Murder by Death - Songs about Drinking and the Apocalypse

Went out to the Kool Haus Tuesday night to see the Gaslight Anthem - 3 other bands were on the bill: Broadway Calls, Jesse Malin and most interestingly 'Murder by Death'.
I had not heard of this Bloomington, Indiana 4-piece band before. A quick listen to a few of the tracks on their MySpace page and I was hooked - and instead of arriving 'in-time' for the headliners we decided to make sure we caught this band.
The most accurate description of the band's sound and subject matter came from guitarist/vocalist Adam Turla - "Our songs are about drinking and the apocalypse". First formed in 2000, as the Little Joe Gould, the band took the name Murder by Death from the 1976 Robert Towne-directed movie of the same name starring Peter Sellers and David Niven.
The present make-up of the band includes founding members Matt Armstrong on bass, Sarah Balliet on cello and keyboards and newest member (Since 2007) Dagan Thogerson on drums.
Songs that stuck with me were Brother (see below) and Comin' Home - which was featured in the trailer for Inglorious Basterds.

MySpace Page
Website

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Airborne Toxic Event - May 4, 2009 The Mod Club, Toronto

You gotta love last minute decisions. I had been hoping to get out to this show anyways, but my schedule went completely awry when Microsoft Outlook decided to crash and not re-open for a week. Long story short, I saw someone send a tweet that included a link to an Airborne Toxic Event on Blip.fm. Then it hit me that the band was scheduled to be in Toronto early in March and a quick Google told me that that night was tonight. Well, one advantage of living so close to a GO Station is events just like this. A quick change of clothes and I'm on my way downtown on the train, jump in a cab and within 10 minutes I'm on College Street at the Mod Club.

Much to my surprise the show was sold-out, I had no idea this many people in Toronto were hip to Airborne Toxic Event. A few minutes of sidewalk negotiation with a freelance ticket broker got me the access that I needed. By this time I had missed the opening act, which turned out to be fellow East LA band The Henry Clay People. I squeezed into a spot about halfway up the floor with a great view of the stage.

The group showed a ton of energy from the opening chord through to the 2-song encore. Stand out tracks like Wishing Well, Papillion, Gasoline were well received. Sometime Around Midnight and Does This Mean You're Moving on were greeted with applause by the receptive and appreciative crowd. Singer and guitarist Mikel Jollet explained that he had been advised to cancel the show by his doctor because of a developing case of laryngitis. This proved prophetic as the next 2 shows in Ottawa and Montreal had to be cancelled.

Highlights of the show was the playing of violinist Anna Bulbrook and the encore when the crowd was invited to join the band on the stage. Great band, great night :)

Who I Saw in 2008 - Kaiser Chiefs

The Mod Club, November 18

I arrived at the Mod Club from the CNMAs just in time to get a beverage and squeeze myself into a small place in the capacity crowd near the back. I still haven't got a clue who was, or if there was an opening act. The Mod Club was sold out and ready to roll when the Kaiser Chiefs took to the stage opening with Spanish Metal. I hadn't had much time to absorb their new album, Off With Their Heads so like everyone else I was waiting for the big hits.

High energy, lead singer Ricky Wilson ruled the stage and seemed to be everywhere all at once, including an early run through the crowd - somehow coming within about 10 feet of where I was standing and then getting back through the crowd to the stage in record time. The hits kept coming - Never Miss a Beat, Every Day I Love You Less and Less, Ruby and Modern Way.

Near the end, Wilson crowdsurfed his way through I Predict a Riot - and ended up running the length of the Mod Club bar and helping himself to a drink during Take My Temperature. By the time the show closed with rousing sing-a-long Oh My God the crowd and the Chiefs were spent. Definitely one of the best shows I've seen.