Celebrating David Bowie

Last long weekend I was one of the many fans “Celebrating David Bowie” at the Danforth Music Hall. The evening featured two and a half hours of live performance by musicians who had played with Bowie as far back as the ‘70s. Piano player Mike Garson hosted the show and assembled veteran personnel. Garson is best known for his gorgeous solo on the recording of “Aladdin Sane”. He also collaborated with Bowie on the album Outside and with Nine Inch Nails on the acclaimed album The Fragile. His deep appreciation for Bowie and his music was clear as he introduced the songs and shared personal anecdotes.

The lineup was impressive and the featured vocalists vary from city to city. The Bowie “alumni” included guitarists Gerry Leonard, Mark Plati and Earl Slick, bassist Carmine Rojas and singer Bernard Fowler. Earl Slick’s son Lee John Madeloni was on drums. They treated us to a crowd-pleasing selection of ‘70s hits and some lesser-known cuts like “Win” and “Bring Me the Disco King”. There was a fun, nostalgic atmosphere with the players engrossed in the music and the singers often engaging the audience by inviting us to join in on the chorus or backing vocals.

The band stuck quite close to the recorded versions of the songs. Hearing the arrangements we know so well performed live with intensity and expertise was exiting. Four singers interpreted the vocals including Sting’s son, Joe Sumner. I found he was the one who sounded closest to Bowie, especially when he sang falsetto. When Garson introduced “The Lady Grinning Soul” he said what a great piece it is and wondered aloud why Bowie didn’t tend to play it live. Sumner joked that if Garson tried singing it he’d know. That was one of my favourite songs of the evening. The sweeping drama and Garson’s intricate, sparkling runs really gripped me.

I particularly liked Bernard Fowler’s performance on “Stay” and “Station to Station”. I felt that his body language was dynamic and that his articulation infused words with meaning.

I still missed Bowie, though. After listening to those recordings so many times, we’re all very familiar with every detail of his delivery. And, of course, he had that special flair at live shows. He’d tell stories – sometimes ones that he clearly exaggerated. He would dance, throwing in moves that blurred gender lines. He’d act out little skits with band members – laying flowers at his bassist’s feet then pretending rejection and heartbreak.

So, some of the moments I liked most that night were the ones when singers showed their own personal style. At the end of “Five Years”, Gaby Moreno broke into long wordless sustained tones. That made the song come alive for me in a new way. I also liked Sass Jordan’s “Moonage Daydream”. She sounded completely different than Bowie, and for me that worked. A woman singing with a low, gravelly voice seemed in keeping with the spirit of Ziggy Stardust.

The part of the night I enjoyed most was Gerry Leonard’s solo performance of “Andy Warhol”. It felt understated and sincere. The beginning was similar to the album version but then he layered on extra phrases with his looper and dove into a lead break that was totally different.

The evening was a fun mixture of reminiscence and creativity. I want to say a big thank you to my wonderful friend Sandra P., for giving me her ticket when she couldn’t make it. Today I’m listening to David Live, to relive those great songs.

Black Suit Devil

From the first song I heard him play I was hooked. His voice is striking. It has a raspy quality that's perfect for expressing tenderness and strength. His name is Andy Du Rego and he goes by the name Black Suit Devil.

Last month he played the Velvet Underground. A number of acts were on and the venue had some trouble with logistics but that night Black Suit Devil had an extra spark. Blind Man was particularly impactful. Du Rego's intro features a melodic guitar riff that glides into bold strumming. It's one of his songs with a message of peace that's both passionate and subtle.

There was a chorus of appreciation in the crowd when he opened Fumble with the lines, “Roll me a joint and pop me a bottle,” his delivery sharp and explosive on “pop”. The song is about more than having fun, though. My impression is of struggle and the search for meaning.

By day Du Rego works full-time. By night, and in any other spare moment he's making a name for himself at clubs like the Rivoli, the Mod Club and the Horseshoe. Previously, he's been in blues bands, hard rock bands and a Stone Temple Pilots cover band. Offstage Andy is unpretentious and welcoming. He makes a point of greeting fans and is up for a genuine conversation.

Catch Du Rego while you can at an intimate venue - I'd say stadium concerts aren't far off.

Black Suit Devil plays The Opera House tonight, as part of an event called The Big One. Tickets at Ticketscene.ca.

Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation

Outside it was snowbanks and flurries while inside the windows were sweating. Castro's Lounge was so packed there wasn't room to stand without getting jostled. And no wonder - we were gathered to see the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation. A sensational band with all the flavour, complexity and force of Waits' recordings.

