Toronto Indie Dot Com Showcase

Last night I attended the latest (and apparently the last for awhile) Toronto Indie Showcase and it was a cool laid back great time. Interestingly, while I’m usually a big supporter of the local music scene, I was there specifically to see a couple of our neighbours from the US of A. But, as always, I knew that the locals were not going to disappoint either.

First off, Paul Michel, who I’ve recently decided is my indie rock hero of the moment, played a fantastic set. He showcased songs from both his current soon-to-be-released CD “The Quiet State of Panic” and his previous recording “These Are All Beautiful Things.” Mixing it up with some solo numbers, as well as some band tunes, Paul’s rabid falsetto sounded positively chilling when singing tunes like “The Fire Theft.” He demanded our attention and, to use an old cliché, you could hear a pin drop. Although the evening was apparently supposed to be more on the mellow side, Paul couldn’t help but rock out a bit, and “Perfect Someday” was one of the highlights. And it rocked!

Check out Paul Michel's myspace page and you can read my review of his CD "The Quiet State Of Panic" here.

The Receiver came out next and it was hard to believe that all the magnificent sounds on the stage were only coming from two guys (or 3 when Paul Michel joined in.) These brothers from Columbus Ohio are insanely talented, and for a moment, I found myself forgetting that I was in a small club, in a sort-of comfortable couch, watching this show. These guys will make the leap to stadium-size venues with the greatest of ease and a song like “In Tunnels” would lend itself nicely to a ridiculously insane laser light spectacular.

Check out the Receiver's myspace page and you can read my earlier review of their CD "Decades" here.

Next up, was Toronto’s Dala, a female acoustic duo who was last year signed to Universal music. The harmonies were beautiful and flawless, and the energy of these two ladies was certainly contagious. The relatively short set was filled out by the girls’ outrageously giddy stage banter. They looked like they were having fun, and that’s becoming quite rare these days in the world of folk music, where many of their contemporaries take themselves waaaaay too seriously.

Their songs can be heard over on their myspace page.

Finally, we had headliner Mandippal Jandu. He performed like the pro that he is, and his humility was very endearing. What impressed me most is both the sincerity in his singing voice and his seemingly effortless style of guitar playing. He had said that he was really nervous headlining such an accomplished group of performers, but he needn’t have worried so much. He held his own with great poise, and he better get used to the headliner spot, because if he keeps putting on shows like last night, he’ll be headlining often.

You can hear the music of MJ on his myspace page

Toronto Indie Dot Com is an excellent website for reading all about what's going on in the world of local Toronto Indie music. Go there and read it often! You can also visit their myspace page.