Dan Mangan and his Man-Gang (clever words from opening band, The Daredevil Chrisopher Wright) shook the walls of McDougall United Church last night. I have been waiting for a great band to play here for quite a few years, since I've heard it's one of the best places in the city for acoustics and sound. It definitely didn't dissapoint.
After waiting outside for about 45 minutes (one of the only downsides to the show), we grabbed a spot on the 2nd level, or balcony of the church. It's hard to say that there's a bad spot for seating in the venue since every seat is a few inches above the rows ahead. However there are a few pews that are partially tucked behind pillars...which apparently called for people to start sitting on the floor, and stairs and partially blocking my view of the stage.
The show started around 8 with The Crackling as the opening band. I've talked a bit about this band before, after having seen them open for Mangan last November. Why they'd be opening for the same band you might ask? Well Kenton Loewen, lead guitarist and vocalist for The Crackling actually plays drums in Mangan's band....with the rest of the 4 piece Crackling also belonging to Dan Mangan's band. So since there is such an overlap (with everyone, except Mangan, playing in both bands), it only makes sense to have them opening for his set. What made even more sense and was a nice surprise is when Mangan came out to play drums for the set, and completed the parralel-universe................
The Crackling played a very short set of 4-5 songs before the 2nd opening band, The Daredevil Christopher Wright (yes, that's a band name!), came out on stage. The set was done entirely acoustically with two guitars, and appearances from the xylophone, drums and...wait for it...the recorder. I personally thought they ceased to exist after Grade 6. The singers voice immediately caught my attention, but I can't pinpoint why. I don't wanna say he had a soft voice, because it still held a lot of power to it, but it was just so...flowly and melodic. Which...sounds...much more lame than I meant it to...But I feel like you understand me.
TDCW played a longer set for about 45mins-1hour. As I mentioned above the acoustics in this venue were always talked about to be amazing. And from the first note of the Crackling and especially during the softer harmonies of TDCW, it was easy to see why everyone raves about McDougall. The sound was crystal clear, and even on the 2nd balcony still sounded like we were sitting in an intimate room with each band.
Dan Mangan and co. came out at about 10pm, and I thought he'd only end up playing about an hour. Max. Boy, did he prove me wrong. When the show ended almost an hour and 45 minutes later, I couldn't see one person that wasn't on their feet. He played his "classics" (they feel like they should be) like "Road Regrets", "The Indie Queens Are Waiting", along with the majority of his new album Oh Fortune. Some songs he played with his backing band, and some were completely solo and done acoustically. I'd have to wrack my brain to think of something terrible to say about a set that seems so full of ...life. That sounds sarcastic, especially with ellipses...but really it's just me that can't think of anything else to say! Of course the encore included "Robots", Mangan's classic sing-a-long. Each and every time I've been lucky enough to be around for this song it's been just as powerful as the last time. This most recent time had Dan jump down from the stage with his guitar and a microphone, and standing on two of the church pews. Everyone was standing, clapping and singing along to "Robots need love too/They wanna be loved by you", and gave such a sense of...belonging. Along with his charismatic wit, and easy going banter, Mangan's shows are seem to always be full of good-natured, homegrown Canadiana.
After waiting outside for about 45 minutes (one of the only downsides to the show), we grabbed a spot on the 2nd level, or balcony of the church. It's hard to say that there's a bad spot for seating in the venue since every seat is a few inches above the rows ahead. However there are a few pews that are partially tucked behind pillars...which apparently called for people to start sitting on the floor, and stairs and partially blocking my view of the stage.
The show started around 8 with The Crackling as the opening band. I've talked a bit about this band before, after having seen them open for Mangan last November. Why they'd be opening for the same band you might ask? Well Kenton Loewen, lead guitarist and vocalist for The Crackling actually plays drums in Mangan's band....with the rest of the 4 piece Crackling also belonging to Dan Mangan's band. So since there is such an overlap (with everyone, except Mangan, playing in both bands), it only makes sense to have them opening for his set. What made even more sense and was a nice surprise is when Mangan came out to play drums for the set, and completed the parralel-universe................
The Crackling played a very short set of 4-5 songs before the 2nd opening band, The Daredevil Christopher Wright (yes, that's a band name!), came out on stage. The set was done entirely acoustically with two guitars, and appearances from the xylophone, drums and...wait for it...the recorder. I personally thought they ceased to exist after Grade 6. The singers voice immediately caught my attention, but I can't pinpoint why. I don't wanna say he had a soft voice, because it still held a lot of power to it, but it was just so...flowly and melodic. Which...sounds...much more lame than I meant it to...But I feel like you understand me.
TDCW played a longer set for about 45mins-1hour. As I mentioned above the acoustics in this venue were always talked about to be amazing. And from the first note of the Crackling and especially during the softer harmonies of TDCW, it was easy to see why everyone raves about McDougall. The sound was crystal clear, and even on the 2nd balcony still sounded like we were sitting in an intimate room with each band.
Dan Mangan and co. came out at about 10pm, and I thought he'd only end up playing about an hour. Max. Boy, did he prove me wrong. When the show ended almost an hour and 45 minutes later, I couldn't see one person that wasn't on their feet. He played his "classics" (they feel like they should be) like "Road Regrets", "The Indie Queens Are Waiting", along with the majority of his new album Oh Fortune. Some songs he played with his backing band, and some were completely solo and done acoustically. I'd have to wrack my brain to think of something terrible to say about a set that seems so full of ...life. That sounds sarcastic, especially with ellipses...but really it's just me that can't think of anything else to say! Of course the encore included "Robots", Mangan's classic sing-a-long. Each and every time I've been lucky enough to be around for this song it's been just as powerful as the last time. This most recent time had Dan jump down from the stage with his guitar and a microphone, and standing on two of the church pews. Everyone was standing, clapping and singing along to "Robots need love too/They wanna be loved by you", and gave such a sense of...belonging. Along with his charismatic wit, and easy going banter, Mangan's shows are seem to always be full of good-natured, homegrown Canadiana.
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