It proved wise to start lining up for the Magnetic Fields show an hour and a quarter before the doors opened. There were just a handful of people sitting on the steps of the Trinity-St Paul’s United Church ahead of us, but within 15 minutes or so, a good-sized line-up of Toronto’s hipster elite (and some homeless people who were just hanging around) was stretched around the corner and down the street. It was a longer wait, but it was nice and warm out so there were certainly worse places to be. Paid off too, as when the doors open I snagged a fine second-row pew.

I knew nothing about opener Andrew Bird going in except that he played the violin… which was true, but a gross understatement of the man’s abilities. Though playing solo, he was like a one-man orchestra making use of a sampler to layer violin, guitar, glockenspiel and the most unearthly whistling you’ve ever heard. If you weren’t watching him do it, you’d swear it was a musical saw. Unbelievable whistling. He reminded me of Jeff Buckley live, in his songwriting style and stage presence and though he played a relatively short set, he certainly left a positive impression on me.

The Magnetic Fields trotted out onstage a little after 9:30 to great applause and seated themselves across the stage, Claudia Gonson on piano, John Woo on guitar and banjo, Sam Doval on cello and Stephin Merritt on ukelele. As expected, the set list drew heavily from their latest album i, but I think there was enough older material in the mix to satisfy the audience. Making good on their promise to play with minimal amplification, the set was very quiet and made good use of the church’s acoustics. Stephin and Claudia’s vocals and the cello sounded particularly rich and musical. Musically the performance was excellent, but the combination of the heat inside the church (and the band’s preoccupation with the heat), the quietness of the affair and dim lighting made for a cozier, dozier atmosphere than an exciting one. The band barely stirred from their seats except when Stephin got up to bring a fan onstage (an electric fan, not a concertgoer) and to fetch water for the audience (when someone requested beer, he wryly replied, “You can’t have alcohol in church – it just turns to blood”). Only when playing “Yeah, Oh Yeah!” in the encore did Stephin and Claudia get up and engage in some light theatrics, much to the delight of the crowd – not only because it was funny to watch, but because it was SOMETHING to watch. Anyway, that’s a minor complaint if a complaint at all. They’re wrapping up their short 11-show tour with a second Toronto show tonight and have promised a different set-list if anyone is tempted to go see them again. The lighting made photos difficult to take, even from my seat up-close, but I did what I could.

And so my “week of many concerts” comes to an end. Now if you glance over to the side, you will see I’ve gone from feast to famine, with barely anything on the schedule for the rest of the Summer. Which is fine, really – the Fall is almost certain to be an embaressment of riches, if the album release schedule is an indication.

Filter has a nice preview of the new Rilo Kiley album More Adventurous. The piece puts the release date as August 17, which is several weeks later than the July 27 date that had previously been floated around.

Today is Free Comic Book Day. Go to your local store and get some free comic books.

A shame about the passing of Marlon Brando. I have yet to see any of the early work with which he made his name, but won’t even attempt to argue his title of “Greatest actor of his generation”. I saw The Freshman, I know what he was capable of.

np – Sparklehorse / Distorted Ghost

It’s been no secret that I am an old-school comic book geek of the highest order. I’ve gotten letters published in comics, I know what a No-Prize is, I have longboxes upon longboxes of comics at home that vex my parents to no end and which I promise to move out of my old room someday. So I’ve been pretty gleeful about the sheer number of comic book movie adaptations that Hollywood has been churning out over the past decade, particulary since many have been good to great, with only a few stinkers. A far cry from the 70s and 80s where anything that drew inspiration from a comic book was almost guaranteed to be atrocious. So you know I’m not being casual when I declare Spider-Man 2 far and away the best comic book adaptation yet. Seriously.

I want to send Sam Raimi presents, I am so happy with what he’s done. The first Spider-Man film was terrific, very true to the spirit of the comic, and somehow the sequel takes it even further. It’s much heavier on the Peter Parker side of Spider-Man’s life, which might seem like it slows the film down some, but I found the fleshing out of his character invaluable – it provides a human dimension that helps give weight to the premise of a guy in a spandex spider costume. It’s funnier, too – Tobey Maguire gets some great comic moments and there’s an all-around sense of fun that the audience really picks up on. And what’s Spider-Man if not fun?

The selection of Doctor Octopus as this installment’s villain was also a wise one. While the Green Goblin is inarguably THE classic Spidey villain, the execution of the character in the first one left a little to be desired, particularly visually. This time around, Alfred Molina eschews Willem Dafoe’s scenery-chewing approach for a much more sociopathic, sinister interpretation, and with great results – though much credit must also be extended to the puppeteers and CGI artists responsible for the tentacles. They actually project sentience and menace of their own, particularly in the scene where an unconscious Doc Ock slaughters an operating room of doctors. And you know how I mentioned before how the film has a lot of non-action Peter Parker-oriented scenes? Well when hero and villain do throw down, it’s spectacular. I can’t imagine two characters better suited to cinematic fight scenes and while there’s little conventional hand-to-hand combat as such, the clash of their respective powers allows for some really amazing visuals.

