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Metric, The Weakerthans, and Hey Rosetta! at The Verge Music Awards |
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| 01-Oct-2009 12:30 AM | Contributed by: pete | Concert Reviews | ||
Metric, The Weakerthans, Hey Rosetta! The Verge Music Awards The MOD Club in Toronto, Ontario on September 22, 2009 Full Photo Set (22 photos) The Verge Music Awards consists of just two awards, but each is worth $25,000, which means a total of $50,000 gets injected into the Canadian music ecosystem. It's a significant contribution, but the way XM goes about awarding the prizes is the best part. The award ceremony is more like an awesome three set concert, with two awards quickly announced in between the sets. This year the show consisted of the two 2008 winners, Hey Rosetta! and The Weakerthans, as well as a headlining set by Metric. Where else are you going to find a line-up like that? AwardsCongratulations to the winners!
If you're not already familiar with the remaining four finalists in each category, I highly recommend checking out each one of them because all of these nominees are well worth the time. Other nominees for Artist Of The Year were: Alexisonfire, Amos The Transparent, Joel Plaskett, and Said The Whale. Other nominees for Album Of The Year were: Arkells - Jackson Square, Joel Plaskett - Three, Metric - Fantasies, and Mother Mother - Oh My Heart. Hey Rosetta!It was in November 2008 that Hey Rosetta! went from some band that people kept telling me about to one of my favorite bands to see in concert. They confirmed that position when I saw them perform at Lee's Palace earlier this year where there was a visible melding between the band and the audience. For this show, the set was a little too short for the full effect to occur, but it still could be seen in a more limited way. Even so, it's always a pleasure seeing Tim Baker (vocals, guitar, piano) work his way through a set of songs that have become some of my most listened to tracks of the past year. Adding both to the sound and visual aspect of the show, Tim is surrounded by a band of incredible musicians, including a string section made up of the expressive Romesh Thavanathan (cello), the talented Erin Aurich (violin), and the captivating Kinley Dowling (violin). So good.
Info: Hey Rosetta! | Connect: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter Media: New Goodbye (mp3), I've Been Asleep For A Long, Long Time (mp3) The WeakerthansThe last time I saw The Weakerthans was when they co-headlined a show with the Constantines, and the time before that was at Virgin Festival 2008. In both reviews, I've reluctantly exposed the truth about my combination of obsession and ambivalence toward their songs. As I've said, some of their songs create musical obsession in me, and others just seem to pass me by. But there was something about this set that was different. Perhaps the set list leaned more toward the songs that I've connected to, or maybe I was just more receptive this time around. Either way, the casual nature with which they played and the sequence of the songs came together just right, pulling me right in. I'm not sure the band would have considered it one of their best efforts, but for me it was the best performance I've seen from them. Time to pull out my collection of CDs by The Weakerthans and see where obsession takes me this time.
Info: The Weakerthans | Connect: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter Media: Night Windows (mp3), Plea From A Cat Named Virtute (mp3) MetricEver since I listened to the song Grow Up And Blow Away far too many times, I've wanted to get out and photograph Metric, but our schedules just haven't matched up. I've seen some great photos of Emily Haines (vocals, keyboards) performing as a part of Metric, but when she's right there, only a metre or two in front of you, her performance is even better than it appears in photos. Even though the photos can convey her energy and, to a lesser extent, the charisma she emits from stage, they cannot convey how great her vocals sound - as pure as on the recordings. It wouldn't be fair to say I'm a huge fan of all of Metric's dance-pop music, but there was still a lot of songs in the set for me to like, and the delivery was incredible.
Info: Metric | Connect: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter |
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