CMF Day 3: Dinosaur Bones, Daniel Wesley, The Bicycles, Black Diamond Bay, Black Hat Brigade, Amos The Transparent

Friday night of Canadian Music Fest was an enjoyable mix of bands that I've seen several times before, and others that I have meant to see but due to circumstances, never did.

Most of my music loving friends were shocked to hear that I had still never gotten around to seeing Dinosaur Bones perform. Along with Still Life Still, they are currently the most well supported act in the city, and to say that my expectations were high is no mere exaggeration. I do quite enjoy their four song EP, although not in any sort of mind blowing way. Add to that the fact that extreme gushing from an indie loving fanbase automatically causes me to cop a little extra 'tude, and you've got a blogger who is not going to ease into hipster euphoria without putting up a bit of a fight. Thankfully, a couple of songs into the night, the gloves were down, and I was able to settle in and enjoy the show. It's easy to see what people like about Dinosaur Bones. Although the songs themselves settle into a territory that is somewhat dark and brooding, the band performs with a fervent enthusiasm that encourages the audience to stop looking at their shoes and pay attention. If I have one small critique, it would be that a couple of the songs seemed to end just as they were getting interesting. I do recognize that CMF places a bit of a time restraint on sets, but the sophisticated nature of their songs are such that, with a little bit of musical adventure, they could be downright epic. Still it was an impressive set that gave off a pretty cool downtown vibe (whatever that means.)

Photos: My Dinosaur Bones @ The Horseshoe pics are up on flickr.
Myspace: Dinosaur Bones

I wasn't at all familiar with the next act, but since White Rock's Daniel Wesley was sandwiched in-between a couple of bands that I was dying to see, it was obviously easier to just stick around and check out his stuff. Daniel Wesley is both the band name and the lead singer's name, and their music comes from a blues based bar band territory that also incorporates a touch of reggae and ska. In terms of strict musical abilities, these guys have mad skillz, being a very tight and structured sort of band. In terms of sound, well, they remind me a lot of Jack Johnson. If you like Jack Johnson, you're going to like these guys. Personally, I can only take Jack in small doses and, although it was a solid performance, it probably isn't the type of thing I'm going to be spending a lot of time with. Still, if we're strictly speaking in terms of overall talent, they may have been the best band I saw the whole festival. Respect.

Photos: My pics of Daniel Wesley @ The Horseshoe are on flickr
Myspace: Daniel Wesley

For an album that didn't quite make my year end 'best of' in 2008, The Bicycles' Oh No It's Love is becoming one of my most listened to albums of this year, so far. The songs are such enjoyable blasts of upbeat hooky power pop that it's impossible not to succumb to their immediate charms. Believe it or not, I hadn't yet seen these guys live either, so I was really looking forward to this. Their happy time bubblegum vibe translates well to the live stage, and their giddy stage presence is all kinds of cute. They all took turns on lead vocals, and they seemed to be having a fantastic time on stage. It turns out that this was a good time to catch them, because apparently, they are going to be taking an extended (possibly permanent) hiatus. I didn't realize this beforehand, so all of the subtle hints (ahem) were actually lost on me. Things like, the vocalist asking if The Handsome Furs are looking for another member, as well as a person in the audience yelling out, "don't break up!" actually weren't enough to clue me in to the situation at hand. Still, it appears that the rumours are true, which is too bad, because they're a really great band that I would've liked to see again sometime.

Photos: The Bicycles at The Horseshoe on flickr.
Myspace: The Bicycles

At that point I probably made some Handsome Furs fan very happy as I decreased The Horseshoe overflow by one, and headed on down to Rancho Relaxo so as to enjoy some high quality music but with a significantly smaller crowd. Or so I thought.

I arrived at Rancho just as Black Diamond Bay was starting into their set, and the place was absolutely packed! I had never seen Rancho like this before. In fact, mere minutes after I entered, people were being turned away at the door due to lack of room. Initially, I didn't intend on seeing Patrick Krief's band perform since I was going to use the walk from Horseshoe to Rancho as an opportunity to grab a slice of pizza or something. I'm glad I chose hunger pains instead.

I've seen Patrick Krief perform enough times to know what to expect and, in their case, this is a good thing. If you've been hesitating on seeing them, I cannot recommend enough that you just go ahead and do so. Even if you've sampled their music and have come to the conclusion that it's really not your thing, their live show is a separate entity unto itself. When Patrick jumps into the audience wailing away on that wicked white Strat of his, it is easily one of the most intoxicating live music moments that I consistently have the pleasure of experiencing. It should also be mentioned that, even though I have a tendency to single out Krief in my reviews, it is the unparalleled chemistry of the entire band, that allows them to reach such legendary levels of exaltation.

Photos: Black Diamond Bay @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Myspace: Black Diamond Bay

Black Hat Brigade was the third band of the evening that everybody thinks I've seen before, but I actually hadn't. They play the same kind of late 70's artsy post punk style that Wolf Parade tries to emulate, but to be honest, I think that I like Black Hat Brigade even better. Actually, I'm going to go ahead and make an even bolder statement here and admit that, although the vocals remind me quite a bit of Isaac Brock, I actually find them less irritating than the Modest Mouse frontman. Flame me all you want, but it's true. They put on a very good show that had them moving back and forth between swirling percussion heavy epics to eclectic synth heavy dance songs. The best moment was during their last song when they incorporated a dead-on rendition of Television's Marquee Moon that would have even impressed Tom Verlaine himself. It took me a long time to finally see them, but they certainly appear to have honed their craft nicely.

Photos: Black Hat Brigade @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Myspace: Black Hat Brigade

And finally, I ended the night by seeing Amos The Transparent for the third time this year. Are you getting tired of me talking about them yet? You can read this year's previous reviews over here and here, but basically I'll just repeat a sentence that I've already stated a couple of times before, that is, that this was probably their best performance to date. Yes, they just keep getting better. They played a lot of songs from the new EP My, What Big Teeth You Have, which was released to the public for the first time at this show. Also notable, was seeing Mark Hyne take over on lead vocals for one of the songs, and doing such a great job. It's become very clear that Toronto has been bitten by the Amos bug and overall, the band was feeding heavily off of the crowd's rabid enthusiasm. Jonathan once again expressed his love of Toronto, and they all voiced appreciation for the support from our city. I'm curious to know if the band is having a similar reception elsewhere, because if they are, then I should definitely be hearing more about them than just blog buzz. I hope that this new EP garners them even more publicity.

Photos: Amos The Transparent @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: Amos The Transparent