CMW Day 2 Gentleman Reg, Chad VanGaalen @ The Horseshoe
Gentleman Reg was due to start at 11pm for his gig at the ‘Shoe. Unfortunately, or fortunately, for me I was late and then I had to wait for 20 minutes outside before they found room to shoe horn me in. The place was packed. Gentleman Reg, however, was a big disappointment for me. I had heard a bit about him before the gig and then the Toronto Star had run a small bit about him so I was really expecting something quite, if not spectacular, then at least entertaining. Instead if found him to be a bit whiny and kind of run-of-the-mill.
The ‘Shoe isn’t the best place to see a live band, the sound often isn’t the greatest and you are left craning your ears trying to understand the singer. And with a capacity crowd the acoustics changed leaving the sound often a bit dead. This may account somewhat for the rather lack-luster set by Gentleman Reg. I found that the crowd near the front was far more engaged than at the back, which can probably be attributed to the ‘Shoe’s wonky acoustics.
Chad VanGaalen, however, didn’t have any problem getting the crowd going. Right from the first note of the first song, “Willow Tree” he had us in the palm of his hand. It was amazing to hear the crowd singing right along with him, this is usually reserved for the last song in a gig or at least a few songs in. “Willow Tree” is a hauntingly beautiful song played on banjo with soft, thin harmonies. I’m not a person who tears up easily but I found myself wet-eyed. In fact, I found myself tearing up on a few other occasions during his set.
VanGaalen is without a doubt the best singer/songwriter I’ve seen in quite some time. His sound can only be described as: vocals like Win Butler; lyrics from a Ian Curtis notebook; melodies from a Neil Young songbook, and a rhythm section which at times sounds like they were stolen from Bauhaus. A friend of mine who was there texted me this morning describing VanGaalen as a nihilistic Damien Rice. I wouldn’t compare VanGaalen with Damien Rice, though there are loose similarities. Both right songs that can only be described as grey but where Rice’s can be unremittingly dreary, VanGaalen’s aren’t as likely to send you to the nearest bar to drown your sorrows.
If you missed Chad VanGaalen then you’ve probably missed what, for me, will be a definite highlight of the CMW’s. If you missed Chad VanGaalen then you won’t be able to see him again for a while judging by his MySpace tour listings. And if you missed him this time, don’t be foolish and miss him next time he comes around. I will definitely be there and so should you. Next time though, I don’t expect that I’ll be seeing him in such an intimate a setting as the ‘Shoe. I fully expect that he will be filling much larger venues.
I’m personally of the opinion that a crowd can make or break your experience of a band/artist. If you were in the back during Gentleman Reg’s show, where people who are already extremely self-conscious about dancing wouldn’t dare to be the only ones bobbing along, chances are you weren’t having as much fun as those of us who were in the front, who were dancing like mad people.
I find that at most shows the further back you go, the less inclined people are to dance. I don’t think it has much at all, if anything, to do with the acoustics. It has to do with self-consciousness. People will, if they can, get away with staring at a band/artist with a beer in their hand like it’s some kind of oil painting. I don’t personally understand it, but there you have it.
As for Reg himself, I found him to be quite charming and obviously talented. His voice was spot-on the whole set, and he and his band really seemed to be enjoying themselves. And for his last song, “The Boyfriend Song,” the vox were up really loud, so if you couldn’t hear them then, you may have been next to one of those groups of people screaming conversation instead of listening to the music.
I actually had the opposite reaction to Chad Vangaalen. While he’s obviously very talented, I was in the back for his set. (Leading me to further believe that your position in the crowd has something to do with your experience…) I was near the bar, where people were loudly yakking away, and so I didn’t even hear people singing along. I just saw him. He seemed rather solemn from what I caught of his set, though his voice was rather beautiful. I just wasn’t blown away — certainly not to the point where I was tearing up.
So I guess this just goes to show that where you are in a crowd and who you are around can really affect how you perceive the show.