Phoenix Rising

After a yoga happening at Trinity Bellwoods Park, I spent the rest of the evening at Phoenix Concert Theatre with Basia Bulat. This was my 3rd outing (see here and here) with Basia and I had some reservations for tonight. When Joanna Newsom, a singer with similar aesthetics, made her debut in Toronto, it was generally agreed that the rocker environment of the Phoenix was a poor booking for her.

I was surprised that there were still tickets available for her show (having to grab a last-minute ticket at Rotate This for a late guest), and the concert was probably not sold out in contrast to her performance at St. Paul Trinity. My guess is that the 19+ age requirement excluded a fair chunk of her fan base, and possibly their accompanying parental units.

I arrived half-way through the set of the opening act Wilderness of Manitoba. With 4 singers doing harmonies, slide guitar, and wild and wooly hair, they seem like a countrified the Mamas and the Papas. Next up is Julie Doiron with a 2-man setup: her on guitar and a drummer to bang the skins. This reversed White Stripes vibe is reinforced with the constant interaction between these two, as well as the jangly guitar and insistent drums. But her voice is more airy Feist than Jack White's scream, although she did belt out a song or two. She had some great tunes and I plan on getting her album.

My fear of a rocker vs. folk clash faded as it became clear from the first two acts that the stage setup and acoustics were calibrated for a more intimate folk pop night. The massive sound system were configured to bring out every instrument while retaining the power of those giant speakers without overwhelming the listener. This was more than apparent when Basia took the stage with a full band (not usually present when she tours oversea) including her brother Bobby on drums, her two female backup singers who also play ukulele, piano, and violin, and an upright bass player who also contributed his harmony on a couple of songs.

Being right in the middle and only a couple of feet from the stage, I experienced one of the best live performance I've ever been to. Basia evidently felt the same way as she wore a constant grin the whole evening, feeding off the crowd as well as her band. The full band, especially those propulsive beats from Bobby, energized new songs "Go On", "Run", "Gold Rush" as well as older tunes "Snakes and Ladders", "The Pilgriming Vine", "In The Night" and the fabulous encore closer "I Was Your Daughter". Quieter numbers such as "Before I Knew", "Little Waltz", "If It Rains" also benefited from the richness of the band. When Basia played flawlessly "The Shore" during the encore, and the swell of harmonies rose from the other 3 performers, I have to believe that it was the best performance of that song ever played by Basia, live or otherwise (as I can attest from viewing numerous recordings of other performances on YouTube.)

Any regrets? Only that I do not have a recording of the longer version of "Before I Knew" and my copy of "Heart of My Own" does not include "Hush" (some sort of iTunes exclusive? Boo!) Basia's voice has also grown richer, more powerful and more assured since her debut album so there was a small let-down when I listened to them at home a few days later. The only cure for that would have to be to see more live Basia. Also, to find a sound engineer who works for the Phoenix and bribe him for a bootleg recording. Call me! 555-Basia.