3rd Annual Dream Serenade
Featuring: Broken Social Scene, Barenaked Ladies, Dan Mangan, Amy Milan, Hayden, the Persuasions, Lou Canon
Date: Saturday October 22nd, 2016
Venue: Massey Hall in Toronto, Ontario
T-shirt worn: "my wife went to London and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"
I didn't even know this slow was happening until I walked by Massey Hall early last week and saw "Broken Social Scene" and "Saturday, October 22nd" on a poster outside the venue. So once we got to the diner across the street I bought a ticket without a second thought, since I've wanted to see Broken Social Scene for a while and Massey Hall is a great place.
Then over the last week I decided to look into the show (maybe see who the openers were) and found out it's actually a charity event curated by Toronto singer/songwriter Hayden to benefit a local school called Beverley Junior Public School and their program for children with disabilities and that a bunch of other Toronto area artists were playing. Hayden and Kevin Hearn of Barenaked Ladies both have children within the schools program. As a father of two children that suited me just fine because I found out that every artist was donating their time, that Massey Hall had donated use of their venue and that all proceeds from the show were going to the school. But what worried me was that it was only happening between 8pm and 11pm and with seven bands and artists playing I was like, "...are the bands playing three song sets"?
Anyway, I got there right at 8pm because I had no idea how this thing was going to be structured and I wanted to see Hayden perform, I thought he was going on earlier. There was a short intro video about the school followed by a short welcoming speech by Hayden and wife. Then they brought out Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip unannounced. I know he played Toronto last night as well so it's cool of him to show up. I've never been a fan of the Tragically Hip at all. In fact, they're one of my least favourite bands of all time. But Gords announcing he had terminal brain cancer over the summer still hit me hard. And I surprisingly don't hate his solo material. So it was a good that he did a set of solo material. I didn't know any of the songs but they were actually really good.
Gord Downie
1. The Stranger
2. ?
3. The Secret Path
4. The Only Place to Be
Some DJ from the local Toronto radio station CBC One came out to MC the night between sets and he was pretty annoying. The first advertised performer Lou Canon came out and she was actually really good. It was just her and a keyboard and her music reminded me of FKA Twigs and Bjork, just less going on and not as spastic.
The CBC guy came back out and introduced a Brooklyn based acappella group called the Persuasions. They weren't entirely bad but fifteen minutes was more than enough for me. Old Man River was pretty fucking awesome and they did a cover of U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.
The Persuasions
1. Still Ain't Got No Band
2. Good Times
3. Old Man River
4. ?
5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (U2 cover)
CBC guy came back out and introduced the Barenaked Ladies. I've never been a fan but they have some good songs, especially their slower sadder songs. They're pretty funny guys too. But even not being a fan, and even though he left the band years ago, it seems weird not having Steven Page up there with them. I'll never see them again so I really don't care but that's my observation. They played a couple okay songs, one terrible calypso song, If I Had $1,000,000 and closed with a terrible rap medley of popular songs, which I think they do at every concert.
…they actually weren’t bad and when I went back on YouTube to try match up songs with lyrics I had on my notes I found a lot of songs I liked.
Barenaked Ladies
1. Blame it on Me
2. Gonna Walk
3. Four Seconds
4. If I Had a Million Dollars
5. Cheesy Rap Medley
[Intermission]
Another video opened the second half followed by a speech from the principle and vice-principle of the school. Then Hayden came out for his performance. He’s like Canada’s Jeff Buckley. Very somber, very depressing, very sad; this guy has a few songs that I can’t even listen to because the subject material is so sad. The first song he did was pretty sad. The others were okay. He has other, better songs but none that really fit the mood of the evening.
Hayden
1. Old Dream
2. ? (“song about a home invasion”)
3. Make Believe
4. Ahead by a Century (Tragically Hip cover)
CBC guy came back out to kill some more time before Amy Milan came out. I know who she is but I've never liked her outside her background vocals with Broken Social Scene. Her performance was actually pretty terrible. But she's nine months pregnant so she gets a pass. She did three songs then brought Feist out (whom I hate too) to do a cover of some song. Who-hoo.
