Best in Show…July 8

It’s been too long since I’ve felt the Mod Club move like it did Sunday night. After a weekend of pride-whoring myself out, I seriously didn’t know how I was going to stand upright or stay awake. Moments after settling in, the band took stage and it was as though I was slapped in the face with awesome. Minus the Bear was thunderous! As a band with a well-buzzed about live show, an opener like “Drilling” makes it inherently obvious why. I could not peel my eyes away from the stage! The stage itself was fairly bareboned with some average asymmetrical lighting, but they didn’t need the bells or whistles. So often bands favour recording processes layered with overdubbing and composite tracks that when it comes together on stage the sound can’t quite be recreated. Minus the Bear’s organic, stripped-down recording approach enables them to sound good, just not as good as they do live - which is a beautiful thing. Their astoundingly tight set showcased how their recorded tracks will never measure up to the sheer force and raw intensity of their live shows.

My energy revival (thankfully) didn’t fade largely in part to a well put-together set list. It mixed songs from all three prior albums with the anthemic choruses and pop hooks of their latest effort, demonstrating how their experimental nature fits naturally into the prog-pop foundation they’ve built their band on. On OMNI, their forth full length release, the band has once again pushed boundaries in a slightly different direction that combines jazz, hip-hop, R&B and funk with lyrical content thick in sexuality. The results are a more sensual sounding album that Jake Snider’s swagger can totally handle. OMNI many not be revered as a diamond in the rough of their musical catalogue, but it certainly is an adventurous move for the band with tracks intended to broaden their fan base. Good news for them, it didn’t appear to displease the near sold-out crowd of die-hards causing the set to flow with a lot more ease.

The only snag of the night was a dip in the crowd’s energy during “Hold Me Down” which they recovered from nicely with a one-two combo of “Spritz!!! Spritz!!!” and “Pachua Sunrise”. The encore of “Dayglow Vista Rd.” was an interesting choice, but well received. All-in-all it was a great show with a very energetic and appreciative crowd (Unfortunately cursed by Toronto’s unwillingness to dance, let alone move to a beat!).

Words by Kate Masewich

Photos by David Belisle