Amy Millan @ TIFF Canadian Music Cafe (Photo Credit: Steph Luong)
Wednesday night’s Amy Millan show at the Mod Club felt more like a cozy family get-together – but just a big one, in a large, dark club. Of course this was partially due to the amount of Arts & Crafts family members that were floating about (Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and Leslie Feist, just to name few) but was also largely attributed to the musical acts of the night.
Toronto’s Bahamas opened the night with a strange, comedic set. It’s hard to tell if main man Afie Jurvanen was just nervous playing solo (as opposed to having a backing band on a regular basis) or if that was just part of his act but regardless, it worked to his advantage. Jurvanen’s commentary prior to his songs was charming and made his set ever-so light-hearted, winning over much of the crowd. His songs are simplistic yet filled with character, especially cute little numbers like “Hockey Teeth” and “Let the Good Times Roll”. He definitely takes a cue from Jason Collett, of whom Jurvanen toured with as part of his backing band, with his use of mellow chords and easy-going vocals. I was told later that most of his banter was indeed repeated material but you know what, I don’t mind. I left the show a converted-Bahamas fan and I can’t wait to see him again.
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bahamasbreeze
Amy Millan followed, with a stage covered in flowers (a la her main band, Stars’ set up) and a full backing band including the talented Christine Bougie on drums. As my friend, Jen puts it, there’s a difference between good folk-country music and just boring, uninspiring folk-country. Unfortunately, Millan falls towards the latter with this performance. Although there were some good songs, like the Death Cab For Cutie cover of “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” and “Skinny Boy”, much of her set was one-noted and flat. Part of this also comes from the fact that I wasn’t a fan of her latest release, Masters of the Burial though, but I did enjoy her first album Honey from the Tombs a lot. The end result of creating a setlist combining both albums’ work had some highlights but was overall a tad forgettable. It’s heartbreaking saying such words as a diehard Stars fan but in all fairness, it’s true.
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/amymillan
