the acoustic diaries

Friday, October 19, 2007

I can hear my train coming...it's a lonesome and distant cry

Monday Septmeber 10 - Damien Rice @ Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto

I spent the day exploring parts of the city. Criminal Records is a really awesome store I came across that sells various indie band merch along with their assortment of cds and vinyl. In stock were many types of shirts and hoodies from artists such as Broken Social Scene, The Album Leaf, Grizzly Bear, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Neutral Milk Hotel, and countless others.



Rotate This seemed like a smaller version of Zulu Records, which also sells tickets to the various indie shows around the Toronto area.



Damien Rice was playing on this night at the newly renamed Sony Centre, formerly known as the Hummingbird Centre. Going into this, I didn't have a ticket in-hand prior and figured I would test my luck just before the sold out show. I walked up to the venue and was able to land a Row 5 ticket so inside I went to this new territory to me.

The interior halls of the venue reminded me of The Orpheum, with pictures of influential personalities and artists lining the walls upstairs. The concert was advertised as "An evening with", which meant there was no opener and Damien and company would come onstage as soon as the show started. After a bit of waiting, they took the stage and began the set with Rootless Tree.



The major set highlights for me were Amie, I Remember, and Coconut Skins...all three of which had some really crazy and drawn out jam sessions to end the songs. During Eskimo, there were balls of light surrounding the stage that resembled snowflakes. At one point, Damien unplugged his guitar, walked to the front of the stage without a mic, and sang The Blower's Daughter.

Damien was in a great mood the entire night, telling many stories and cracking an assortment of jokes throughout the performance. He mentioned that Childish is about singer/songwriters and "how they spend a lot of time up their own arse". He also told us the Mr. Penis story before playing The Professor, and recited a great story comparing a relationship he had to a can of peas. In addition, the Irish singer mentioned that after this tour, he was gonna take a break and won't be around for awhile.

The show was completely wonderful with Damien's charging and emotional lyrics, the beautifully arranged music, and the intimacy of the venue.

Set lasted 2hrs 5mins.

SETLIST:

Rootless Tree
Amie
Eskimo
Cannonball
I Remember / Bang Bang
9 Crimes
Childish
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Flaming Lips cover by Vivienne Long)
The Blower's Daughter (unplugged)
Me, My Yoke and I
Grey Room
Coconut Skins
Woman Like a Man
-----------------
Accidental Babies
Volcano
The Professor & La Fille Danse
Cheers Darlin'

***

Tuesday September 11 - City and Colour @ Danforth Music Hall



I had a look around the venue once I was inside and explored many different angles, including the very top of the balcony, to check out the sightlines. For a venue that seats about 1100 people, the views are fantastic all-around.

Attack in Black opened the night. The Dine Alone Records label mates of Dallas played a fantastic upbeat set with catchy riffs and well placed harmonies. I was really impressed with their showing.




Dallas Green took the stage on this night for the first of a four night stand at the Danforth Music Hall. He was accompanied by Spencer and Dan from Attack in Black on bass and drums. They kicked things off with Forgive Me.

It was interesting to hear the songs reworked with a backing band. Hello I'm in Delaware featured some awesome harmonies between Dallas and Spencer. Dallas mentioned that he just finished recording the new City and Colour album the previous week and that it's scheduled for a release early next year. He previewed two new songs for us on this night...both of which were wonderful.

A couple songs into the set, Spencer and Dan left the stage and Dallas pulled up a chair to sit down and play a few songs solo. This included a solid performance of Day Old Hate and Confessions, along with a Neil Young cover of Cowgirl In The Sand and Boiled Frogs from the Alexisonfire catalogue.




The guys joined Mr. Green once again during Comin' Home and followed through until the encore. Dallas came back out for one more song after the break, playing a nicely reworked version of Save Your Scissors.

Throughout the performance, Dallas was his usual funny self.....as people would randomly yell stuff at him and he would throw it back and poke fun at the audience. He would also constantly joke around with Spencer and Dan in-between songs. You could tell that he was having a lot of fun up onstage.



Set lasted 1hr 20mins.


