2007 Wrap-Up: Concerts Of The Year

December 19th, 2007

I had an incredible year of concerts this year – I nearly managed to break 100 shows (94 in all in 2007) but unfortunately by the time I realized I was so close to the golden number, there was a dearth of remaining shows in 2007 to choose from.

If you were at any of these shows you can surely appreciate the awe and amazement (and for the most part, bursts of uncontrollable, frenzied energy) that came over the audiences as they rocked out to these sets.

10. Under Byen
March 8 @ Mod Club Theatre

I happened upon Danish band Under Byen when they played Mod Club as part of NXNE and I’m glad I did. What I witnessed was a ‘sonically devastating’ set that left me somewhat breathless. They had a junkload of multi-instrumentalists on stage with them – a cellist, violin player, a saw, harmonica, TWO drummers, bass player and the a singer whose voice was gorgeous and haunting. At the end of the night the band came out for a very Scandinavian-inspired bow.

MySpace: Under Byen

9. Patrick Wolf
May 11 @ El Mocambo

Before Patrick Wolf opened for Amy Winehouse, promoters threw together a last minute solo show to start off the trilogy of performances, and it was hands down the best of the three. Patrick’s performance was endearing and somewhat magical. He has this way of mesmerizing the audience with his charm and style, and the setlist he presented us with was unique (some songs hadn’t been performed live, like, ever). This show was infinitely better than his return later in the year in October.

MySpace: Patrick Wolf

8. Bloc Party & Albert Hammond Jr.
March 25 @ Kool Haus

This show was just ON – from the moment Bloc Party took the stage, my face was white with disbelief at how amazing and insane the crowd response was. Scalper tickets were being sold outside for four times the asking price. It was a frenetic dance party throughout at the height of excitement after A Weekend In The City‘s release.

MySpace: Bloc Party

7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs (VICE Festival Ball)
September 7 @ Berkeley Church

The guest list for any VICE party is notoriously difficult to penetrate, but after waiting in line for four hours, we made our way inside to enjoy an exclusive set by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I really don’t know where Karen O. gets her energy, but her personality and stage presence have become somewhat of a benchmark for all band frontwomen – she’s feisty, unpredictable and bonkers energetic. She was bouncing around the stage like crazy and adding and removing accessories (hats, masks, scarves, leotards). YYY tore through the hits – Pin, Gold Lion, Y Control, Date With The Night, Honeybear, and of course, Maps.

MySpace: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

6. Enter Shikari
May 23 @ El Mocambo

Coming off a high of three days at Vancouver’s Virgin Fest, I was ready to finally enjoy my very first taste of an Enter Shikari-headlined show. I don’t need to remind you how ridiculous their sets are – crazy synth/hardcore mashups with both melody and shrieks, breakdancing, cartwheels, pogoing, freestyle dance and more. These guys bring it like no other when it comes to that fresh energy that “new” bands have when they first make the tour rounds. The tightly packed crowd was pogo-ing and thrashing around like a bunch of angry gnats from start to finish.

MySpace: Enter Shikari

5. Muse
August 1 @ Arrow Hall

Despite the decision to play increasingly shitty venues in Toronto (first The Docks, now Arrow Hall?), Muse still managed to sound tremendous. It’s no secret that their live shows are balls out frenetic rock riots – they are a band that truly belongs in an arena, as their sold out dates at Wembley Stadium prove (capacity: 90,000). They even managed to sound terrific in an airplane hangar and brought amazing aspects to the show that prove how special they are: monstrous confetti-filled balloons bouncing above the crowd, CGI video accompaniments on massive screens, dry ice, explosions, laser-firing chrome guitars, a full-sized piano with a glass top and flickering pink lights…wtf? Plus, their setlist couldn’t have been tighter. Bravo boys.

4. Crystal Castles
June 21 @ The Social

As I near the end of this list I’m detecting a theme – the more enjoyable shows for me were the ones were the audience took on a form of temporary insanity and excitement for the bands performing. Crystal Castles are one such band. Even though they’re from Toronto, seeing them perform here is a rarity cause they’re busy jetsetting the globe and headlining parties in the UK, Japan, Australia and the rest of Europe. In 2007 I saw more band members wearing Crystal Castles tshirts than any other tshirt, ever. Their set was brief but blistering, and the audience was wild for the cutie duo.

MySpace: Crystal Castles

3. Klaxons
April 8 @ Lee’S Palace

April 8 marked the Klaxons’ Toronto debut – this was way before any talk of the Mercury, or any NME-band-of-the-year nonsense. Earlier in the day they had played a short acoustic set at the now defunkt Amp’d Mobile studio. Singer Jamie Reynolds put us on his personal guest for that evening after we met him at the studio. From the first note they played, everyone in the room was losing their minds. I actually had my drink knocked out of my hand so quickly/hard that half of it ended up IN my nose. Stage diving (literally, corkscrewing off the stage at a running start), major crowd surfing and full on bodyslamming throughout the entire one hour set.

MySpace: Klaxons

2. Justice
October 18 @ Circa

How could you go wrong with a hot duo like Justice to inaugurate Circa’s concert roster? The club was absolutely RAMMED to capacity. From the moment the pair fired up their gear, it was point-of-no-return dance mayhem. The guys played a mix of their album tracks, mashups and remixes of some of their most famous tracks. From the super-extendamix of The Party f. Uffie to Phantom/Phantom II, their album translated into a live setting was an absolute monster. For the encore, a remixed version of Metallica’s Master Of Puppets was the only logical choice.

MySpace: Justice

1. Daft Punk/The Rapture
August 5 @ Arrow Hall

Are you at all surprised (she says, as Daft Punk’s infamous Coachella set comes on iTunes shuffle…)? Anyone who had the privilege of finally seeing Daft Punk live in 2007 will agree that it was a truly spectacular experience. It was a non-stop lights spectacle customized to every beat of every song. Hearing Daft Punk at such a constant, throbbing level made me feel like I’d been transported onto the island of Ibiza, with everyone around me dancing with their eyes closed. It was an outright dance holocaust! One guy face planted into the concrete floor so hard after a stage dive gone wrong that he was wiping his bloody maw onto his shirt for the rest of the show. The setlist was WOW – a constant medley of favourites weaved in one after another – the closest you’ll ever get to experiencing this for yourself is to acquire Alive ’07.

MySpace: Daft Punk

Honourables:

Sparklehorse
February 23 @ Mod Club

Snow Patrol
March 30 @ Ricoh Coliseum

Chromeo/Fritz Helder
July 11 @ Spin Gallery

M.I.A.
October 20 @ Kool Haus

What about you? See any good shows this year?

Are you pissed that The Arcade Fire aren’t on my list or WHUT?

Posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 4:25 pm by Alison and is filed under Concerts & Events.