The fifth annual Festival Music House was hosted at Adelaide Hall for two nights of great Canadian music. The series was the soundtrack to one of the Toronto International Film Festival’s hottest after parties that is invite only, so forget about trying to slip a twenty to the door man! I managed to get on the list for the first night where the theme was more up and coming talent over the more established second night lineup.
The crowd, who seemed to be there more so because of the fact that it was a TIFF party rather than for the specific bands playing, were a bit standoffish at first. After the first song from local dream synth pop act DIANA, lead singer Carmen Elle came into the crowd and forcefully pushed people to the front of the stage. After jumping back on stage she leaned into the mic and clearly warned the rest of the crowd by saying, “Don’t make me fucking touch you!” Sometimes you need a band to grab you by the collar to get your attention, usually it is metaphorically but Elle’s actions were warranted and woke people up.
Due to the very intimate venue (frankly one of the most exciting in the city) whenever a band member played their instrument harder, they instantly became the loudest member and at times drowning out the noise of the rest of the band. It wasn’t the worst thing that could happen as Joseph Shabson’s sax solos are a real treat and the rhythm section of Kieran Adams and Paul Matthew are dynamite. The band played a new song in their arsenal, in the sense of they recorded a club remix of one of their own tracks. A pulsing four on the floor drum beat mimicking a heartbeat turned into a full on sexy Disclosure meets Nile Rogers beat for the best dance number on the whole night.
Elle has to be one of the best up and coming front persons in a band as her charming personally is one of the many reasons why they are so enjoyable. You can hear the happiness in her voice and mixed with playful interactions with the crowd, suck you into DIANA’s world. When Elle is brooding you feel the pain deep down and when she is excited you get giddy for her. There unfortunately has always been a bit of a stigma with women playing guitar (and playing hard for that matter), but with the huge popularity of St. Vincent seeing Elle shred like a true punk seems right. Her playing is gender neutral but highly evocative.
Having seen DIANA live several times it was interesting to see a slightly different take on New House. Normally the track is heartbreaking but this time Elle was coy and flirty and it brought a different layer to the song unseen before. The band finished off with the powerhouse song Home Again.
Up next was Justin Nozuka the singer songwriter who is never content with doing the same thing two albums in a row. Nozuka has abandoned the RnB folk pop that he made his name with for a much more nuanced third album that seems to be more inspired by FOALS and Alt-J. He came out with a slow and deep burning intro with many sustained distorted guitar notes. The music picked up speed a bit with Dreaming, which featured some really strong a cappella vocals showing that the best part of Nozuka’s music and image is his deeply resonating voice. It was a moment of stillness and serene peace. The song segued into Eyes Changing Colour just like it does on his album Ulysees.
“I’m going to play a newer song,” Justin quietly said to the crowd before launching into Willow a song not yet officially released. He played the song on acoustic guitar with just one backing guitarist instead of the full backing band he had for the rest of the set. The only older song Nozuka played was How Low. The song was reworked to be more in tune with his current sound. It was performed like it was a written letter to a loved one with plenty of raw emotion on display. The break turned into a bluesy jazz number before culminating into a hurricane of sound highlighted by Tommy Paxton-Beesley’s raw guitar playing. The room screeched and roared with the noise as it swelled louder and louder with a crashing crescendo.
The night finished off with BADBADNOTGOOD the classically trained jazz band that makes hip-hop beats instead of stuffy jazz numbers. The band along with the likes of Flying Lotus and Thundercat are reenergizing the jazz scene in North America by making it a cool genre again. The just released third album (III) is being met with critical praise and numerous celebrity endorsements, the latest being from Flea who was amazing by the sound three early twenty-something’s can make.
The members are each deserving of your undivided attention for all very different reasons and it was a shame I didn’t have three sets of eyeballs following their every move. Alex Sowinski on drums had a steely intensity staring into the soul of his band members seeing the beat move in their pulses. His gaze was so intense I don’t think he blinked in most songs. Matthew Tavares playing the keys kept his eyes closed for most of the set feeling the music float around him like Stevie Wonder. Using all of his senses except sight to know where the beat was. Lastly Chester Hansen on bass threw his body into every note like it was a fight. He jumped around and every note plucked was done with such precision it was like there was no other way to paly a song, he had mastered the format and was showing off.
Speaking of Flying Lotus, the band did a cover of Putty Boy Strut a super funky beat that necessitated a saxophone player to be brought out (Tommy Paxton-Beesely pulling double duty). The band was rounded out when BBNG played Kaleidoscope by bringing a trumpet and tuba player to have that sexy full brass band sound. The six-piece was a perfectly oiled machine of madness and energy. Hansen played his drums so hard during the fills he would make John Bonham wipe a tear from his eye from the pride he would see. Justin Nozuka who joined the crowd was jumping around with a few other moshers shouting how much he loved the chord progression that was occurring.
During the finale of their set a guy dressed in a lion costume came onstage and danced to the beat. Flailing his limbs around and acting like he came straight out of a Where The Wild Things Are rumpus. Hansen thanked the crowd afterwards and said as a tribute to TIFF they wanted to thank John Williams before playing a sample of Darth Maul’s theme music and getting into a lightsaber fight with the lion. Neither man held back as sweat flew from the stage. After nearly a five-minute battle Hansen slayed the beast and everyone came onstage for a bow. You don’t normally see shows end in such dramatic fashions, but BBNG don’t like doing what you think a band should do.
