Lady Sings The Bruise

Tuesday evening, I attended a taping of Cold Speck for CBC First Play Live, where a small audience can hear bands play new releases. The set was also recorded for Youtube. I was expecting a seated theatre or at least a small stage set-up. It turned out to be a "studio" setting with the musicians in a circle facing each other and the audience surrounding them, crammed into in any available free space. There were no loud amps or speakers, just the monitors used by the band plus a few extra ones for the crowd. This, combined with the massive sound board and excellent mic set-up, meant this set had the best sound I've ever heard. And one of the most intimate too.

I was also lucky enough to be behind singer Al Spx and benefited from her vocals feed. So I finally was able to appreciate the ominous portents in her lyrics, though I had heard Cold Specks several times before. It was ostensibly all about the new songs from upcoming album Neuroplasticity (Bodies At Bay, Absisto), but there were also 4 from her debut including Hector and Blank Maps. During a pause for instrument tuning, she launched into I Want It That Way (Backstreet Boys) and tried to get a sing-a-long ("Come on, you know the words.") Afterwards, she grinned and quipped: "OK. Back to being a moody bitch." Jokes aside, this encapsulated her music. Old or new, her songs were usually dark and grim, with only a glimmer of hope. What else can you say about new number Old Knives, which was about "decapitating your lover in [their] sleep"? But the live playing also added a lot of muscularity; you couldn't quite head-bang, but it was close.

One advantage for fans (or drawback as an older couple wanting to leave found out) of a filmed set was that you get to redo any "bad" takes. Because of some mic troubles, at the end of their set, Cold Specks re-recorded 3 songs. Luckily, they were rocking.