Wavelength 250 @ Cinecylce
14 February 2005, the wee hours
Wavelength have apparently been putting on shows in Toronto for five years now. I know this because this past Thursday I attended the first of four shows put on by Wavelength to celebrate their fifth anniversary. That show was the first time I have ever gone to a concert by myself. The fact I was willing to head out to this concert alone should give you some idea of just how great a line-up they had assembled for the show. I left my home a bit before 10:00 and made my way to Cinecycle. Leaving so close to 10:00 was actually a big mistake on my part.
Now, locating Cinecylce was no easy feat. Wavelength’s web site doesn’t seem to mention where the place is. I think if you are a part of ‘the scene’ you are just supposed to know. Looking around at the various web sites of the performers for the night, I stumbled upon directions to the place. Where is Cinecylce? It’s in the first alley south of Richmond St. The place is literally a big shed in an alley. From the outside, the place looks like a big shed. On the inside, the place looks like a big shed. There is no stage, but there is plenty of empty floor space. There is a sort of bar set up at the back. I guess at the end of the day you really don’t need much to put on a show. So, to be clear, Cinecylce is really ghetto.
There were 5 acts playing on the Thursday night show I attended. I wanted to see LAL more than anyone else. They were listed last in the bill for the night, so I assumed they would be the last act of the night. When I walked into Cinecylce, I realized they were in fact the first act of the night. I missed most of their set, which was very disappointing. I made my way to the front of Cinecycle to catch the end of a song, and hear them announce they would play their last song of the night. The song they played was Raindrops and it was brilliant. I am listening to it on their CD as I type this now, but seeing them do it live was something else; the live percussion was incredible, and the bass-line being played live on an electric stand-up bass was impressive to watch. LAL are like a cross between Talvin Singh and Portishead, and are probably one of the best electronic acts I’ve heard in quite some time.
The next act up was Yacht, a guy that makes lo-fi dance music. The dude walked out with his powerbook, plugged it in and set it down on the ground. Now, I was curious as to what this guy planned to do. I mean, if he was just going to play the music he makes off his laptop, did he plan on standing around like an idiot and fidgeting with the keyboard while we watched? My questions were answered shortly when his music kicked it. The guy dances. He dances like a maniac. I wish I could described it, but I can’t. Suffice it to say, the guy was quite entertaining to watch. His music was quite good to boot.
The third act was The Vermicious Knid, a group of four guys from Brantford. They played rock music. Since going out and listening to bands live like this I’ve developed a real fondness for rock music again. I love thrashing guitars and guys and girls trying to sing over top the sounds of their instruments. Knid were quite good. I wish I could tell you what sub-genre of rock music they played, but I can’t. Does it matter? They are a good band, so you would do well to check them out.
The problem with going out on a Thursday night is that I have to work on Friday. I listened to the first song from The World Provider before heading out. I’m not sure if I liked his brand of music or not; it was strange anyway. Wavelength are an impressive group. The line-up of acts they had out this past Thursday was so varied. If you are in Toronto and looking for some good music on a Sunday, their shows at Sneaky Dee’s are usually quite good.