Up next was some guy I've never heard called Dan Mangan. Usually I hate solo singer/songwriter stuff but he was actually really good. His last two songs were really nice and I think if I knew who he was it would have carried more weight.
Dan Mangan
1. ?
2. Basket
3. So Much For Everyone
Despite only being three hours it had been a long night. So I was glad Broken Social Scene was finally getting on stage. But I knew what was coming. They had twelve musicians on stage including Feist, Amy Milan and a couple people from various backing bands. Lovers Spit is one of my least favourite songs by them but it was still pretty hype to see them playing. The atmosphere of the entire venue changed. I think a lot of people were in my boat and were just going to see them. Anthem for a Seventeen Year Old Girl was awesome to hear but I think it was too early in the set. The new, unknown song was okay and 7/4 Shoreline was pretty awesome. And that was it.
Brocken Social Scene
1. Lovers Spit
2. Anthem for a Seventeen Year Old Girl
3. ?
4. 7/4 Shoreline
All performers came on the stage and the Persuasions led them in some song about dreaming.
I’m not disappointed that I went but I did drive an hour for four songs. Had I know what I was getting into I wouldn’t have gone. At least my money went to a good cause. But I have to make a greater effort to see a proper concert from Brocken Social Scene because they were really good and looking at their past sets on setlist.fm they play a lot of good stuff live. I hope if I do see them again it’s at Massey Hall. My seat was terrible (literally, highest balcony fourth row from the back) but it still sounded incredible. It’s not my favourite venue in the city but it certainly is the best.
______________________________________________________________
Follow up:
It was extremely selfish of me to have said any bad about this show. It was for a good cause and I'm glad my money ent to it.
Sadly, Gord Downie passed away earlier this week, almost a year removed from this show. Like I said: I was never a fan but I don't wish that on anyone.
Broken Social Scene released a new album in 2017 and it was just "okay".
The Dream Serenade continued into this year; 2017.
Featuring: Broken Social Scene, Barenaked Ladies, Dan Mangan, Amy Milan, Hayden, the Persuasions, Lou Canon
Date: Saturday October 22nd, 2016
Venue: Massey Hall in Toronto, Ontario
T-shirt worn: "my wife went to London and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"
I didn't even know this slow was happening until I walked by Massey Hall early last week and saw "Broken Social Scene" and "Saturday, October 22nd" on a poster outside the venue. So once we got to the diner across the street I bought a ticket without a second thought, since I've wanted to see Broken Social Scene for a while and Massey Hall is a great place.
Then over the last week I decided to look into the show (maybe see who the openers were) and found out it's actually a charity event curated by Toronto singer/songwriter Hayden to benefit a local school called Beverley Junior Public School and their program for children with disabilities and that a bunch of other Toronto area artists were playing. Hayden and Kevin Hearn of Barenaked Ladies both have children within the schools program. As a father of two children that suited me just fine because I found out that every artist was donating their time, that Massey Hall had donated use of their venue and that all proceeds from the show were going to the school. But what worried me was that it was only happening between 8pm and 11pm and with seven bands and artists playing I was like, "...are the bands playing three song sets"?
Anyway, I got there right at 8pm because I had no idea how this thing was going to be structured and I wanted to see Hayden perform, I thought he was going on earlier. There was a short intro video about the school followed by a short welcoming speech by Hayden and wife. Then they brought out Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip unannounced. I know he played Toronto last night as well so it's cool of him to show up. I've never been a fan of the Tragically Hip at all. In fact, they're one of my least favourite bands of all time. But Gords announcing he had terminal brain cancer over the summer still hit me hard. And I surprisingly don't hate his solo material. So it was a good that he did a set of solo material. I didn't know any of the songs but they were actually really good.
Gord Downie
1. The Stranger
2. ?
3. The Secret Path
4. The Only Place to Be
Some DJ from the local Toronto radio station CBC One came out to MC the night between sets and he was pretty annoying. The first advertised performer Lou Canon came out and she was actually really good. It was just her and a keyboard and her music reminded me of FKA Twigs and Bjork, just less going on and not as spastic.
