Plants and Animals w/ David MacLeod @ the Mod Club

8 May 2009, Rob @ 3:47 pm

(”No pictures… “)

It was unclear whether the first act was called Dave and the Clouds, Davis LaCloud, or something else entirely… turns out it was (and presumably still is) David MacLeod. And he (and the band) were pretty solid I thought. Kind of a hybrid b/w Paul Simon and the more rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities of say… Plants and Animals. Note to self: remember that name.

But before P&A went on there was a “special guest”: Joe. Half burlesque act, half magician, half man… all entertainment (see photos below). Note to self: book Joe for my next back yard get together.

Plants and Animals definitely melted a few faces in the, so-packed-that-everyone-kept-stepping-on-my-toes Mod Club. The set consisted of a pretty decent mix of older stuff from the With/Avec EP, stuff off Parc Avenue which, predictably, received the best responses, and new stuff from their up coming album.

It was hard to tell whether it was my claustrophobia, the sound being off, the band being a little rusty, or the fact that I’ve never been an uber fan of P&A (but have come around on them, and certainly appreciate what they do), but I definitely wasn’t blown away. They weren’t bad, it was worth going, but certainly not a ‘must see’ the next time they come to town. This, I think, is pretty different than the general consensus on the band, so, it’ll be interesting to track down any other reviews to see if I’m way off base here. I suppose if there’s any really good news its that I got some audio from the show, so if you’re interested you can hear for yourself…

[mp3] David MacLeod – Unknown (live @ the Mod Club)
[mp3] Plants and Animals – Unknown – new – (live @ the Mod Club)
[mp3] Plants and Animals – Mercy (live @ the Mod Club)
[mp3] Plants and Animals – Faerie Dance (live @ the Mod Club)
[mp3] Plants and Animals – Feedback in the Field (live @ the Mod Club)

Other notes:

250 cool points for the Mod Club! Despite being a bigger (this is all relative I suppose) venue, great atmosphere and increadible lighting… we’ll work on the sound for next time…
I, hilariously (well, not ‘haha’ funny) ran into Bob ‘ItsnotthebandIhateitstheirfans‘ Battams on his was to see Arietta, while I was on my way home from the show. Kudos to Bob for making it out to a late one, hope you managed to stay awake…
Also, I’m glad I went out tonight rather than staying home to watch the Cavs v. Hawks… I’m convinced that by virtue of having LBJ on the bench the Cavs could trot their 8 – 12 guys and beat the Hawks…

David MacLeod