It’s not just eye-candy though – the film delivers in all departments, weaving together several storylines into a cohesive whole, offering up solid performances from all principals (and giving them an opportunity to act, even!), stunning action sequences and special effects, humour, sadness (especially that final shot), the whole kit and kaboodle. I’m even willing to ignore the fact that it cribbed some of the plot straight out of Superman 2… It helps that conceptually, Spider-Man has never aspired to be more than it is – he was never meant as an allegory like the X-Men or to have great symbolic meaning like Captain America. He was just a guy who happened to have spider powers, trying to get by in the world, and once again Raimi has done the source material proud by succesfully recreating that spirit in the film. I know it sounds like I’m gushing, but I am – rarely have I walked out of any film so completely satisfied, let alone one that I have high expectations for. And anyway, I already admitted my bias for comic book movies so cut me some slack. I cannot wait for the third one, though I do hope they call it a day after that – none of the actors nor Sam Raimi want to return for any films after that, and Tobey Maguire will be 31 when the next one comes out in 2007… But back to more immediate concerns – I was surprised they were willing to telegraph the plot for number 3 so obviously, not that that will diminish my anticipation. I mean, for a guy that’s been around for so many years, he’s got a pretty weak rogue’s gallery after the Goblin and Doctor Octopus. Who’s left? The Rhino? The Sandman? Electro? Hydro-Man? Come on.

Salon reflects on the importance of Husker Du’s Zen Arcade on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.

Rolling Stone has some information on exactly what to expect from The Wilco Book, out in November. Looks like they realized how popular the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot demos bootleg was and figure they can make some money off the unreleased material this time around.

The Onion AV Club talks to each member of The Kids In The Hall on the occasion of the release of season one on DVD. And here’s the Kids In The Hall audio archive to whet your appetite. From Overeducated and Underemployed.

The Walkmen will be joining Modest Mouse on tour this Summer, but not on the their August 4 Toronto date – they will instead be here the following night for their own show at Lee’s Palace. Does that make sense to anyone else? No, didn’t think so.

The Magnetic Fields tonight! Tonight tonight tonight!

np – Matthew Sweet / 100% Fun

An interesting crowd at the Nellie McKay show last night. While not sold out, it was a decent-sized crowd with more than a few folks from an higher age bracket than I usually rub elbows with. Which was nice, because they were quieter and better behaved than the usual punters. I got there a little early so I did as everyone else had done and just sat down on the floor. Remind me to put those pants in the laundry.

Local opener Jill Barber did a nice set of folkish-pop tunes, sounding not unlike a cross between Jewel and Sarah Harmer. Take the honeyed voice and vocal inflections of the former (less the yodeling) and the phrasing and songwriting style of the latter, less the edge acquired from years fronting a rock band, and you’re in the ballpark. I would have preferred a little more variety in the material, but it was pretty decent stuff all-around.

I had wondered how a single girl at a piano was going to translate onstage in a club the size of Lee’s Palace, and was even more concerned after seeing the ghetto setup they’d laid out for her – a cafeteria-style chair in front of a Yamaha digital piano set at stage right. That’s it. Now I wasn’t necessarily expecting a glossy black baby grand, but this was sort of underwhelming. Still, if the performer doesn’t care, I guess I shouldn’t either. Now most reviews I’d read indicated that Nellie had a thing for dressing up 50s-housewife style, in big retro skirts and nutty DIY hair-dos and such – looks like she’s gotten past that, at least for last night. She took the stage looking quite elegant in a Chinese dress with her hair up, and launched into material from Get Away From Me. I’d also been led to expect that she’d be brassy and sassy, as much stand-up comic as musician, but instead she seemed quiet and a little befuddled at the start, constantly referencing a lyrics sheet and keeping the between-song banter to an apologetic minimum. She warmed up and got chattier as the set continued, and was indeed as funny as I’d hoped though it was less in the stand-up style than the stream-of-consciouness babblings of a really clever, somewhat scatterbrained young girl – which is exactly what it was. And that was more enjoyable, I think.

Hearing the songs performed live solo on piano (as opposed to the more orchestrated album versions) with all the lyrical and musical ad-libs really pointed out how talented a performer she is. Again, it’s a shame that she wasn’t on a real piano as that would have really kicked the musical presentation up a notch. It was a little disconcerting to have her banging away on the keyboard right in front of me, yet the only sound was coming from the PA speakers on either side of the club. Also, the parts of “The Dog Song” where she bangs on the piano just didn’t work on a plastic keyboard. The crowd ate it all up, though, calling her out for two encores that I’m not entirely sure she was prepared for. I have been quite enjoying her album, but the live show is, as people have said, a lot more fun. Photos here.

