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MTV Presents Brandon Flowers

About 500 fans lined up outside MTV’s Masonic Temple Tuesday night to watch Brandon Flowers showcase songs from his upcoming album, Flamingo. To their surprise, the lead singer of The Killers later stuck around to share insights about the band’s future and the unmistakeable influence of their hometown, Las Vegas.

The intimate atmosphere and giveaways on hand are not the only perks of being there in person. Studio audiences also have the opportunity to see a performer’s range and witness how one do-over can make all the difference. His first performance of ‘Magdalena’ was decent, but he was much more energetic and charismatic the second time around.

While many young girls enthusiastically expressed their love to him, only a select few women in the balcony sang all the words to ‘Crossfire’ by heart. Overall, fans should expect noticeable improvements in Brandon’s songwriting, as he explained that he articulates himself better as he gets older.

After admitting that he can’t keep a beat on the drum, Brandon acknowledged his reliance on his fellow band mates and showed no signs of arrogance. While describing how he included individual members of The Killers on his new record, Brandon noted bass guitarist Mark Stoermer’s absence as an exception. “He’s there in spirit,” he laughed. After commenting that many of his songs take on a whole new life when performed live, Brandon quickly defended himself again, reassuring the audience that the album is a great listen in itself.

As expected, Brandon’s new songs sound much like The Killers’ past releases. His duet with Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis, ‘Hard Enough’, offers a slightly different sound and demonstrates the power of a smart collaboration. After casually describing Tom Jones as “a cool guy”, Brandon added that he remains excited about working with him once they find the right material.

Brandon’s sentiment about it being an unusual recording process comes across in his lyrics when he joins the list of musicians connecting with lonely souls by asking “Is there anybody out there…”. His pre-show nervousness was a hot topic during the interview and it appears that we’ll have to wait and see whether Brandon gains more confidence as an artist.

Originally published on Sympatico’s The Hook.

August 27, 2010 by

Concert Review: Arcade Fire

It sure has been a long time since I’ve enjoyed all the fun that Centreville has to offer. August 14th marked my first time back at Toronto Island in about ten years. It was also the first time I’ve seen patrons encouraged to support local eateries like Big Fat Burrito, rather than tempted to buy overpriced slices from Pizza Pizza. Despite the inconvenient wait for the ferry, the Island is a great venue for outdoor summer concerts. Surprisingly, I found the acoustics were better than I’ve heard at Molson Amphitheatre, so I anticipate that we’ll see many more popular headliners perform there in the future.

If you haven’t listened to Polaris Music Prize finalists The Sadies yet, please Google them ASAP; and the same goes for fellow opener Janelle Monae, who is simply incredible. While she was barely on my radar before this past weekend, Janelle has an unmistakable ability to demand attention, such as by standing on top of a speaker. After making a dramatic entrance covered in a black cape, Janelle was full of energy for her hour long set. She even impressed the talented Jully Black who tweeted that she is “dope”, and rightfully so. ‘Wondaland’ is a particularly catchy song, as was ‘Another Year Again’ by The Sadies.

Once the sun disappeared and Arcade Fire came on stage, they proved why their album has been #1 on the Billboard charts this month. Their ninety minute performance had the perfect combination of hits like ‘Keep the Car Running’ along with tracks from their new album The Suburbs, including my personal favourite, ‘Modern Man’. Lead singer Win Butler and his wife Régine Chassagne only spoke to the audience twice: first for the purpose of promoting their charitable work with Kanpe, an organization offering aid to people in Haiti, and then to thank Torontonians for their loyalty. Meanwhile, the band’s use of black and white clips from vintage films made for interesting multimedia displays without distracting fans from the eight musicians or their critically acclaimed lyrics.

While broadcasting a show live online was an innovative idea on their part, oohing and aahing along with thousands of other fans isn’t something you can do in front of a computer screen. When they first disappeared prior to their encore, the audience continued chanting to the tune of ‘Rebellion (Lies)’. Evidently, fans can’t seem to get enough of Arcade Fire, especially given that this was their third show in Toronto alone this summer. As the clock keeps ticking, one can only imagine what’s next for Arcade Fire, the band that never disappoints.

