Sunparlour Players w/ Josh Reichmann Oracle Band @ The Theatre Centre

So here is the last of my latest batch of completely negligent classic concert reviews. This one's bordering on almost three weeks old now (as part of the Summerworks Festival) but its interesting mix of the bizarre and spastic has enabled it to lodge itself comfortably in my brain so that the details are as fresh to me as if I had attended this one yesterday. Also The R.O.B. reviewed it on his blog and I just basically copied most of the details from him.

The previous and only time that I had ever seen Josh Reichmann was when he was in an amazing rock 'n roll band known as The Tangiers. This was way back in 2003 (or was it '04?) when they played an outdoor type thing in Hamilton with some of my favourite bands at the time (The Weekend, Flux AD, Warsawpack). I thought that they were amazing and as I went into this show having not even heard a note of his current project, known as Oracle Band, I must admit that I entered The Theatre Centre reasoning, "How different can this project possibly be?" Answer? Pretty dang different!

Choosing him as the opener for a spastic folk band was kind of an odd choice to say the least, as his brand of theatrical performance art caught me, and many others I spoke to, a little off guard. This isn't to say that it was bad by any means, just perhaps a little bit out of place. The band was basically made up of Josh on vocals while accompanied by a pre-recorded electronic backing track, while Laura Bolton joined him by performing some modern interpretive dance. His between song banter was quite amusing, yet very random, and seemed to have no relation to the songs that he was singing. I thought the music itself was quite interesting though, as it straddled a line incorporating elements of soul, electronica, ska and whatever you call what Roxy Music was doing in the 70's. Upon visiting his myspace page, I have to admit that there is something intriguing about his output, and certain songs even have a habit of remaining embedded in the brain for a bit. I'm not sure if his live shows always consist of Josh, his girl and an iPod or not, but I would be very interested in seeing how the performance translates when a full band is backing him up.

Photos: Josh Reichmann Oracle Band on flickr
Myspace: Josh Reichmann Oracle Band

The aforementioned R.O.B. has mentioned on several occasions that Sunparlour Players are the best live band in Toronto. Problem is, the last time I saw them they were opening for the ACTUAL best live band in Toronto, The Sadies. (We bloggers are nothing if not unreasonably opinionated.) At that show, I remember thinking that, although their energy was undeniable, they could probably do with a little bit of control. Their unbridled enthusiasm for what they were doing seemed to run ahead of them just a little bit, resulting in a performance that was fun, but a little bit sloppy. This time around, the band on that stage was one of great control, and their instrumentation demonstrated a tightness that easily places them at a level that one would be hard-pressed to match, locally or otherwise. Well, except for The Sadies.

Probably increasing my appreciation was the fact that I've been listening to their latest offering Wave North pretty much every week since I first obtained the album. Andrew Penner's gruff vocals sounded even more forceful and penetrating on the live stage and, once again, it's hard not to be charmed by the intensity of its three multi-instrumentalist members. The fact that all three of them likely lost about 10 pounds of sweat due to their rabid performance served as no surprise to anybody who had seen them before, which I assume applied to most of the audience. There were many great moments throughout the night, but the song Nuclear was one particular highlight for me, as the song's build up sounded twice as potent on that stage as it does on record. This is an amazing accomplishment considering that the original version does a pretty good job of blasting into the atmosphere on its own. For the encore, the band played their oft lauded cover of AC/DC's Thunderstruck, which was an impassioned performance indeed.

At this point, there is no doubt that the Sunparlour Players are, in fact, one of the best bands in the city, and as they continue to grow in experience and inventiveness, it'll be great to see tham continue to progress as an active part of the local indie scene.

Photos: Sunparlour Players @ The Theatre Centre on flickr
Myspace: Sunparlour Players