a day in the life of ...

Monday, March 23, 2009

03.15.2009 Bruce Peninsula / Timber Timbre / Hininder (Waterloo, ON)

Well well well... first show review from Waterloo, ON. I don't think i would even consider Waterloo a secondary concert market, (well maybe a secondary Canadian market) however it does get some somewhat decent shows. For those who don't know, Waterloo is a known for being an hour and a bit away from Toronto and being the home of Waterloo University, one of the better Engineering and Computer Science schools in the country. This is due largely in part to the support that they get from local technology giant Research in Motion (who? they make BlackBerrys, ah....) and probably some other companies.

Anyways, the show was held at the Grist Mill. It's located at south east corner of Waterloo Park. If you picture a log cabin, then you'll know what the Grist Mill looks like. The acoustics inside were pretty good all things considered. If nothing else the venue set a mood for a warm and homely atmosphere.

First up was Hininder, who from what I could see from the back of the room was a singer/songwriter. He sort of reminded me of Rocky Votolato in some respects. I only saw 2 songs, so that's all I can really say.

Next was Timber Timbre. This was apparently the band's first show live. The band consisted of a sax player, a violinist and guitarist who also sung. They had their own stage lighting, which was very minimal, basically just christmas lights laid out on the floor. The first song was a slow number, which fit the lighting of the room. It was almost haunting yet calming at the same, just like sitting around a campfire. Unfortunately, every song seemed to sound like the first, slow and slower. Eventually it wore on my nerves. The last song was performed with members of the Bruce Peninsula.

Prior to moving to Waterloo, I had never heard of Bruce Peninsula. Some of their recent shows around Ontario have garnered them positive reviews. I suppose if i had to describe them to someone, I'd say Sufjan Stevens doing southern gospel, maybe some Arcade Fire in there. They started their set with the song "Steam roller," which is every bit as awesome as it is on album. In fact I'd say that for the most part they are probably better band live than on album. I'll admit that I was pretty in awe of the two lead singers. Both of them are hiding a serious set of pipes. The solo that the female lead sings at the end of "Weave Myself a Dress" was pretty impressive. After about 40 min the band ended their set, only to be brought back for an encore to delight of the 70 or so people in attendance. They ended the night with a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain."

$8/$10

Labels: , , , ,

1 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home