The CBC guy came back out and introduced a Brooklyn based acappella group called the Persuasions. They weren't entirely bad but fifteen minutes was more than enough for me. Old Man River was pretty fucking awesome and they did a cover of U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.
The Persuasions
1. Still Ain't Got No Band
2. Good Times
3. Old Man River
4. ?
5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (U2 cover)
CBC guy came back out and introduced the Barenaked Ladies. I've never been a fan but they have some good songs, especially their slower sadder songs. They're pretty funny guys too. But even not being a fan, and even though he left the band years ago, it seems weird not having Steven Page up there with them. I'll never see them again so I really don't care but that's my observation. They played a couple okay songs, one terrible calypso song, If I Had $1,000,000 and closed with a terrible rap medley of popular songs, which I think they do at every concert.
…they actually weren’t bad and when I went back on YouTube to try match up songs with lyrics I had on my notes I found a lot of songs I liked.
Barenaked Ladies
1. Blame it on Me
2. Gonna Walk
3. Four Seconds
4. If I Had a Million Dollars
5. Cheesy Rap Medley
[Intermission]
Another video opened the second half followed by a speech from the principle and vice-principle of the school. Then Hayden came out for his performance. He’s like Canada’s Jeff Buckley. Very somber, very depressing, very sad; this guy has a few songs that I can’t even listen to because the subject material is so sad. The first song he did was pretty sad. The others were okay. He has other, better songs but none that really fit the mood of the evening.
Hayden
1. Old Dream
2. ? (“song about a home invasion”)
3. Make Believe
4. Ahead by a Century (Tragically Hip cover)
CBC guy came back out to kill some more time before Amy Milan came out. I know who she is but I've never liked her outside her background vocals with Broken Social Scene. Her performance was actually pretty terrible. But she's nine months pregnant so she gets a pass. She did three songs then brought Feist out (whom I hate too) to do a cover of some song. Who-hoo.
Up next was some guy I've never heard called Dan Mangan. Usually I hate solo singer/songwriter stuff but he was actually really good. His last two songs were really nice and I think if I knew who he was it would have carried more weight.
Dan Mangan
1. ?
2. Basket
3. So Much For Everyone
Despite only being three hours it had been a long night. So I was glad Broken Social Scene was finally getting on stage. But I knew what was coming. They had twelve musicians on stage including Feist, Amy Milan and a couple people from various backing bands. Lovers Spit is one of my least favourite songs by them but it was still pretty hype to see them playing. The atmosphere of the entire venue changed. I think a lot of people were in my boat and were just going to see them. Anthem for a Seventeen Year Old Girl was awesome to hear but I think it was too early in the set. The new, unknown song was okay and 7/4 Shoreline was pretty awesome. And that was it.
Brocken Social Scene
1. Lovers Spit
2. Anthem for a Seventeen Year Old Girl
3. ?
4. 7/4 Shoreline
All performers came on the stage and the Persuasions led them in some song about dreaming.
I’m not disappointed that I went but I did drive an hour for four songs. Had I know what I was getting into I wouldn’t have gone. At least my money went to a good cause. But I have to make a greater effort to see a proper concert from Brocken Social Scene because they were really good and looking at their past sets on setlist.fm they play a lot of good stuff live. I hope if I do see them again it’s at Massey Hall. My seat was terrible (literally, highest balcony fourth row from the back) but it still sounded incredible. It’s not my favourite venue in the city but it certainly is the best.
______________________________________________________________
Follow up:
It was extremely selfish of me to have said any bad about this show. It was for a good cause and I'm glad my money ent to it.
Sadly, Gord Downie passed away earlier this week, almost a year removed from this show. Like I said: I was never a fan but I don't wish that on anyone.
Broken Social Scene released a new album in 2017 and it was just "okay".
The Dream Serenade continued into this year; 2017.
Do you like old people porn? Because I just put enough to fill an old folks home in the wrestling section!