SETLIST:

Forgive Me
Sam Malone
Hello, I'm in Delaware
new song
Day Old Hate
Confessions
Cowgirl In The Sand (Neil Young cover)
Boiled Frogs
Comin' Home
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (The Band cover)
new song
Sometimes (I Wish)
----------------
Save Your Scissors

***

Wednesday September 12 - City and Colour @ Danforth Music Hall

Spent a few hours during the day exploring a bunch of vintage clothing stores and various other things around the city.



Back for night #2 with City and Colour. Casey Baker and the Buffalo Sinners opened on this night. Casey's Song by Dallas was named after Mr. Baker. You could tell the guys were a bit nervous playing to their largest crowd to date. They played a very brief set and had a few standout tracks. The drummer was lighting it up on the last song.

Dallas and co. played pretty much the same set as the night before...with the exception of the order switch between Delaware and one of the new songs. Once again, hearing the harmonies between Dallas and Spencer near the end of Delaware gave me shivers.



The crowd was a lot more rowdy on this night.....in part to a few bad apples ruining it for everyone else. You kinda lose the impact of a song when people are yelling during the slow, quiet parts.

Dallas of course did his best to joke with the crowd, stating he may have heard a cell phone ring during Day Old Hate...which he called a "rookie mistake". He also referred back to a comment made the previous night about Doritos.....and how a friend of a friend who was at the show heard about it and left Mr. Green a huge box of Doritos upon his arrival to the venue earlier in the day.



Other jokes were abound throughout the performance such as making fun of people in the audience who spend the show watching it behind their digital camera as they record footage to upload to youtube later. He also talked about making sure that people who take pics with their cell phone to turn off that clicking noise as it captures the picture.

Confessions was mentioned as a song written about the realization of being a jerk. As he played the new songs for us, Dallas stated that his new album is currently scheduled for a February release. He also noted the second of the new songs played as being called What Makes A Man.

Set lasted 1hr 20mins.


SETLIST:

Forgive Me
Sam Malone
new song
Hello, I'm in Delaware
Day Old Hate
Confessions
Cowgirl In The Sand (Neil Young cover)
Boiled Frogs
Comin' Home
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (The Band cover)
What Makes A Man (new song)
Sometimes (I Wish)
----------------
Save Your Scissors

***

Thursday September 13 - City and Colour @ Danforth Music Hall



Went and caught the anti-war documentary Body Of War at the Toronto International Film Fest. The film was gripping, insightful, and emotional. Ed Vedder wrote some music for the documentary.




The Danforth was littered with a few familiar faces, amongst many new ones. Attack in Black opened again this night, which meant double duty for Spencer and Dan. I must say they've been by favourite openers so far this year to date.



Sensible Heart makes an appearance in the setlist, replacing Confessions. Boiled Frogs sounded especially fantastic on this night.



Dallas' family and girlfriend were seated near me. When a few rowdy guys nearby started acting inappropriately, Leah did a good job of getting them silent. No more interruptions from them for the rest of the show. The crowd was more behaved overall this evening over the previous night and after Sometimes, the audience gave Dallas a solid standing ovation as we waited for the encore.

Set lasted 1hr 15mins. Not as much talking and interruptions from the crowd.



SETLIST:

Forgive Me
Sam Malone
new song
Hello, I'm in Delaware
Day Old Hate
Sensible Heart
Cowgirl In The Sand (Neil Young cover)
Boiled Frogs
Comin' Home
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (The Band cover)
What Makes A Man (new song)
Sometimes (I Wish)
----------------
Save Your Scissors

***

Friday September 14 - City and Colour @ Danforth Music Hall

Casey Baker and the Buffalo Sinners opened for the final night.



The City and Colour comedy show once again ensued with jokes on the crowd for filming the entire show and deflecting comments of love towards Mr. Green.



Dallas took the time to mention that Day Old Hate is about looking at yourself and realizing you're not as strong and that you can be a better person.



Set lasted 1hr 20mins. Same setlist as the previous night.

SETLIST:

Forgive Me
Sam Malone
new song
Hello, I'm in Delaware
Day Old Hate
Sensible Heart
Cowgirl In The Sand (Neil Young cover)
Boiled Frogs
Comin' Home
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (The Band cover)
What Makes A Man (new song)
Sometimes (I Wish)
----------------
Save Your Scissors


Five wonderful shows down in five fantastic days. Time to fly back to the other side of the country and hop on a ferry.

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