Thursday, 7 April 2011
Cut Copy gig w/ support Holy Ghost
Sound Academy, 11 Polson St, Toronto, Canada, 9 pm
Pretty lights, good looking people and one of the best sounds to come out of Melbourne, Australia [green n’ gold represent y’all] makes me a very happy camper.
The Canadian crowd was genuinely pumped for synth-electro band, Cut Copy. I love it when Australian music swims across international waters without drowning in the “typical” Australian music genre known for all the wrong reasons [true blue Men at Work, country Keith Urban, and cheesy Olivia Newton-John].
Doors opened at venue, Sound Academy, at 9 pm. However, media surrounding the gig incorrectly claimed 7 pm. We joined the short queue at 8.30 pm, which exponentially grew with the patrons’ excitement. Having never been to Sound Academy, I wondered how intimate the space would be since the line crowd didn’t look large. I love small venues; the music and crowds just feel closer and more closed in. Sort of like a masochistic claustrophobe’s ultimate fantasy.
I did hear murmurs that some locals didn’t like the venue because it is rather cavernous. A seemingly sparse crowd is worse than a tight touch-me-up crowd at a music gig. Nothing kills atmosphere more.
Honestly, I wouldn’t arrive so early to a venue but I was meeting new friends so it was good to have an opportunity to chat near the merch table [I was 1.5 hours late to the pub meetup beforehand, whoops]. It was evident why others don’t like Sound Academy – people milled around like an awkward Tupperware party in the open warehouse venue. The lights were pretty though, I like the red beams dropping down to the little bar tables scattered about the floor. The 3 bars [I like that!] were lit with purple neon.
The warehouse feel. The red bar tables.
The sparse cave at the start of the night.
Holy Ghost, Batman!
We moved to the middle of the 3/4 full mosh but by the 3rd song of support, Holy Ghost, I got to know my newly adopted countrymen by rubbing up against them as the crowd swelled. The bar queue started to fill as the spirits spilled when people [aka me] pushed their way back to the mosh with four drinks. [All for me, I’m not lining up again!] Holy Ghost got the crowd vibing, and they had a formidable set.
Holy Ghost.
Cut Copy – the main event
This is probably a really bad review as due to my “double-fisting” [this North American term is so wrong, we call it more appropriately as “double parking” or rather my quintuple-parking], I thought the whole set was GREAT. Jaeger-bomb great, in fact. And I may not be able to give an all-round review that isn’t tainted by my Bomb Goggles. I loved their door stage prop which served as a light and image show. When I could see it…v short in the Cavernous Academy. I will push my way to the front next time. But I may be at more risk of spilling my drinks!
The curse of being short.
Too many obstructions!
Loved their door prop.
Head in the way!
But generally:
- Cut Copy rocked.
- Holy Ghost pebbled as the perfect warm up.
- Great venue [don’t be put off by the space, if the band is great enough, the crowd will fill out in both volume and energy] – it’s ambient, lots of washroom cubicles and lots of bars!
- Merch was affordable, and selling vinyl is WAY better than the usual standard of CDs and t-shirts.
- I’m not a huge observer of the attractiveness of a crowd but both patrons and venue staff were quite easy on the eye. It stood out to me that those around me were really, really, ridiculously good-looking. There may be more to life than this, but last night it seemed like a pretty important observation.
- Coat check was well organised. [Obviously only remembering the aspects prior to 10 pm.]
Awesome gig! I challenge those to find a negative review.
[Check out the "Out there on Ice" encore video from actual gig taken by Heyo0077.]
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN9AcHWWe7M
Set list
Visions
Nobody Lost, Nobody Found
Where I’m Going
Feel the Love
Corner of the Sky
Lights and Music
Take Me Over
Pharaohs & Pyramids
Saturdays
Hearts on Fire
Sun God
Need You Now [encore]
Out There on Ice [finale!]