Some bad news for people excited about the Metric show July 14 at the Mod Club – tickets aren’t available to the hoi polloi. The only way to get in is to listen to CFNY (that’s Edge 102.1 for those of you under 20 or so) and win tickets. But there is a consolation – if you can’t endure the agony of listening to commercial radio, you can catch frontwoman Emily Haines do a solo acoustic show at the El Mocambo on July 24.

The Magnetic Fields come to town and the local press is all agog. Interviews from eye, NOW, The Toronto Star, The Toronto Sun, The Globe & Mail (thanks Carl) and The Detroit Free Press (not really local but whatever).

The new Velvet Crush album Stereo Blues has been schedule for an August 10 wide release. Or you can do as I did and order it from Parasol right now and have it over a month early. I haven’t spun it too much yet, but it’s definitely harder than Soft Sounds, maybe a little too much on the rock. More towards Heavy Changes than Teenage Symphonies or Free Expression, which is definitely where they’re at their best.

Obviously I’m very excited about the Wilco show at the Mod Club on August 3. The place is small – I think smaller than Lee’s, even – and while I had feared I’d never get a chance to take pictures of my favourite band (on account of them playing venues that are too big), now I’ll get to shoot them in a hall with great sightlines and lighting. Fantastic. Tickets are gonna go fast, though – after all, this is a band whose latest album just debuted on the Billboard charts at #8. Also, Hold My Life has the cover of The Wilco Book out November 15.

Happy Canada Day! I’m celebrating my four-day long weekend with a whole lot of sleeping, kinda like this morning. Don’t know when the last time I slept in till 11 was, but damnation I should do it more often. It looks like glorious weather all weekend so I will try to spend as much of it outdoors as possible, probably sitting in parks and reading or something. Spider-Man 2 will almost certainly be happening as well. God knows I can use a break – it may have just been a three-day week, but work was been insanely busy and promises to continue to be so when I go back on Monday. Good thing I’m on vacation starting next Friday – going out west for a week! I’ll be in Vancouver, Victoria and hopefully Seattle at various points throughout my trip, and really have no plans. Recommendations on what I see and do while out there?

np – Lambchop / Aw, C’mon

Wilco @ The Mod Club, Toronto – August 3.

Great band, little (relatively speaking) club. Boo-ya.

I don’t think Sam Beam was expecting the reception he got for Iron & Wine’s Toronto debut. Lord knows I wasn’t. The Horseshoe was packed to the gills with people, moreso than I can recall in recent memory. We’re talking loads of people. And they seemed to be more than just folks curious about a hyped new band (which Iron & Wine aren’t, really) – many of these punters were enthusiastic fans, if the screaming and heavy applause was any indication. Most times the applause was exponentially louder than the band itself. I think Beam was simulatenously flattered and flustered, grinning and occasionally laughing mid-song when one of the fans whooped it up. It was a curious contrast – the whispery, solemn and oh-so-pretty Southern gothic folk songs of the band versus the stadium rock idol-worthy applause (Beam commented on this, musing that this is how Van Halen must feel and asking if anyone brought a beach ball). It didn’t throw the band off their game though, as they played a solid hour of material to an almost-silent club (aforementioned whooping aside) – which was good because the music was so quiet it would have been easy to lose. While Iron & Wine as an entity is pretty much just Sam Beam, he’s done a fine job of putting together a band that’s not only as hirsute as he, but capable of tastefully embellishing his material, adding just the right touch of slide guitar, percussion, bass and drums precisely where needed. Very nice.

Openers for the evening was Iron & Wine guitarist Patrick McKinney performing under the name Langtry. He did a nice set of acoustic guitar instrumentals that managed to evoke a nice narrative feel, helped along by the fact that he preceded a few of the songs by explaining the story they were meant to tell. A very nice display of acoustic guitar acumen and an excellent warm-up for the headliners.

Not too many photos from last night. The ones I got turned out pretty well – there’s a few where I managed to ride someone else’s flash to cool effect – but I didn’t shoot too many since the band isn’t the most dynamic outfit on the planet. Within a few songs I figured they were doing pretty much all that they were going to be doing and that I had gotten every type of shot I was going to get. Which is fine, cause it let me just enjoy the music.

Another Lollapalooza survivor coming to town – Modest Mouse are at the Kool Haus August 4, tickets $18.50 advance, on sale July 8 at the usual outlets. Montreal’s Wolf Parade support. That same night, Philly’s Marah will be throwing it down at the Horseshoe. Any Modest Mouse/Marah fans in town torn by this dilemma? No? Didn’t think so.

Exclaim! offers up a capsule history of The Cure.

Funeral, The Arcade Fire’s debut release for Merge, comes out September 14. Said The Gramophone has an ebullient review of their hometown show from a couple nights ago and some related mp3s.

That’s it for today. Busy day at work, gotta get to it.

np – Television / Adventure