Faith and the Muse Projektfest, Chicago, IL: August 1-2 1997 Convergence 4, Toronto Ontario: August 22 1998 Reverb, Toronto Ontario: August 5 1999 Saturnalia, Chicago, IL: December 1999 Whitby Gothic Weekend, Whitby UK: November 2003 The first time I ever actually saw Faith and the Muse was at Projektfest back when it was still taking place in Chicago. I had originally been planning on going to Convergence III in San Francisco that weekend, but the event didn't really seem to be coming together all that well. When I found out that there was no hotel that pretty much clinched it for me, and instead a bunch of my friends and I decided to hell with it, we sould go to Chicago instead. That was my first visit to Chicago, and I absolutely loved the town. Still do. I met a ton of cool people there and a bunch of the locals spent the weekend showing us around. At one point we visited the Natural History Museum to see a show about Voodoo. At the exit there were several altars set up, which had been walled off from the public. People had been throwing offerings of money over the partition so the altars and the ground around them was littered with bills and coins. I found it utterly fascinating how the religious objects had been presented as art pieces, and then the actions of the viewers turned them back into religious objects again. Anyway, the gig. Projekt acts all pretty much fall into the category I think of as "swirly-goth". I can really get into ambient music if I'm in the right mood for it,but in retrospect an entire weekend was probably more than I was interested in. The event was in a beautiful old converted theatre. I was hugely amused by the fact that they lined us all up and patted everybody down on the way in - because goths are so renouned for being bad-asses, I guess. Some of the bands that peformed over the two day period were The Moon Seven Times, Ben Neill, Love Spirals Downwards, and a collaborative set between Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana. I remember being really impressed by Arcanta - I found out he had a lot of technical difficulties with the backtrack for his set, so he came out and sang a cappella. He had the richest, most resonant voice I have ever heard, and my attention was rivited to the stage throughout his set. Lycia I had actually seen a couple of years earlier in Toronto. At the time the band consisted of three men - or at least I think it did. I don't think I've ever seen a band use as much artificial smoke as they did. In Chicago, however, there was no smoke, and they now consisted of a two-piece with a female singer. I really wasn't impressed with the new incarnation, I didn't think they were nearly as interesting. Black Tape For A Blue Girl are the flagship band for Projekt, and so they really set the standards for the label. Unfortunately they aren't really my flavour, because they are really very good at what they do. Lisa Fluer has an amazing voice, and she uses it like an artist. The few times I've had the opportunity to talk to her she is also a gracious and graceful lady. The next-to-last act was Robert Rich, who did an electronic set. Another genre I don't often get into, but I quite liked his music, it was really evocative. Chalk up one more artists who can make a guy with a keyboard interesting to watch. I tend to be a bit of a people-watcher, and at various points in the show I noticed a very large man with long hair drinking at the bar and talking to people. I don't know what it was, but he had a kind of energy to him that made me think, "He would be an interesting guy to talk to." He always seemed to be surrounded by people though, so I never did approach him. Cue the last act of the evening, and the large man walks out on stage. Heh. Oops. This was an accoustic set for them, which is a bit unusual. Normally they would hire a set of touring musicians for their stage shows. As a result is was a much more low-key set. I enjoyed their set, but not nearly as much as I did later once I got to see them with a full band. After the gig was over the large man - who turned out to be William Faith - walked into the lobby of the hotel where everybody was staying and demanced to know who wanted to go out to the all-night diner down the street for breakfast. Sure 'nuff, about 30 people-in-black trooped down the street to drink coffee and eat eggs until the sun came up. William and Monica hit Toronto shortly after that for another acoustic show, which I managed to miss. The show was put on by the people who I ended up co-organizing Convergence IV with, so when the topic of bands came up, Faith and the Muse were one of the first names they suggested. I got to hear some of their recorded material and I really liked what I heard, so I certainly had no objection to hiring them. One friend of mine described them as "music for soundtracks", and they certainly have that majesty and lushness to their sound. They were plagued with technical problems throughout the show, but they still managed to put on a beautiful set. They played with a full line-up this time, and resulting energy and power really made their set. The next show was part of their Blackout AD tour to promote a compilation CD with labelmates J-U-D-I-T-H and Element. J-U-D-I-T-H ended up not doing much for me, I thought they were too stereotypically goth-rock. Element ended up dropping off the tour just before their Canadian dates, but I got the chance to see them anyway at Saturnalia a few years later, and quite liked their set. Well, what I got to see of it anyway, my boyfriend was passed out on the couch in the greenroom at the time and I was babysitting him so he didn't puke on any of the gear. But what I could hear sounded pretty good. The Saturnalia show where Faith and the Muse headlined was the first one and the lineup also included . Intravenus and Gossamer. It was held in what appeared to be an old warehouse converted into somebody's huge apartment - or maybe two huge apartments - temporarily converted into a venue. It was a fantastic venue if a little cold and creaky. We showed up to surprise them, and William was so delighted that we had travelled so far that he picked all three of us up at the same time in a gigantic bear hug. Several years pass, and I catch them once more on stage at Whitby. They look very different. William now sports a goatee and