synth guy working some beats into the track. IKvsDK describes the scene succinctly with "indie vocals over a dance beat".
We start to get a feel for the typical Penguin Prison track: it is a longish uptempo jam with a dancey beat, guitar and vocals taking a lead and bass, drums, synth laying down the beat. Each song ends a little prematurely. The frontman starts to rap with the crowd and makes an awkward joke about a "Canadian Tuxedo" - Leave your Americanisms at the border pal. The teenage girls scream incessantly. IKvsDK says this guys is a Rockstar.
One of the tracks is called Don't F*ck With My Money. A few tracks later and the frontman is working a tom drum at the front. He sings, drums and plays guitar. Rockstar.
One nice effect is the use of a flanger while strumming the same note which works pretty well with the dancey beat. These guys are not bad. Basically this is what live dance music is. The frontman goes up to the microphone and states for the benefit of the audience "I make remixes". Rockstar.
Last song is called Multi Millionaire. This track sounds alot like Prince's "I would Die for you". Frontman attempts a guitar solo at the end (so far all of the solos have been vocal). Frontman signs off with a "Thank you for watching". Rockstar.
After Penguin Prison was a long 40 minute break with moody stage lighting and whale music piped through the PA system. This chilled the swelling crowd right out. By the time Miike Snow was ready to take the stage, the place was quite full with sightlines proving troublesome.
Miike Snow is a bunch of guys from Sweden that have some rather delicate tracks that work great in studio. At least that is Tuco's take on their first album. How would this translate to a live show?
The set on stage had something like a large console right in the centre. It looked like the Tardis with lights flashing on and off. A lone dude wandered around the stage doing some kind of ad hoc sound check with the anxious crowd cheering his every movement.
Finally, Miike Snow took the stage and dropped an acoustic wave on the youth of Toronto. And they seemed ready for it. The singer stalked around the stage (he had really good movement for the entire show actually).
The solution to the question above appeared almost instantly. Dancey beats moved the crowd as the more melodic tracks from MS reemerged in its new guise. This wouldn't be like the studio but would still be reasonably close. Miike Snow Live.
The crowd had quite alot of tall people in the wrong places (i.e. in front of Tuco). A few gay individuals plant themselves in front of Tuco and start to smack each others' behinds. Tuco scrambles off to the side to regain his sightlines.
Alot of dancing is going down. Teenage girls dancing with each other. A few crowdsurfers as well. Over on the other side of the floor, people are periodically throwing napkins in the air like confetti. It's a bizarre scene.
More dancing and more tracks. The guy in front of Tuco is swaying like a heavy bag cutting in and out of his sightline. Tuco resists the invitation to throw a few punches and focuses on the set.
Best crowd response and longest jam had to be for Silvia. Will post a setlist if I can find one.
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