This was my first time seeing them. Before the gig I told my friend about the band. “That's really cool,” she said, “since the bastard doesn't tour!” I didn't know this. And it was cool. Not because of the nostalgic factor that goes with experiencing favourites live. Because the band was cooking. When I arrived they were doing 16 shells from a 30.06. Extremely danceable, if there were any space to dance. Lie To Me was full of provocation and revelry. The singer used a megaphone for staticky effect on The Ocean Doesn't Want Me and for a siren sample, infusing another song with sounds of the street.

Mike Daley played lead plus bass parts on guitar. Drummer Lowell Whitty switched expertly between rock and jazz rhythms. N Jay Burr's tuba added both melody and bass. Braxton Hicks played enticing sax, clarinet and xylophone. Singer Marty Morin had just the right amount of gravelly and sweet and knew when to punch his delivery.

Clap Hands was the height of the first set for me. Sultry with mysterious riffs on guitar. Each musician seemed to play something completely disconnected from the other and somehow it was beautifully unified. Morin's rasping vocals were a perfect fit. Contrary to the lyrics, for me the music evokes a creaking ship and a ravaged storyteller's face lit by the glow of a cigarette.

The Congregation interpreted the more reflective songs like On the Nickel with sensitivity and grace. As an intro to Ol' '55 Morin pointed out that Waits used to hate the Eagles and call that kind of LA band “fringed jackets” until they recorded that song. “Then he loved them.”

Morin said they had a piece lined up for the finale but they were going to do it “now” instead. Meaning the end the first set. It was Goin' Out West and it sizzled. True grit, allure and poetry.

If I'd had more room to stand I definitely would've stayed for the second set. Next time I'll have to get there early.

TWAC plays Linsmore's Feb. 24th and Castro's Lounge Mar. 3rd.

Photo: Moonage Wolf, T-Shirt: Tom Waits' Alice

Cover Songs

I love a good cover song. There's that jolt of recognizing something familiar, then the excitement of hearing an unexpected interpretation.

Sometimes the cover surpasses the original. I'd venture to say that Soft Cell's Tainted Love gets more airplay than the '64 recording by Gloria Jones. Younger generations discovered Aerosmith in the '80s because of their collaboration with Run-D.M.C. and Bowie in the '90s with Nirvana's version of The Man Who Sold the World.

I particularly like when a Top 40 pop song is done in a different genre. Most of us have heard Marilyn Manson's take on Sweet Dreams but I prefer one of Madonna's Like A Virgin. An internet favourite, it's often attributed to Manson, though the actual performers aren't verifiable. We all know the original: chirpy with stock, almost campy lyrics. The cover makes it insistent and lewd, including provocative, sensationalistic samples. I like the tension between the coy words and the harsh style. Separate industrial bands reshaped Like a Prayer and Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? I ended up liking Beyoncé's Crazy In Love after hearing Hawksley Workman, and other artists, turn it into a rock song in concert.

With covers there's always something new out there, whether it's a jazz arrangement of Radiohead's Exit Music or a salsa Billy Jean.

Here are my current top 10 covers. I tried to think of songs where the newer one stands alone and is a departure from the original. If I expanded my criteria to include pure novelty, though, Mike Flowers Pops' '60s lounge rendition of Wonderwall would've been on the list.

Across the Universe - David Bowie (Original: The Beatles)
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan)
A Whiter Shade of Pale - Annie Lennox (Procol Harum)
Fell In Love with a Girl Boy - Joss Stone (The White Stripes)
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley (Leonard Cohen)
Hotel California - Gipsy Kings (Eagles)
I Bet You'd Look Good on the Dance Floor - Baby Charles (Arctic Monkeys)
Jolene - The White Stripes (Dolly Parton)
Just Dropped In - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (1st recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis!
  Popularized by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition)
Walk on By - The Stranglers (Burt Bacharach, recorded Dionne Warwick)

Street art, Spadina Cresc, Toronto, circa 2004. Photo: Moonage Wolf.

The Cure at Riot Fest

The Cure at Riot Fest was magic. Every song was suffused with the melancholy or dissonant drive you'd expect from the band. They came across energetic and focused. Their sound was big and crisp and held up well in the outdoor setting.

Shake Dog Shake was the opening song, followed by Fascination Street. I was thrilled to hear my favourites and equally excited that they played variations on the album tracks. This was my first time seeing them live, so I didn't know what to expect. Plenty of artists who were at the peak of popularity decades ago are now lacklustre in concert. Not so The Cure. They had the ease of consummate professionals and the electric charge of bands in their prime.

