Date: August 13, 2008
Venue: The Tranzac

I’ve heralded Henry Svec’s Boy from ET project quite a bit over the last few months (here and here).  More than just the usually cliched blog hyperbole, this has been one project that I really felt I could get behind.  Not only has Svec crafted a beautifully ridiculous concept by taking on the character of Henry Thomas (the actual boy who played “Elliott” in ET), but he’s also merged excellent songwriting with a highly theatrical live show.

In an effort to put my (lack of) money where my keyboard is I got off my lazy rump and took in The Boy From ET’s last waltz at the Tranzac a couple weeks ago.  The result? Put it this way: over the past few years I’ve been able to catch quite a few shows, but never have I left a venue feeling so damn invigorated as after this one.  I don’t care how cheeseball that sounds.

Putting The Boy from ET character to rest with a bang, Svec and others dedicated the entire evening to an intricate performance billed as “the 11th annual guest lecture series hosted by the U of T Dramatic Society“ (it was even claimed that Keanu Reeves had been a past guest of this “series”). Dividing the night in half, the first portion was dedicated to a hilarious mock-interview hosted by “professor” Ajay Mehra after which Svec (as Thomas) played a few tracks from his debut, Lives the Part, as well as a host of tunes from his next project called the CFL Sessions (songs “written by” former footballers, but I’ll get into that another time, as it deserves the attention).

The resulting combination of Mehra’s wonderfully pompous “interview” and Svec’s endearing and spot-on musical performance made the entire evening an inimitable spectacle to behold. I left hellbent on crafting ways to inject such ambitious creativity into my own undertakings, though for now I’ll settle for studying the video footage to learn Svec’s fantastic songs.

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Speaking of which, here’s The Boy from ET performing “In Quebec”:

MP3: The Boy from ET - Friends Just Leave (buy the album here)