Tuesday night marked the long awaited return of German duo Digitalism to the club scene. Not even a miserable rainy night could dampen the mood of the easily excitable crowd. With projection screens and light fixtures taking over most of the stage, the realization that we were all about to enter an aural and visual extravaganza created a slight buzz in the air that erupted into a major applause when the duo and their tour drummer (dressed in matching gear..those Germans..) took the stage shortly after 10 pm. With only two albums in their repertoire, [...]
The Mod Club was brimming with excitement on a chilly rainy Thursday as the white hot Lana Del Rey made her Toronto debut to a sold out crowd. This fall's ultimate love it or hate it internet sensation, Lana Del Rey (aka Lizzie Grant) has built an incredible amount of momentum on the strength of two nostalgic sounding singles on youtube, with the song Video Games garnering over eight million hits alone. With her pretty face, pouting lips and super hip music video, it was surprisingly easy for the New Jersey based singer to attract the [...]
Frank Yang The last few years have seen a bit of a renaissance with respect to Francophone Canadian bands making inroads both in English-speaking Canada and internationally, thanks in no small part to there generally being at least one such act on every year's Polaris Music Prize shortlist. And circa 2009, I certainly expected Montreal's Béatrice Martin - aka Coeur de Pirate - to be leading the charge. Her 2008 self-titled debut made the long list that year, but hardly needed the boost - she was already a star in [...]
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs touched down at Mod Club last night to deliver one of the finest dance music performances in my recent memory. Oxford, UK is a quirky place , a riddle wrapped in a mystery if you will. On the one hand, it boasts one of the top universities in the world. On the other, it is the type of place where transportation shuts down after a mere one-centimeter snowfall. Nevertheless, Oxonians are an intriguing breed whose creativity seems to be a natural byproduct of this intelligent-eccentric fusion. [...]
I was completely wrong on Wednesday when i had written that English four piece band Metronomy was a relatively unknown act. Arriving at the Mod club on Wednesday, I was thrilled to find the venue gloriously packed from wall to wall. That thrill would soon change to elation as Metronomy put on an energy filled show easily worth the price of admission. Here are some random highlights: It's refreshing to see a band have fun both with their music and live show. Each member of the band wore matching light fixtures which would occasionally [...]
Grégoire Alexandre Who: Metronomy What: Brighton-based electro-pop/New Wave outfit whose released their third album The English Riviera in April Why: Their curiously detached yet irresistibly melodic soulfulness was intriguing enough to garner them a spot on this year's Mercury Prize shortlist. There's worse ways to celebrate than touring the world. When: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 Where: The Mod Club in Toronto (19+) Who else: New York's Elizabeth Mitchell and her [...]
There are a few things that will almost always guarantee a favorable review. First, make it an early show. Second, have a good dinner. Third, make it geographically convenient. Fourth, make it a Friday night. The Zola Jesus show at the Mod Club Theatre last week hit all of these marks. But beyond that, Nika Danilova delivered a solid show, proving that she is not just another flash-in-pan in a parade of goth-y, powerful female vocalists to come out within the past couple of years ( Bat for Lashes aka Natasha Khan comes most immediately [...]
Nicole Nodland Who: Lana del Rey What: New York singer-songwriter who has, on the back of two torchy throwback songs and corresponding videos, become the flashpoint for debates about artistic - and cosmetic - authenticity in the world of indie-dom. Why: The aforementioned two songs will be released as a single next week. Presumably by the time this show rolls around, she will have more songs released and the buzz will have either blown up or blown over. But the show will be completely [...]
On Friday night, me and my friends went to Clinton's for a fun night of dancing. While we were there, we met some cool people and in a drunken 3 am haze, we decided that karaoke was the only course of action. We stumbled down a narrow staircase into one of those Korean karaoke places that you swear would serve you alcohol after three, but the lady at the front of the shop was insistent that this wasn't one of "those places". We went into the room and proceeded to do as you do, which is butcher as many songs [...]