The highlight for me was Lullaby. The seductive tremble in Robert Smith's voice as he delivered the sinister line, “Spiderman is having me for dinner tonight.” He wore a jacket with a pattern like cobwebs and fog floated over him. I felt intoxicated. It wasn't only the ethereal music, but a combination of the day's indulgences, wonderful company and tender arms wrapped around my waist.

After one of the lyrical pieces Smith joked with the audience that he was worried about playing it at Riot Fest. He followed it up with a few that showed their intense side.

The members were completely unified. They were clearly loving what they do. They played a long set - about two hours worth. For an encore they did three stellar songs: Close to Me, Why Can't I Be You? and Boys Don't Cry. Then the floodlights came up and we stumbled home through the mud. On that kind of night I felt perfection was possible.

He's Your Man

Soulful, personable and at the top of his game. That was Lucas Silveira last night in an intimate show at the Flying Beaver.

What stands out most about Lucas is his voice. He's equally skilled at expressing fervour and vulnerability. Many of his songs examine heartbreak and even the upbeat ones have a reflective side. Lucas is best known as front man for The Cliks but I particularly like his small solo shows. The simplicity of his acoustic guitar accompanying his vocals heightens the emotional experience.

Silveira also shared personal anecdotes and inspirations for certain songs. As he explained, he's up there baring his soul with his music, so why not relate stories of his life?

He told us one of the most requested Clicks songs, Nobody Else Will, wasn't going to be on the 2007 album. Then he did an endearing impression of friend and then-producer Moe Berg insisting he include it. Near the end of the night we were the second audience to hear his new song. Fool for Your Love is very danceable with an old-fashioned R&B style.

My favourite piece was his version of I'm Your Man. It had everything: Silveira's tender falsetto and raspy growls. All the desire, regret and yearning that the poetry speaks of.

Silveira gives new dimension to cover songs. Some of them are classics, like Prince's Kiss, or have become a solid part of his repertoire, like JT's Cry Me A River. Others are unexpected, like Beyoncé's Drunk In Love.

The crowd responded to the set with a big, warm round of applause. Lucas gave us Wicked Game as an encore. It was full of the ardour and poignancy the song demands. The high notes had a haunting quality.

If you want to see a musician who gives his all, who's constantly broadening his style and who delivers real feeling, he's your man.

Illustration by J. Jeanes.

The Cliks at WorldPride

I'm always impressed by Lucas Silveira. He's the frontman and writer for The Cliks. His music can move me or make me dance. He's developed a striking vocal range. He combines deep and sensual with a slick falsetto according to the song.

The Cliks played WorldPride last month. They opened with Walking In A Graveyard, an intense tune in the style of Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Lucas came onstage looking sharp in a red blazer with black lapels and a slim tie. His expression reminded me of Little Richard. They followed that up with my personal favourite, Dark Passenger. The gravelly quaver in his voice and his evocative lyrics make for a dramatic piece.

Then he says, "I want to see you dance," and we do, to the lively No Good Do'er and Savanna.
They played a compact, energetic set including the gritty ska song Stop Drinking My Wine and the crowd favourite Oh Yeah. Silveira is fantastic at cover songs. This show they did Justin Timberlake's Cry Me a River. I also love Silveira's versions of Robyn's Dancing On My Own, T.I.'s Whatever You Like and Kanye's Runaway.

Silveira is a trans man. He speaks openly about his identity and the process of transitioning. He has said in interviews that he was hesitant to take hormones at first, because of the effect it would have on his voice. Around 2007 he was gaining recognition and his vocal quality had been compared to Chrissie Hynde. Eventually, he did undergo hormone replacement therapy. He found that with practice he had plenty of vocal control.

I remember going to lots of Cliks shows in the early 2000s at the Drake and smaller stages at Pride. Back then I'd describe the musical style as pop rock. The riffs were catchy. There was a lightness to many songs that was a bit like Britpop, which I'm a big fan of. Though Lucas didn't speak much to the audience he always had a definite stage presence.

In the last 10 years Silveira's music has become richer. His songs now incorporate rock, R&B, rockabilly and soul in a full, distinctive sound. The soaring Cerise, from The Cliks' latest album really illustrates that. The band closed with Dirty King, leaving us charged up with a slightly illicit feeling.

The Cliks are currently on a North American tour. They have been playing festivals like NXNE and many Pride events. They even do gigs in smaller cities like Belleville and Yellowknife. Black Tie Elevator is available on Bandcamp.

The Cliks at WorldPride Toronto 2014, Yonge-Dundas Square. Photo by: J. Jeanes