Date: Jan. 18, 2008
Venue: 235 Carlaw Ave.

Mathias Kom is a real gentleman. If that hadn’t already been evident from my recent email/Myspace contact with him then it became very clear as he greeted me at the door to the building in which he and 4 other bands were playing on Friday night. Held at a friend’s loft as an informal CD release for Happy Birthday, he and the rest of The Burning Hell headlined the east-side extravaganza.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch all 5 bands, as one had finished by the time I showed up and another was lost in the meet and greet shuffle, but I was fortunate enough to arrive just in time for a performance by Taylor Kirk, a.k.a. Timber Timbre.

Taking to the stage alone, but with a bevy of pedals (including the same loop station I had seen Sandro Perri use last week—got to get me one of those!) , Timber Timbre immediately set the tone of his performance by laying down a bed of reverberating sounds before opening with a down tempo version of the splendid “Like a Mountain,” from his latest disc, Medicinals (which, incidentally, made my best-of 2007 list). Serene and smooth, the set was short but sweet and seemed to garner favourable reaction from the growing crowd—deservedly so!

Of course, seeing as he was one of my main reasons for leaving my apartment that evening, I thought it a bit odd that Timber Timbre was given such early and truncated billing, but the reasoning became clear as the venue filled and the general noise level grew beyond that which a lone axe-man could overcome.

As usual, Here are a few pictures from the show:

MP3: Timber Timbre - Under Your Spell

After some brief mingling with the hosts and a few familiar faces (sorry Weird Weather…), Entire Cities took to the make-shift stage for an energetic and spirited performance. I had never heard of the seven-piece Toronto band before, but was instantly impressed with the palpable spontaneity and mischievous energy of their set. I’m told they’ll be releasing an album soon, so keep an eye out (in the meantime take a listen at their Myspace page).

It was after midnight when The Burning Hell finally claimed their rightful spot in front of the excited crowd and rumours of police had already begun to circulate. However, in attempts to convince the cops that we’d all “gone to the library or something,” Kom started things off quietly with a solo rendition of “Dinosaurs,” one of my personal favourites from Happy Birthday. Of course, things didn’t stay quiet for long, as The Burning Hell were eight musicians strong (including accordion, glockenspiel and special guest, Jenny Omnichord, playing the instrument of her namesake, as discussed here) and it was clear that some more raucous numbers were in the cards.

In fact, it was a spirited and thunderous explosion of “I Love the Things That People Make”—from 2006’s Tick Tock—that seemed to get the most reaction from the crowd. However, for my money Kom was in top form as he got into character for the tale of an undead lover’s revenge that is the Happy Birthday standout “Grave Situation Pt.1″–the second part to which I hadn’t fully appreciated until seeing it performed shortly afterwards.

Unfortunately though, it wasn’t long before the rumours of noise complaints proved truthful, as a policewoman barged past me shouting “Pull the plug!“—much to the dismay of the band and audience alike, who had anticipated much more ukulele-led fun to come. A dozen police officers and six cruisers later (six!?!), we were all ushered out to the street.

MP3: The Burning Hell - I Love the Things That People Make

—

I heard Mathias say something about seeing everyone at The Silver Dollar, which I can only assume is their as-yet-unannounced Toronto gig on Mar. 7 (part of CMW). In the meantime you can grab digital copies of both The Burning Hell’s Tick Tock and Happy Birthday here.

As for Timber Timbre, he’ll be at the Tranzac on Jan. 26, Feb. 9 and Mar. 8, and you can procure digital copies of both his critically lauded albums here.