This review will start with a well warranted bitch and or complaint. Corporate influence has been heavy in rock and roll for a good while now, but it never fails to burn me, especially when it is this obvious. While the posters promoting the show made it evident that there was going to be a tie in with a certain popular video game (no need to mention it here, they don’t need any more press), I certainly did not expect to be greeted at the door with a gaggle of kids playing the game at a stall set up by the company. Upon passing though the vestibule to the actual ballroom, I saw, well hell, how about that, a huge screen flashing the games graphics. Almost humorously, this monolithic screen was placed right next to the stage, so the opening act had to compete with a video game for the audience’s attention. After the opening set a DJ (who looked an awful lot like Tom Cochrane) came onstage and further promoted the game by offering the winner of a mini tournament an action figure! While I read this as atrocious, sure as shit, a few punters lined up tried their hand at this monstrosity.

The abovementioned screen was removed for the headliners, Leeds’ natives The Music. The Music were last in town in the spring of 2003, opening for Coldplay. At that show the band played a ferocious set, perhaps even overshadowing the headliners, which won them many new converts. The band pulled a respectable draw of 750 for their return to Calgary, in support of their solid new album, Welcome To The North.

Opening with “The Dance” from their 2002 self titled debut, the band did not exactly start things off on a high note. The delivery was somewhat uninspired, but this was soon rectified as frontman Robert Harvey eventually found his mark and took up his trademark dancing.

Harvey’s dancing is really something else, and praise Jah for that, as his fellow cohorts at the front of the stage, guitarist Adam Nutter and bassist Stuart Coleman were motionless and entirely unemotional. Relief also came in the form of the most excellent Phil Jordan on drums, who is best described as a dance pixie on moonshine, with his small frame only adding to the spectacle of his exceptional drumming. The best parts of the 14 song set included "Breakin’," "Getaway," "I Need Love," and especially, "Bleed From Within," which ended with Coleman and Harvey taking up additional percussion and driving the song into tribal madness. The crowd responded, and it was clear that this was to be the peak of the night. The set ended with a spirited extended version of "Disco."

While the band was good and the crowd enjoyed the show, I cannot help but feel that the night did not achieve the level of excellence that it had the potential for. The Music were not playing like they had something to prove, instead, they looked to be going through the motions. They were playing with a lethargy that was consistent with a mid December night in middle Canada, but seeing they were playing on a mid December night in middle Canada, is it really fair to dock them points for playing to the elements? Indolence or not, even on cruise control these guys are an accomplished band that put on a show that will leave you with their distinct loud dance rock in your head for days to come.

Elsewhere

By Kevin Halpin
Photos : Andy Scheffler
Published : March, 2005.