I Say Controller

The other day I went to see Controller, Controller and You Say Party, We Say Die! with Johnny boy at the local university venue. Controller Controller had been here many times before, and perhaps YSPWSD had too, but in any case I'd never seen them. In fact, while I'd heard of them, I'd not actually heard them until a few months ago when I started listening to the CBC Radio 3 Podcast. Speaking of podcasts, I'm actually going to discontinue my own podcast before I get it started, I have enough on my plate already. But I'm still happy to introduce people to bands as requested. The FrankBlack.Net one, incidentally, is going strong. And, speaking of the CBC Podcast, the free single of the week (at least on the Canadian iTunes) is The Old Soul song River of Daughters. I LOVE this song, so go and grab it (free!) before it's too late. I think I'm going to buy their album actually, but I have to go to NewMusicCanada and check them out. Anyway, on with the show!

Well, first the opener. Spotty performance at best. I won't specify his name, mostly because I don't remember, but it was generally a decent beat with a bunch of noise and incongruous elements layered so high on top that King Kong wouldn't have ascended to the top of that pile. There were moments of goodness, but they were almost always ruined. I didn't mind the downbeat "Interpolishness" of his voice, but John was not impressed. There were points where he finished the song and nobody - I mean not a single person - realized he was finished for about 15 seconds after. He was aware of this, of course, but the show must go on. His last song was actually pretty good for the most part, there were parts I genuinely enjoyed. Out of pity I almost went up to him after his set to tell him this, but for the fact that he was on the wrong side of the all-ages boundry and I didn't feel like digging out my ID.

The bad thing was that this was supposed to be The Meligrove Band, who I was actually kind of looking forward to seeing, in spite of their emo look/leanings. I mean, really! Still, I'd heard their song, Planets Conspire, and if I was going to see Controller Controller anyway I certainly wouldn't mind seeing them. Apparently they're not touring now, though. Probably either fighting about which one gets to be 'the moody one' on their next batch of PR photos. OK, maybe I'm being unnecessarily harsh, but you should see some of their press photos.

Next up was YSPWSD, who were excellent. They stole the show, I think, which is not a slight on Controller Controller, but their sound was great and they have a tonne of energy and good riffs. Their music just conveyed itself really well there. They had a DVD recording crew with them too, and I bet that some of the material will find its way in, just a great sound and a good crowd for a Tuesday night. I don't think I'd like them on CD, but I'll definitely see them next time they're live. I suppose I'll try to find a few tracks and see if I want to buy them. I'm listening to Midnight Snack as I write this and quite enjoying it, so who knows.

Finally, Controller Controller. It was the singer's birthday, and YSPWSD came on stage with a big cake, which, if I may say, was delicious. But then, who doesn't like chocolate cake? And moreover, since when do I not like something with sugar? She shared the cake with us which was cool anyway. Their sound wasn't too great, however, prompting John and I to decide they were probably better on CD. But they were energetic, having a good time, and still fun to watch. Given that it was Tuesday night, we didn't hang around for the encore, but I think we were the only ones that left.

Anyway, not much else to say. I'm heading to Vegas next week so I'm sure to have some pictures and stories of disinterest on here when I get back. See you soon.

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