Multi-instrument Madness
February 18, 2011 - The Horseshoe hosts an eclectic mix, to say the least. Friday night saw four bands, twelve genres, and about fifteen different sorts of instruments. I’m not terribly sure – I actually lost track, but I do think that maracas appeared at some point.
The Strumbellas opened the night with a rebel yell. Their music is a sort of bluegrass-inspired, alternative country meets indie folk mash-up, and in addition to the standard guitar/bass/drums, they bring to the stage a banjo, a violin, a mandolin, and a piano. They played with a sort of slap and slide, hard-luck sound well suited to the Horseshoe – but it wouldn’t be out of place on a truck stereo while driving down an empty highway. They’re the band with three extra mics for backing vocals, but everyone else in the band sings along anyway.
Following this, The Paint Movement took the stage with an unfortunate rough start, which is a shame because I really like their music. They bring a saxophone into a rock context very smoothly, and some of their songs have a pretty neat back-and-forth vocal quality – listen to Fortune’s Widow to see what I mean. However, they had a few awkward transitions and struggled to hold the audience at the close of their set.
Wildlife took the stage next, and they took a few minutes to build a well-layered wall of music – helped along with beautiful silhouette lighting – that established an awesome tone for their set. Their live show has this incredible, vital quality that their recorded music just can’t replicate. Honestly, I would see them again just to hear Stand in the Water, which is good recorded, but live it takes on this immersive quality. They call themselves power-pop/rock, and whilst the synths certainly attest to that, the mandolin was a bit of a surprise. The only weak part of an otherwise laser-infused set was a tedious break to have the audience sing back to them.
Make Your Exit rounded out the night with a very ambient and experimental sound. They began their set a cappella, which is a brave thing for a band to do, but they pulled it off. They provided a surprisingly mellow end to the night, and I say surprising because it can be difficult for a band to command the attention of a hard-to-please Toronto audience at the close of a long night, but Make Your Exit appeared effortless in doing so.