Dean & Britta w/Keren Ann @ The Mod Club

In 2007, the first truly great album that I reviewed was "The Back Numbers" by Dean & Britta. That's why it seems highly appropriate that my first concert review of 2008, be none other that that very same Dean & Britta at The Mod Club. I missed their performance last year, so there was no way that I was going to miss them a second time around.

Having never seen Dean Wareham live before in any of his previous incarnations, it was a real treat to hear him perform songs spanning his vast career. The evening opened with Galaxie 500's 'Snowstorm,' an appropriate choice considering the amount of snow that we've had to suffer through over the past few weeks. (It doesn't look like there's going to be any letup soon either. Another 10 cm on Tuesday? C'mon!!!) That was followed by their cover of Adam Green's 'Not Supposed To Be Lovers.' Adam Green was in The Moldy Peaches who sang songs on the Juno soundtrack which led to Dean's dissing of the movie 'Juno' which led to all of us laughing. That was just one example of Dean's knack for keeping us entertained with his personal approach to audience banter. That was followed, by my surprise, to Luna's 1995 tune 'Moon Palace,' a song that I figured I'd never get to hear live. The rest of the evening was comprised mostly of songs from their two albums together as a duo, culminating in Britta's stirring rendition of the Lee Hazlewood / Ann-Margret classic 'You Turned My Head Around.' What an awesome voice, one that is just as flawless live as it is on the recording. For the encore, they pulled out Luna's 'Tiger Lily' and a cover of Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot's 'Bonnie and Clyde.' Ah, concert going perfection, how I missed thee.

Photos: Dean & Britta @ The Mod Club on flickr. (Man, I love the lighting at The Mod Club)
Download: Words You Used To Say mp3
Myspace: Dean and Britta
Video: Words You Used To Say youtube
Video: Knives From Bavaria youtube

As I found out when Britta left me a comment on a previous blog post (that's right, you heard me .... Britta ..... commented ... on MY BLOG ... pardon me while I giggle like a schoolgirl,) this tour with Keren Ann is actually a double headlining tour in which the two acts take turns as headliners. Keren was the headliner in Montreal on Friday, which meant that she was the opening act for this Toronto appearance. I went into this show actually knowing very little about her. I had only briefly sampled her latest self titled release, and I recently found out that this is actually her sixth album. All I knew was that her music could get pretty mellow and because of this, I was preparing not to be too riveted.

However, I hope that Keren Ann can find it in her heart to forgive my ignorance. Mellow, yes, but not riveting? Hardly. I found her performance to be every bit on par with Dean and Britta's. Her vocals were smoky, breathtaking, airy and all other kinds of flattering adjectives. Her music is subtle and moving, incorporating bits and pieces of jazz, folk, country and blues, as well as a smattering of world music overtones. The harmonies between her and her bass player were tear inducing, and the sound of her harmonica was like sweet honey. I will definitely have to get better acquainted with her catalogue, because I now feel like I've been missing out.

Photos: Keren Ann @ The Mod Club on flickr
Download: Lay Your Head Down mp3
Myspace: Keren Ann
Video: Lay Your Head Down youtube
Video: Chelsea Burns youtube