w/ Buick Six, The Moderns
The Loft is an interesting kind of a place for a first timer and the thing that stands out as you walk in? No house music. The place was already awkward enough due to the unfortunate lack of people, and the absence of house music just made it that little bit more awkward. But as time went by, more and more people arrived, and it became less evident. But still...
This night, "Restless @ The Loft" is not your average gig night. For one, in the courtyard outside, there was a woman painting a canvas. She started with something blank, and before the night was out had a stunning painting. Also, before each band, there were three poets performing spoken word. T'was a little strange, but actually kind of awesome. My favourite, a piece full of Harry Potter puns. It was, shall we say, puntastic. Because of the poets however, the turnaround between sets seemed to go on forever, meaning the main act did not start until 11:40. That's a tad late for an intimate gig in a tiny venue methinks.
The music! The Moderns opened the night with their indie-rock tunes. For me, they weren't all that special. This is not to say they weren't good, and I didn't enjoy them, quite the contrary. I did enjoy them, it's just that their songs melded one and started to sound the same. There was a funk number thrown into the mix, and that was the highlight of the set for me. It made me chuckle a little, that brothers Andre and Levi were wearing matching akubra hats for the set. Some girls wear feathered headbands when they play, these lads wear akubras. Nice!
Buick Six were up next after some more spoken word. I have heard so much about this band, but never seen them live. And now I'm kicking myself. They were really good. Why haven't I seen them earlier! Their music was right up my alley with the pop-rock-indie-funk sound. To tell you the truth, I don't really know what to genre to call them. To me, they are called awesome. It always fascinates me to see a drummer singing and tonight, all three bands had singing drummers! Go figure. What was slightly different about Buick Six compared to the other bands tonight was the way there was an interchange between the frontman and drummer in the vocal department. They rarely sang at the same time and it made for a different feel because of the sparseness of the harmonies.
There's not much I can fault with Drawn From Bees. They have always been one of the bands I look out for, and seeing them again after almost a year gave me great pleasure. I'd almost forgotten how tight this band are live. Tonight however, guitarist Raven Jones was MIA and instead they were joined on stage by a chick playing keys. I wonder what was going on there... Anyway... Where Buick Six stayed away form the vocal harmonies in general, Drawn From Bees were the complete opposite. Dan James, Stew Riddle and Matt Wedmaier created lush, full three part harmonies that always remind me of one of my favourite Canadian Indie bands, Immaculate Machine. Their vocals always bring a smile to my face, as they are just that good. There are just not that many bands who can pull off proper vocal harmonies these days. Their new repertoire is allowing the band to move forward, while retaining that certain something that makes the guys just that little bit different and unique. Avant-garde even.
What a night. Art, spoken word, music and an all round good atmosphere (once the place had a few people in it). It was well worth the road trip.
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