Friday, September 26th, 2003
Lakeside Soul
I will be the first to admit, not our finest show last night. Feel free to choose from any of the following excuses: stressed out and distracted by this show (and dealing with certain individuals related to said show), by work, by transportational logistics (read: hauling gear), by the fact that we were listed in all ads and posters as “Lakeside Soul”… Fuck it, I was just off my game and it showed. I thought our performances on the new material ranged from acceptable to shaky… we probably just weren’t in the proper headspace to put on a really good show. Apologies to those in attendance.
Thankfully, however, it was made up for by Melon Galia. When we heard them soundchecking, we figured they were going to be something special and they really were. This Belgian 4-piece, performing all in French, put on an amazing set of Stereolab meets Belle & Sebastian meets Heavenly orchestral, loungy indie pop (the bassist’s spot-on Amelia Fletcher haircut certainly helped with this comparison). The arrangements were wonderfully clever and helped out by the unconventional (for an indie rock show, anyways) instrumentation – trumpets, clarinet, wood blocks, shakers… all played with great aplomb. The boy-girl vocals and harmonies were great, and benefitted from generous doses of ‘ba-ba-ba’s and ‘la-la-la’s. I think it was safe to say they made a lot of fans last night. Now en route to the Montreal Pop Festival, I hope that when they come back to Toronto they get the proper promotional push they deserve. I know there’s a lot of people in this town who would really dig them, if they only knew. A big Chromewaves thumbs up to the kids in Melon Galia.
And today I am exhausted – I didn’t get to bed till 2:30AM, and while five hours of sleep is enough for me to get by on reasonably bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, not after a long long day and night. I am glad the show is over and done with, it’s a pretty big load off.
np – Beulah / Yoko
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9/26/03 11:25 am
Melon Galia were indeed the show stealers, and deservedly so. They were great and their CD is just as good. They were far cuter a band than us, and if singing in French doesn’t add to that…
After listening to our set Frank, you’ll be glad to know we sounded 10,000 times better than it did on stage. All we could hear was cello. Off the stage you could hear everything nice and clear. The new songs did indeed sound just beyond acceptable and shaky, but it was a pretty good night, even if "Lakeside Soul" was a bit of their game.
Frank and I caught only a bit of Pony da Look, (because we were hauling gear back to the space) and though they were way better than the last time I saw them, I don’t envy them following Melon Galia. But everyone who had stuck around was there for Pony da Look, so I’m sure it was fine.