Dinosaur Bones, Amos The Transparent

20-Sep-2008 03:30 PM

Contributed by: pete

Tattoo Rock Parlour in Toronto, Ontario
Photos and Review by: Pete Nema

Dinosaur Bones
Amos The Transparent
Matt Duffin

September 17, 2008
Full Photo Set (19 photos)

I've seen Dinosaur Bones a few times, and I like watching the progress they are making, so when they were added to the bill with Amos The Transparent, the two of them together seemed like a good reason to get out to the Tattoo Rock Parlour one more time.

Dinosaur Bones

Dinosaur Bones always seems to bring their own glitterati of fans with them to their shows, along with a small group of photographers (of which I am often a part). It means that whenever I see them, the fans are always up at the stage and the photographers are circling. I always find it to be a slightly strange scene for a relatively unknown local band, but I also think it's a bit of an indication of what this band is creating. I've seen them enough times now that I've grown attached to some of their songs, including the crowd sing-along NYE and the catchy Royalty. Chromewaves described their sound as a rawer version of Ambulance LTD, which is a comparison I wish I had thought to make; now that it's been made for me, I definitely hear it.

Info & Connect: Dinosaur Bones on MySpace, Facebook

Amos The Transparent

Back in June, Amos The Transparent completely surprised me with one of the best performances of NXNE. I had only seen them one time before that, and it was good enough for me to be interested, but everything at NXNE just clicked and it was truly a memorable performance. I've now seen them a total of four times, and the amazing part is that each time they've played in a different configuration. The core players stay the same, but the instrumentation around them changes. This time around, there were five on stage and Jonathon Chandler (vocals, guitar) says this is the configuration that will be going on tour. Although I miss the added instrumentation and vocals in a few of the songs, most of the songs are able to stand very nicely just on the strength of the songwriting, especially the brilliant I'm On Trial, which is a strong yet gentle song on the album, but is transformed into a much more powerful effort on stage, independent of band configuration.