Manic Street Preachers in Toronto

I finally got the opportunity to see one of my favourite band that I first discovered back in 1999 live at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto. The last few weeks felt very long while impatiently waiting for the show day. The concert started much later than expected around 9:15 pm while the doors opened at 7:00pm. Aside from the delay, they started the night strong with Motorcycle Emptiness.

Even though I have missed some of their works, I am glad they played some of my favourites, in no specific order:

1. If You Tolerate This
2. The Everlasting
3. Tsunami
4. Send Away The Tigers
5. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
6. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough

There are some songs that I don't usually like but sound amazing live. I am glad a few acoustic songs have been squeezed in, specially the excellent The Everlasting. If You Tolerate This was also played a bit faster than the studio version but the live version along with the crowd singing in unison was a one of a kind of experience. My only gripe of the show tonight is the absence of This Joke Sport Severed, I have been looking forward to that song forever. I am assuming they will probably let this song simmer for a few years before playing it live or maybe they have omitted this title from the Toronto playlist.

Near the end of the show, A Design For Life ended their tour in Toronto with a bang after a 10 year absence from Canada, ironically that is also the length of time I have known the band.

U2 360 Tour in Toronto

Wednesday 16 September 2009 is my 2nd U2 concert since 2005. This time, the venue took place at the Rogers Centre aka Skydome. The specially built stage is a beast in itself, it looks like a space shuttle about to take off and apparently it has taken 3 days to build as well as 150+ trucks to transport the pieces. Our seats were fairly high in the stadium that I could feel vertigo while looking down and the lighted CN tower at night provided a magnificent backdrop to the Skydome. Later on, the spectacular lightning display of the show, the half opened dome and the tower meshed so well together that it looked like the infrastructure was waiting here all these years for the arrival of U2's 360 Tour in Toronto.

Snow Patrol was opening to U2, I was quite excited on hearing that since I had been following their music for the last few years since Final Straw. The band started a bit after 7 pm and played some of their most popular tunes, some of them in no specific order:

1. You're All I Have
2. Hands Open
   
3. Chasing Cars
4. Run
5. Crack The Shutters
   

I also learn that they are Irish too like U2, which might explain why they are opening for them. I am glad to see Snow Patrol live, an unexpected and pleasant surprise for me.

On to the piece de resistance, U2 kicks off the night with Breathe from their latest album. Bono's voice wasn't perfect on this one, I didn't quite feel the vibe of the song like the studio version. However, things did start to pick up afterward, the night moved along quite well with more songs peppered across their various albums. The stage looks huge with the outer ring, rotating bridges, 360 screen, lightning and the middle which can go up and down. An engineering masterpiece, the people who worked on it should be proud of this technical prowess.

Edge will rock the crowd with his solos and riffs. I am amazed at the number of guitars he has played during the entire show. I believe I have spotted a Stratocaster, Telecaster, one of those semi-hollow guitar, a Gibson SG cherry red, an acoustic and much more. I am glad of the acoustic version of Stay, it changes the overall pacing a bit.

Bono also switched some of the songs with the word Toronto and he mentioned the TTC, Union station and Yonge Street, the crowd went nuts when those words were uttered.

Here's the setlist:

1. Breathe
2. No Line On The Horizon
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day
6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
7. Elevation
8. Your Blue Room
9. Unknown Caller
10. Until The End Of The World
11. Stay
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. City Of Blinding Lights
14. Vertigo
15. I'll Go Crazy If Don't Go Crazy Tonight
16. Sunday Bloody Sunday
17. MLK
18. Walk On
19. One
20. Where The Streets Have No Name
21. Ultra Violet
22. With Or Without You
23. Moment Of Surrender
    

The final song of the night is my favourite and the tune that I have been most looking forward to hear live on this magnificent night.

Brazilian Guitar Marathon - Luminato 2009, Closing Weekend

The closing weekend of the Luminato guitar festival at Bloor-Yorkville, today's instrument of choice is the classical guitar. Most of the artists performed without any amplifier connected to the guitar but just a simple mic in front of it. This really brings out the sound of the nylon/steel string instrument to its full extent. I didn't really like the venue, the spaces aroud the stage were surrounded by 3+ m tall trees which blocked the views to the podium. On top of that, there were two strips of garden of which no one was alowed to step in. I personally think it was a waste of space for a concert. However, I did enjoy the nice shade under one of those trees.

