The Dears w/The World Provider @ The Music Gallery

Although the cherubic feel of The Music Gallery made me feel more creepily uneasy than inspired, it was still really cool to see the re-invented Dears at such an intimate venue. The knowledge of a new lineup had me wondering if the band still had the goods to deliver a breathtaking performance but Friday's show proved without a doubt that, although previous incarnations included some highly talented musicians, Murray and Natalia are still the driving force behind The Dears' unique sound.

The show focused mainly on songs from the band's upcoming Missiles CD, which Natalia admits is an album that deserves at least three of four listens before judgment is passed. I wholeheartedly agree, as I feel that in many ways it just may be their best album to date. It is certainly their most varied. They opened the show with album opener Disclaimer. The first part of the song was recorded and played over the speakers as the band took their positions on stage. The is probably the most immediately likable song on the album, seemingly taking the band into a slightly jazzy area for the first time. As Murray walked on, sporting a leather jacket, it immediately struck me how cool the guy is looking these days. He simply oozes rock star appeal, and as the song kicked into high gear, I knew that this show was going to be something special. The new songs fit in very nicely with the classics. Notable was Lights Off, a very triumphant epic which starts out simply enough with Murray's voice being accompanied with a jangly guitar that may lead the inexperienced listener into believing that this is another simple and accessible pop song. However the instrumental breakdown comes on like a towering inferno, a beast that translates nicely onto the live stage making Murray's final falsetto at the end of the song an incredibly powerful moment. It was also great to hear Natalia's voice on Crisis 1 & 2, another highlight as far as the new songs go. Longtime fans like myself though were happy to hear a smattering of classics too, which included Lost In The Plot and 22:The Death of all the Romance from No Cities Left; and Bandwagoneers and Whites Only Party from Gang Of Losers. The best part of the evening though was the encore of the song Meltdown in 'A' Major, where Murray had his self proclaimed 'Oprah' moment. I won't get into all of the details but it was very touching and it's quite apparent that the band has fought a number of internal battles over the past year; battles that make me even more grateful that the music is here for all of us to enjoy. The Dears are not only a great band, but they're also an incredibly special band for me personally, and I for one considered it a privilege to witness such a great performance on Friday night.

Photos: The Dears @ The Music Gallery on flickr
Myspace: The Dears
Video: You And I Are A Gang Of Losers youtube
Video: Whites Only Party youtube
Video: 22: The Death Of All The Romance youtube

The opening act was a one man artist who calls himself The World Provider. What can I say about The World Provider? Was he incredibly cheesy? Yes. Was he terribly schticky and juvenile? For sure. Were his dance moves bizarre and contrived? No doubt. Was he incredibly entertaining? Absolutely!

On record, The World Provider is basically Malcolm Fraser, a Casio and his version of Pro Tools. On stage, the band has been known to be anywhere from two to five members. For this show, the band was here in its duo version, with Stacey DeWolfe joining him on keys and interpretive dance moves. I'm sure that I'm not alone in not knowing what to think when they hit the stage. At first, it would be easy to write him off as another gimmicky electro pop artist with some of the cheesiest dance moves ever. But as each song continued to be even more infectious than the one before, it became obvious that the songs in themselves were actually really good, and Malcolm has a knack for wrapping a great hook into a sort of Pop Goes The World type of synthy packaging. Some of the most memorable moments were when he warned the crowd that it was going to get HAWT! before he lunged into a hillariously executed version of fan favourite You Belong In The Show. Other great songs included Volunteers, Big City Girls and Valentine (which can be heard on his myspace page with Feist contributing some vocals.) By the end of the night, both Malcolm and Kara had stripped down into some very flashy gold lamé suits that were very wrong, but somehow, also very right.

Photos: The World Provider @ The Music Gallery on flickr
Myspace: The World Provider
Video: Volunteers on youtube
Video: The Last Knight Of The Wherewithal on youtube
Download: You Belong In The Show mp3