Local Alternative at Lee’s
January 20, 2011 - A night at Lee’s Palace is seldom a night wasted – well, seldom squandered, anyway. Case in point: Thursday night at Lee’s showcased local bands, a phrase usually associated with apologetic small-town community newsletters, but used here to mean talented acts that call Toronto home willingly.
Like most supporting bands, Crimes in Paris was fairly rough around the edges; unlike most opening bands, Crimes in Paris was worthwhile. That being said, I’m on the positive side of mixed feelings respecting their performance. The band is best when their songs have some energy; i.e., when the beat is a bit faster, the volume a bit louder, and the songs show a bit more edge, Crimes in Paris are at once interesting and enjoyable. It’s when they slow down that things feel dull and uninspired – not due to any lack of technical skill, but simply because the ground feels well-trodden. On the whole, though, Crimes in Paris is a band worth attention and likeable enough, not least due to frontman Rayce Veitch’s self-deprecating and affable tone between songs, one of which he dedicated to his mother. Based on Thursday night, I suspect that the potential for a solid band is there – whether it fully develops remains to be seen, and I write that from a place of cautious optimism.
Alternative rock quartet Modern Superstitions took the stage next, and they live up to their hype. Labels like ‘alternative’ feel especially broad when it comes to a band like Modern Superstitions, which has some early American new wave and 70s punk influences – what I’m saying is that they would fit in in the 1970s at CBGB equally as well as they do here in 2011 at Lee’s Palace. Problems of genre aside, Modern Superstitions bring a level of complexity to their song writing uncommon for such a young band. Their transitions were almost seamless, their harmony was tight, and, at times, their vocals were powerful.
Finally, The Wilderness took the night to strange new places. It’s handy that ‘alternative’ is such a catch-all – The Wilderness have a weird electronic sound that is elegant, subtle, and energetic. The night promptly morphed into a balloon-filled dance party, and frontman Lee Piazza used breaks in his vocal duties (afforded to him by the band’s propensity for long, complex, instrumental interludes) to drench the audience in glitter. As good as their album is, The Wilderness is a live experience that I’m glad I didn’t miss.