The first act I witnessed was Badi Assad & Celso Machado who were making a lot of nature noises, most notably monkey sounds mixed with a lot of percusions and guitar plucking in between. The overall feel transported me to a forest far away from the current urban setting, I really enjoyed that kind of musical creation, very different from what I used to listen. The trees and leaves which were semi-blocking my view to the stage really added to the naturistic experience.

The second act I watched was Luciana Souza & Romero Lubambo. Romero played a lot of nice solos with his amplified classic guitar and was well supported by vocals from Luciana. The guitar followed the rhythm of the singer very closely at several instances, the Portuguese lyrics were a nice break from last weekend's performances.

Next on came the Assad Duo with Romero Lubambo. The trio performed a couple of pieces together. After that, the Assad Duo had the stage to themselves, their style of music felt very classical and they performed amazingly well together. I believed they composed a lot of pieces from famous South American composers and artists whose names were unknown to me.

Yamandu Costa joined them afterwards to segue into the final act of the day, of which the new trio performed a couple of songs. Like before, Yamandu ended up having the stage for himself. He sprinked his playing with some whistling, that really distinguished himself from the other acts. His sound felt different as well as the head of his guitar which seemed to have more gaps compared to a regular 6 string classical. After some research, I found out he was playing a 7 strings which might explain the different sound.

The show ended with all the above artists who performed together for one last finale to conclude the Luminato Guitar Festival. The music felt very raw today and I liked it a lot, you could feel what a guitar sounds like at its core. The public had a great time too, a lot of standing ovations for the different pieces. I am quite happy with the series of guitar concerts that I have been to since last Friday. I hope Luminato 2010 will outdo 2009.

Daniel Lanois - Luminato 2009, Day 3, Toronto

Dave Matthews & Tim Raynolds Live At Radio City was the first time I heard of the name Daniel Lanois when Dave credits him for the song The Maker. I finally saw the man behind the last three U2 albums live today at Dundas Square and the crowd was hyped to see him perform after waiting for an hour, apparently the previous shows were also delayed by about 1 hour.

His instrumental improvisation with the electric guitar and the slide guitar came as a surprise to me since I was expecting a more vocal show. Regardless, I admire his guitar improvisation prowess even though the melodies were not following any specific pattern. Daniel Lanois then mentioned how he thought it was supposed to be an instrumental show today, the entire Luminato event for the day was called The World Of Slide Guitar. Of the instrumental pieces, I really enjoyed his version of a possible alternative of the Canadian anthem.

I did notice that some members of the audience left the square within the first 30 min of instrumental play, I assumed that they did not warm up to the sound of the 6 strings only. A drummer then joined him for the remainder of the show where he performed The Maker and Still Water. Those titles are the only two songs I am familiar with from Dave Matthews Live At Radio City and Daniel Lenois has performed The Maker brillantly, a perfect conclusion to my first 3 days at the Luminato Festival. I am looking forward to what next weekend has to offer.

Taj Mahal Trio - Luminato 2009, Day 2, Toronto

When I hear of the artist named Taj Mahal, I think of some indie rock band. After doing some research, I realized the high notoriety of Taj Mahal in the 60 - 80s and I decided to check him out at the Metro Square. The baby boomers among the crowd know him well as shown by all the cheerings. The trio consists of Taj Mahal as lead guitar/vocal, a bassist and a drummer. I enjoy the simplicity of this setup and the band starts the show with an upbeat bluesy tune. Mamadou Diabaté makes a guest appearance for the first song with his kora(an African harp). At times, he interjects his muscial touches well into the song but it also occasionally overshadows the lead guitar.

The second and third songs are my favourite because of their very bluesy nature. Taj Mahal then progresses from the 6 strings to the keyboard where he plays a more mellow song. From then on, his songs start feeling very islandish and world music type as mentioned by the host at the beginning of the show. The bassist has done a very good job in keeping the beat of the songs while Taj Mahal solos and improvises superbly to make his guitar cry in the cool atmosphere of Toronto.

It is the second time since last night that I have seen the crowd so connected with the artist. The Taj Mahal Trio has performed an excellent upbeat show tonight which make a lot of people clapping, dancing and cheering. I am glad to learn of this amazing blues/world music artist and I will be watching out for his songs on Radio Paradise.