Originally published on Sympatico’s The Hook.

August 16, 2010 by

Concert Review: Bon Jovi’s The Circle Tour

Despite his recent injury, Bon Jovi remains a superb performer and maintained an incredible stage presence throughout both two-and-a-half hour long shows at the Rogers Centre.

Bon Jovi certainly knows how to show the middle aged soccer moms in attendance a good time. Jon is always one to please the ladies in the house by wearing unbuttoned shirts and flashing his gorgeous pearly whites. Loyal fans may have also noted that red is a reoccurring colour in his wardrobe and with good reason – it’s a great look for him!

By projecting silkscreen images of icons like Obama and Martin Luther King during ‘We Weren’t Born To Follow’, Bon Jovi inspired fans to create social change ASAP because after all, you can sleep when you’re dead.

Opener Kid Rock’s return to the stage made for a memorable duet when he joined Bon Jovi to cover Bob Seger’s ‘Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll’, something keyboardist David Bryan “randomly” selected from the jukebox. The song was a fantastic addition to the set list and effectively added to the overall classic rock concert experience that always make Bon Jovi tickets a worthwhile purchase.

At risk of losing the audience’s enthusiasm, Bon Jovi tried offering a more intimate vibe by singing lack lustre acoustic versions of songs like ‘Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night’ in the middle of the audience. Furthermore, the band’s failure to perform ‘Raise Your Hands’ was also a major let down, as the memory of throwing my arms in the air at the ACC during The Lost Highway tour was half the reason I made sure to see him again! Fortunately they regained the crowd’s excitement with my personal favourite off The Circle record, ‘Work for the Working Man’ and then showed some attitude with ‘Have a Nice Day’.

Before closing with ‘Living on a Prayer’, Jon explained that it has been his dream to perform in the Rogers Centre ever since playing at Toronto’s El Mocambo nearly three decades ago, adding that he needed a few moments to take it all in. I’m glad that my fellow Torontonian fans could help you fulfill your dreams, Jon. Please come back soon.

August 10, 2010 by

A Name is Not a Number

After re-watching Up in the Air, I realized that it is such a powerful film because it emphasizes how frequently people are undervalued. Corporations need to make cutbacks in order to stay afloat, but rarely have time to give personal attention to their terminated employees. People aren’t numbers, they matter. My high school classmates like to joke about how each of us was another statistic who was accepted to their top choice universities, but beyond that, we are all individuals.

Prom season is upon us again. I wonder how many seniors are ranking their friends on a scale of 1 to 10. I remember everyone whispering to their friends about who looks surprisingly decent in a suit and which girl in a mini dress looks the hottest. Then once everyone uploads their photos, the rating process continues. Some people are taken, others are suddenly higher in demand and majority are scrutinized solely based on appearance.

How I Met Your Mother also effectively portrays how judgmental we all are. One night in McLaren’s, Barney draws the Hot-Crazy scale and explains that hot girls are more likely to be nuts. Maybe that’s why employers become disappointed with their workers – sometimes people are hired based on looks rather than their resume. Regardless of whether they are willing to admit it, Abercrombie stores hire models because sex sells and modelling agencies hire salespeople. Far too many agencies are paying representatives to tell potential clients that they are beautiful in order to make a nice profit. Their intention is that the young and naive will be so satisfied with their boosted ego, that spending over $1000 on a beauty and runway boot camp (which will likely bring them little success) seems like no big deal.

Finally, Up in the Air is really great because it examines how face-to-face communication cannot always be replaced by machines. After accompanying George Clooney’s character across America to tell people they’ve been let go, the optimistic recent grad realizes why telling people ‘it sucks to be you’ shouldn’t be done on a Skype date. Technology is no doubt taking over our lives, but there needs to be a limit.

May 31, 2010 by