has cut off his massive head of hair. Monica was wearing a suit. But their sound is just as fantastic as ever. I got to see William for all of five minutes in the lobby, and I never did get to track down Monica, but it was great to see them on stage again. Foetus The Magic Stick, Detroit Michigan: June 23 2001 I had never seen Foetus before and he wasn't coming to Toronto on this tour, and so I let myself get talked into driving to Detroit with Sheryl, Greg and Axel. I was surprised at how few people were in the venue - it was barely half-full. the venue was a decent size, and turned out to be upstairs from a restaurant/pub that was apparently full of students. It was a great gig. Unfortunately I chose that particular night to have one of my insanely painful periods. I drove home doubled over the steering wheel in pain. Nobody else in the car had a licence and the painkillers I had were opiates that would have borked me up too badly to drive. Frank Zappa Canadian National Exhibition Grandstand, Toronto Ontario: August 15 1984 This was the last tour he did to Canada. I went to this show with some friends from University. Of course we got all messed up beforehand and missed the opening act. The man is a freakin' genius. Fresh Meat Phoenix, Toronto Ontario: December 29 2003 I saw this band open for National Velvet. Fresh Meat were the band who placed the announcement on LJ that let me know this gig was even happening. It was not hugely advertised. They were also the first band on. My first reaction when the curtain opened was, "Oh my God, it's KISS!" In actuality, they look nothing like Kiss. My reaction was purely to the lead singer/rhythm guitarist. It's pretty obvious the band is cashing in a lot on her sex appeal - she's a very tall woman and was wearing a low-cut shirt with Big Boots, fishnets and a very short ragged-hem skirt. There was just something about her splayed-leg cock-guitar stance that was really reminiscent of Gene Simmons. The band is a four-piece. Besides the singer, there is a lead guitarist, bassist and drummer. They play hard rock that is verging on metal. I loathed the vocals. I could understand why they made her the frontman, she has a powerful and very distinct voice. Unfortunately, the way she uses it comes across as strident and nasty. She reminded me a lot of Smashed Alice, but without the obnoxious screech. The guitars came across as "wall of clang", there wasn't much in the way of artistry to the playing. The first song started with a massive crash of feedback. I hate that shit, so they made a bad impression right away. The second song was more melodic, but the guitars were still an impregnable mass of noise. The few riffs I could make out were pretty clichéd metal standards. There was at least one song that sounded like it had some interesting lyrics, but it was spoiled by the fact that there were no real dynamics, just massive chords. There was some talking and attempts at interaction, but they were a bit spastic. At the time they were on stage, there were maybe 30-40 people in the venue. A few were bounding around in front of the band. It was seeing the people who were dancing that clued me in to the fact that these guys are really young. They may be able to hone their craft to the point of being a really good band in a few years. Or not. From The Jam Lee's Palace, Toronto ON: February 6 2008 I remember reading a review of a movie about punk bands where the reviewer was appalled that Sonic Youth were one of the major acts featured. Kim Gordon is in her forties, he sniffed. I remember wondering how recent a musical genre this guy thought punk was. Usually when I go to concerts I'm the oldest person in the audience. This was not the case at the From The Jam show - not by a long shot. And almost every last person there was thrilled and enthusiastic that one of their favourite bands was performing live. (Paul Weller's absence notwithstanding.) From where I was standing I could see people dancing like crazy, singing with their arms slug over their companions' shoulders and punching the air with their beer bottles. At times the vocal stylings of the audience drowned out the singer. I was probably the only person there that night who didn't think it was the best show ever. Don't get me wrong, they had all the ingredients. They had lots of energy and stage presence, they were tight and professional. And they were certainly had all the positive feedback they could have asked for. But they also played the albums note for note. Not a single inflection was changed. I felt like I could have sat in my living room with a bunch of dedicated Jam fans and put the records on the turntable, and I would have had the exact same musical experience. Hugh Cornwall was the opening act. Now this was more like it. A mix of original material along with some old Stranglers stuff. He was touring as a simple three-piece so there were no synths. He had some technical issues that had him smacking his guitar head off the amp, but he still came across as relaxed and enjoying himself. I really got into his set, and I'll be checking out more of his solo releases. Full White Drag 360 Club, Toronto Ontario: June 8 2003 These guys play a kind of compressed punk-influenced alt.rock. They come off, not exactly as aloof, but as intense. They don't spend a lot of time talking to the audience. The energy is definitely there, but it isn't the bouncy kind, its much more the "singing until the chords stand out in your neck" kind. I cannot believe how much these guys remind me of Girls vs Boys. Same kind of sound, same stage presence, even his voice is identical. I happen to really like Girls vs Boys, so I loved the set, but I have to ask myself if the world needs more than one. Still, I gave them my card, but managed to lose them in the venue without getting a CD. I do have a compilation CD with one track from the band on it. The venue was about ¼ full, but they got a very good response from the crowd. Some of the following bands actually bought shirts from them and wore them on stage, so I guess I wasn't the only one to be impressed. Oddly enough the blurb for the band that NxNE published compared them to the Constantines and Fugazi. They sounded absolutely nothing like either the Constantines or Fugazi Last Updated March 29 2008.
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