Randy Bachman - Luminato 2009, Day 1, Toronto

The Pièce de résistance of the night at Dundas Square, is a show by Randy Bachman, key member of the band The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Prior to that night, I knew nothing about this artist but after seeing the excitement within the crowd and hearing American Woman, I immediately deducted he was someone big. For the younger generation, you might have heard of American Woman from Guitar Hero World Tour or covered by Lenny Kravitz about a decade ago. Here are some of the songs that he has played tonight in no specific order:

1. American Woman
2. Let It Ride
3. These Eyes
4. Takin' Care of Business
5. No Sugar Tonight
6. You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
7. Laughing

On top of the above, he introduced a special guest who might be someone famous but I forgot his name. They played two fantastic rock blues song with lots of blues riff, improvisation and solos, they were the highlights of my night. The blues song had the same feel as Chuck Berry's work as mentioned by one of the artist.

Of all the free concerts that I have attended, it is the first time that I see the audience connect with the artist. The synergy between the Toronto crowd and Randy Bachman have been marvelous throughout the night. He knows how to engage the public with his funny anecdotes. After more than one hour of rock, the show came to an end but the audience was adamant for an encore as shown by the loud clapping and cheering. I am glad that the band and Randy Bachman has come out to play one more song. Dundas Square and Toronto have been rocked by a Canadian legend of Rock.

DiggingRoots - Luminato 2009, Day 1, Toronto

The next band who played at Dundas Square was unknown to me, the DiggingRoots, a Canadian Blues band. Their initial songs felts haunting with a very nice lead guitar play. The tempo starts getting more upbeat as more songs are played towards a ska/rock/blues mixture. I like how the vocals vary between the male and female singers, they add a nice feel to their songs. From the first listen, DiggingRoots feels very promising to me, I will have to give them a second listen to see if their songs grow on me.

Canadian Tenors - Luminato 2009, Day 1, Toronto

Day 1 of the Luminato Guitar Festival at Dundas Square, Toronto, I was 8 minutes late and was surprised to hear tenor voices coming out of the giant speakers. For a second, I thought I was at the wrong venue since I was expecting more 6 strings actions. My doubts of the current performers were quickly put to rest when they announced their next song which come from the theatrical show Notre Dame de Paris.

Belle is the perfect song to kick off Luminato for me since I have been listening to it non-stop for the last 7 days. It is very hard to match Garu's raspy voice but the tenor cover version adds a special flavour to the song. Assimilating Belle live today has been quite enthralling.

The quartet continued to perform a few other songs and ended their segment of the night with two songs from Queen, Who Wants to Live Forever and We are the Champions.

John Williams in Toronto

I am sure a lot of people will associate the name John Williams with the guy who has composed the Star Wars theme. There is also another John Williams, the classical guitarist who has become famous from the piece Cavatina, the main theme of the movie The Deer Hunter. I finally fulfilled my wish of seeing such an amazing guitarist live and tonight was a beautiful musical experience, probably my highlight of 2009 so far.

The tempo between the slow and fast paced sections are wonderfully done, let alone the lightning fast fingerstyling. Those fingers alone is a show on its own, a bit like a mini-dance from the body to the fret board. The pieces that were played tonight:

Concerto in D Major, Op. 3, No. 9 (“L’’estro armonico”) _____Allegro _____Larghetto _____Allegro	Vivaldi/Bach Arranged by John Williams
Two Sonatas	D. Scarlatti Arranged by John Williams
Valses poeticos, H. 147	Granados Arranged by John Williams
Torre Bermeja (Serenata) from 12 Piezas caracteristicas, Op. 92, No. 12	Albéniz Arranged by John Williams
Notes in the Margin	John Williams
Intermission
La Catedral _____Lento (Preludio saudade) _____Andante religioso _____Allegro solemne	Agustin Barrios Mangoré
Djilile	Peter Sculthorpe
Theme from Schindler’s List	John T. Williams Arranged by John Williams
Theme from Cinema Paradiso	Ennio Morricone Arranged by John Williams
Cavatina from The Deer Hunter	Stanley Myers Arranged by John Williams
Prelude to a Song Open End Song without Words Hello Francis	John Williams
Carolan’s Concerto and Irish Tunes	Trditional Arranged by John Williams

On top of classics like Torre Bermeja, La Catedral and Cavatina, I was really impressed with the rhyme in Valses Poeticos, his own composition Notes in the Margin and the Irish music on a guitar. The latter was a first for me, I thought Irish tunes were only possible with a violin. The night was also sprinkled with a few jokes from the guitarist himself to get the crowd more engaged with the music.

At the end of the concert, John Williams was given four standing ovations. On the fourth outing, he came back on stage for an encore where he played the pretty Como Llora una Estrella. Seeing and listening to such a guitar legend performing live will stay in my memory forever.