Who: MuteMath
When: September 8, 2007
Where: Toronto Island Park/ Toronto, ON
With: Ryan
Of Note: the man made a key-tar sexy; I lost my mind
When: September 8, 2007
Where: Toronto Island Park/ Toronto, ON
With: Ryan
Of Note: the man made a key-tar sexy; I lost my mind
So, in
addition to all of the other awesomeness that the Virgin Festival brought, the
experience with the longest lasting impact was definitely seeing MuteMath to
close out Day 1. I had done a little bit of homework - checked out some
of the music prior to going - but had absolutely no idea what a treat I was in
for.
Warning: This
is mostly gushing because this show was really just that awesome.
I am probably
not going to do this justice; I'm not sure there are words for to properly
describe the emotional arc this show took me on - it felt like so much more
than a concert; it felt like a transformation or participation in a communal
awakening or like witnessing greatness. For those of you who have read my
previous entry on MuteMath, the basic elements of the show were the same -
amazing musicianship, awesome stage acrobatics, carefully crafted songs, equal
parts rockstar and dreamboat. Seeing them for the first time, though,
took my breath away.
I stand by my
assertion that Paul's voice is full of magic; even listening to recordings,
though to a greater extent live- when he sings, I feel like I feel what
he feels. It's like I don't hear the words but the emotions? (I
realize I sound like a crazy person. The music is just so powerful.)
One of the
first moments it clicked that I was seeing something awesome was during the first
round of stage acrobatics. These guys use the stage like a playground and
it's incredible to watch. You'll have Roy standing on an amp playing both
bass and high hat cymbal and
Darren standing on the organ that Paul is playing while beating on a marching
band style bass drum and then you'll blink and Paul will be standing on top of
a different amp with a guitar and Darren will be behind the drum set pounding
so hard that the head of the snare drum breaks and Roy is on the complete
opposite side of the stage. Blink again and you'll catch the tail end of
Paul taking a flying leap off the organ, across the stage and over Roy.
It's amazing to watch. And, they manage to pull off all these
acrobatics without missing a literal or figurative beat. And then they
all grab various percussive instruments and form a drumline of sorts.
The band tore through most of
their 2006 MuteMath album - and it was amazing. 'Picture', 'Noticed' and 'You
are Mine' all left me almost in tears. 'Typical' rocked, as you would
expect. I sang 'Control' for weeks afterwards. I couldn't tell if the
crowd was seasoned MuteMath fans or people just checking them out, but the
energy in the air was palpable; everyone was so into it.
The second moment I knew I was
witnessing something incredible was when Paul strapped on a key-tar and played.
And I looked at Ryan and said, "How on earth does he make a key-tar
look sexy? That's incredible."
I snapped a cell phone picture of Paul standing in rock star stance with
the key-tar and used it as my cell phone wallpaper, until the phone's demise.
In one of the final numbers,
Paul uses an instrument that has a neck like a guitar but it makes
atmospheric/wailing/electronic sounding noises (I don't know what it's called).
During the song, he walked out in the crowd, as far as the cord would let
him, and let people from the audience touch the instrument, thus contributing
the set. We were too far back (and it looked like the poor guy got pretty
mauled!) to share in that particular experience but the literal crowdsourcing
of some of the sounds really added to the community feel of the show.
On the boat ride back to
Toronto, I heard lots of people talking about how MuteMath had been the
highlight of the day. Ryan and I were both rendered, essentially,
speechless. When I got home from the festival, I promptly bought their
album and have followed them since then.
Seriously, I can't say this
enough - if you haven't heard them, you have to listen to them. MuteMath
is one of the greatest alt rock bands of this generation and I literally don't
have words to describe how incredibly awesome they are (though true to form, I
certainly tried).
(Photo credit: Ryan's phone, via facebook)
There were a handful of "my mind is officially blown" reactions. Still ranks in the top 3 of acts that I had seen live. Also, I remember their set started at about 7-7:30 or right as dusk was setting and we were amongst what I would describe as little more than a smattering of people who were eagerly awaiting the set to start. They started playing, the sun set and it was dark and my eyes didn't leave the stage until about 30-40 mins into the set when I turned around and I didn't see an end to the people behind me. All while one of the headlining bands, smashing pumpkins, was playing. I really felt like I was a part of something that was going to be the start of something huge, I'll never forget that feeling.
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