Crazy In Love

On Friday, I was at the Burdock for a 7 pm early show. Performer Ben Caplan (and his Casual Smokers) had booked this space on short notice after they were invited to appear on CBC's Q. But despite being up since 5 a.m., Caplan was his usual manic self on Eastern European-tinged folk/pop songs like Belly of the Worm and Beautiful.

His antics seemed to have infected some of the other musicians as well. The capacity crowd ate up the great music. On this occasion, Caplan did do 2 unreleased songs that were pure pop: a "Bublé-style crooner" called On a Night Like Tonight and a hopeful ballad (Can't Hold Back Spring). But the most significant change is the recent addition of singer Taryn Kawaja, which I first heard at a First Play show. Her light alto, and piano riffs, provided a calm counterpoint to Caplan's wild singing. When she sang co-lead on tunes like Seed of Love and 40 Days And 40 Nights, she transformed them. I regret not being in town when he came through on an album release tour because she had an opening set that night.

The early start time and on-the-dot finish was due to the fact that they rented their backline for Q (and this set) and had to return the gears before 9. So they skipped the usual "faux encore". Caplan asked the crowd if they wanted "quiet" or "crazy". Crazy won, though he noted that "was an unfair question, crazy is always louder". But he gave the audience both: the aforementioned ballad and Stranger, a fan favourite complete with loud piano banging. I hope they didn't have to pay any damages on that rental equipment.