Frank Yang It's right here , in these very pages, the fact that I didn't dig on Wild Beasts' last record Two Dancers and only after some persistence was able to reach a point of understanding it if not appreciating it. But mayhap that exercise softened me up enough that even though it wasn't as acclaimed as its predecessor, I took to this year's Smother almost immediately and also put Two Dancers back into rotation. All of which [...]
San Francisco's Girls came to play the Mod Club on Tuesday night. Support was provided by Papa and Nobunny . This was my first time seeing Girls perform, and having only the band's recorded material as a reference point, one of the things that immediately jumped out at Tuesday's concert was the dramatic improvement in frontman Christopher Owens' voice, which is obvious when listening to the difference between his band's debut album and their newest album Father, Son, Holy Ghost . But it was made even more apparent when the [...]
Jesus turned water into wine and that little miracle surely drew a crowd. But did he win a Juno? No, but Said The Whale did. That was the introduction given to Vancouver's Said The Whale on Thursday night. While winning a Juno may not be a miracle, it's a true testament to the talent of this young B.C. band. It also helped to ensure that their first all-ages show at the Mod Club was just about sold out. The crowd was brimming with alcohol-fueled excitement as the band filed onto the [...]
by teepoo I was attending the concert on a date and not as media so didn't have my SLR on me, excuse the iPhone photos. We had bought the tickets earlier the day of and had no idea that Sara Lowes and Rah Rah would be opening but it was a pleasant surprise. Kicking off the night was UK singer Sara Lowes: She actually has a full band back home, but it was [...]
Marcus Jolly Who: Said The Whale What: Purveyors of effervescent pop with a distinctive west coast accent, which makes sense since the five-piece hail from Vancouver. Why: Their last full-length Islands Disappear came out back in 2009 but they've been busy, touring relentlessly and being subjects of the mini-documentary Winning America , which followed them to SXSW this year in attempts to become the next big thing and captured such ups and downs as having all their gear stolen [...]
The Weeknd - Live at the Mod Club by GertJan Could The Weeknd have any more buzz? "High For This" was in a dumb promo for HBO's "Entourage" and hipster femmes and males alike have their Tumblr dashboards chock full of music from Abel Tesfaye (government name). Check out some concert audio from his very first live show in Toronto the other night thanks to KanyeToThe . The audio quality isn't exceptional, but probably good enough to get the drawlz. Kinda weird to hear all those people [...]
Two very resourceful contributors over at KanyeToThe.com , ransom67 and GJ, collected and professionally mixed audio clips from The Weeknd's first ever live show, which went down in his hometown of Toronto on July 24th. Continue reading: REC'D: The Weeknd - Live at the Mod Club Subscribe to the PMABLAST, a daily newsletter with free mp3s, music news and reviews sent directly to your email inbox. Tags: The Weeknd
I am obsessed with The Weeknd, it is now official. If I only lived in Toronto and could somehow have found a ticket to this sold out event at the Mod Club on July 24, I would have damn near had a heart attack. While there aren't too many visuals around of the performance just yet, the audio that KanyeToThe copped off of a bunch of YouTube and Vimeo links makes it sound like a fantastic time. The Weeknd performed just about every song from House of Balloons , minus "Loft Music" and "Glass Table Girls". Regardless, [...]
If you didn't know , this past weekend the rising artist The Weeknd had his first show this past weekend at the Mod Club club in his home city of Toronto. Which now leads to a collection of tracks that The Weeknd performed live from his short nine song set. We have a full review of the concert right here also. Track-list & download link below. Check It Out and Enjoy. Follow me @ Ebonicss The Weeknd - Live [...]
Who are Classixx , you ask? They are Michael David and Tyler Blake, an LA based dj/electro act that have created some of our favorite remixes in the past few years. They have remixed everyone from Phoenix to Yacht to Shwayze. They are in town next Friday at the Mod Club to put their mixing skills on display and it will be a dance fest well worthy of a summer weekend night. We have a pair of tickets to give away for this show. Here is how you win these tickets. 1) retweet this post [...]
<!-- <!-- <!-- The Weeknd prepares for his OVO Fest performance by throwing a show at The Mod Club in Toronto. From what I have heard the turnout was amazing. Watch him perform "Wicked Games" above and continue reading to watch more performances from the night.
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