I went to a life altering show last night, and I'm going to another one tonight, so I figured that I'd better get off of my round rump and review last week's excellent show at The Garrison before the backlog gets too ridiculous to handle.

The promotional teaming of two of the city's finest, namely Dan Wolovick of TWM fame, and Tyler Wade of Zygiella fame, couldn't help but boast a lineup that would satisfy the need of every local music loving hipster in town. This was my first time checking out the latest venue addition to the ever burgeoning Ossington / Dundas strip and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the place. The sound was decent, the stage was nice and high, and although the attendance had apparently reached capacity levels, it didn't feel that way as there was plenty of room to move around. It was probably the reddest place ever, which meant that my pictures didn't turn out as great as I would've liked, but otherwise it was still a pretty cool place. I was not able to stick around right to the end of the show, which meant that I would have to catch Germans' 90's indie rock sound at a future date, but I certainly enjoyed the three bands that I did get to see.

Local favorites Black Hat Brigade were the first band to play the evening and apparently they were sporting a slightly smaller band member count than when I had seen them last, all the way back in march during Canadian Music Week. What is interesting is the fact that the difference was hardly noticeable to me. The band still sounded great, and in many ways their compatibility with one another seemed more focused and assured. They can't help but be a bit quirky, since this is their whole dynamic, from the complex and structured arrangements to the spit and growl of their gruff vocalizations. But it seems that this time around they set aside a smidgen of that quirkiness and replaced with a little more old fashioned rockiness, and I have to say that the slight shift served them well. There were even a few moments where the audience was borderline head banging, particularly one really hilarious tall guy who seems to pop up at every Black Hat Brigade show and given the fact that this event was taking place at the tail end of the month dubbed Movember, the jumping, dancing audience looked like an action sequence out of a really bad 70's cop show. But in a good way.

Photos: My red shots of Black Hat Brigade @ The Garrison are on flickr
Myspace: Black Hat Brigade

I was shocked to discover that I hadn't been out to see The Schomberg Fair since October of 2008, even though their album Gospel has been in fairly regular rotation over the last few months. They've been touring their brains out lately in support of that album, and it's amazing to see the results of all of that experience. They were tighter than tight, as they blasted their particular style of cowpunked raunchabilly speed gospel at an alarming pace; one that left me exhausted by the time they were done. The amazing contrast between their onstage persona and their offstage amicable, down to earth demeanor is a thrill to witness in action. The set was composed of the usual blend of old time standards and original numbers, and Nathan Sidon's deep baritone was intoxicating, as was Pete Garthside's impeccable drumming and Matt Bahen's lightning fast, yet precise banjo work. They are definitely a band that will continue to rise with more exposure and I want nothing more than to see them gain the success that they deserve.

Photos: My red shots of The Schomberg Fair @ The Garrison is on flickr.
Myspace: The Schomberg Fair

Personally, I have never witnessed the celebratory matrimonial joining of two raccoons, squirrels, aardvarks or any wildlife creature, but I can only assume that the event would be touching, jubilant and likely a little bit nutty. And if this is the case, then The Racoon Wedding's moniker could not possibly be more accurate (with the possible exception of spelling 'raccoon' properly) since their show was all of those things and more. Admittedly, I went into the show mentally equipped with nothing more than the buzz that I had been reading about them since I had still never gotten around to actually listening to their music. The fact that I've been listening to their Gather Gather Bones Rattle Rattle Truth CD fairly regularly since the show is a testament to how good they actually were. If I remember correctly, there were about 9 people on stage, including a keyboardist, a trumpet player and two background singers, and at times their music was sort of like the comic book version of Bruce Peninsula, with their beautiful sounding choirs coming across as a little bit less inspiring, but quite a lot more fun. The band ran into complications pretty quickly when the lead singer / guitarist broke a couple of strings partway through the first number, and without a backup plan, the scurry for another guitar held up the proceedings by quite a few minutes. Once things got going though, the band more than made up for it with an energetic set that was an eclectic mix of folk, country and crazy chamber pop. The fact that the band looked like they were having a blast onstage was also quite endearing, and literally every single thing that the keyboard player did and said made me laugh. Although there were occasional moments that showcased how young and inexperienced they still are, they're definitely a band that's worth keeping an eye on.

Photos: My red shots of Racoon Wedding are up on flickr
Myspace: Racoon Wedding

Interesting update: As I mentioned, I was too tired to stick around for the evening's final act, and decided that I'd just wait to catch Germans at some later date. I'm typing the final part of this post upon returning home from seeing Handsome Furs at Lee's Palace and guess who was their opening act: that's right! More on that later...