CMW: The Weekend, Maestro, Mike O'Neill, Joel Plaskett
The Horseshoe, Toronto
March 31, 2001
The night started off well: the doors were supposed to open at 7:30, we were waiting in a line at 7:15, and my shirt was on backwards. Advance tickets were sold out in the afternoon, so there were a lot of eager people hoping more tickets would go on sale at the door. Some familiar faces were spotted while waiting to get in: Rob Benvie was mingling out front, and the Weekend could be heard doing sound check. There were a lot of old setlists signed by various bands on the wall which kept everyone entertained for the most part, since 7:30 came and went and we were still in line. By 7:50, we made our way inside, and shortly after the Weekend took stage. With the exception of a new drummer and a couple new songs, there was nothing special about their set compared to previous times I've them. The keyboardist seems to get weirder and weirder with every show, if that's at all possible. (Watch the Weekend CMW performance here: http://www.digitalclubfest.com/bands/bands_pages/weekend_6280.html)
The entire night was broadcast on CBC Radiosonic and was recorded for justconcerts.com, so there were a lot of extra lights on and in front of the stage. As the night went on, it grew more and more crowded, and more and more stuffy. Ugh.
Maestro was on second, and since we didn't want to risk leaving the Horseshoe and not being able to get back in, we stayed put. He started off with "Drop the Needle". I was instantly thrown
back into 1989. I give him credit for keeping the crowd's attention, when it consisted of mainly indie rock kids there to see Mike O'Neill, Joel Plaskett, and The Dears. It makes me wonder why he was on the bill, but hey, he did quite well and despite a few "Keep the faith" type messages, he managed to get those indie rock kids arms in the air. High five, Maestro.
The Inbreds/Local Rabbits/Thrush Hermit band took stage next. At least, that's what it looked like to murderecords fanatics of the early 90s. Mike O'Neill's band consisted of former Thrush Hermit boys Rob Benvie on bass and Benn Ross on drums, Local Rabbits Pete Elkas, and then, of course, former Inbreds singer/bassist Mike O'Neill. Starting with an Inbreds song, "Never Be" (off of the Inbreds fourth release, Winning Hearts), followed by "Alsatian" (the first release from his debut album, What Happens Now?), he instantly made Inbreds fans & Mike O'Neill fans happy alike. Towards the end of the set, he played another Inbreds song: "Any Sense of Time" (from Kombinator), and then finished with "See Clearly". The confidence O'Neill lacked at last year's NXNE was non-existant, he laughed, told everyone to refer to him as "The Owl", and during the final song, to the surprise of the audience, took his shoe off, balanced on a stool with one foot, and played keyboard with his other bare foot. The CMW Indie award he won is well deserved. The CMW performance alone was worth another award: Best Balancing Act While Playing Keyboard With Your Toes.
Another familiar face was on stage with Joel Plaskett: former Superfriendz drummer Dave Marsh.
Joel's new songs off of the soon to be released "Down at the Khyber" are closer sounding to Thrush Hermit than his previous solo record, "In Need of Medical Attention". In other words: less country, more rock. To many people's delight, "Oh My Soul" (from Thrush Hermit's Clayton Park) was sang, a long with instant favourites "True Patriot Love", "Maybe We Should Just Go Home", and "This Is a Message" from the upcoming album. Joel does not disappoint in his live performance.
[ JEN ]
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