...Land of Talk (@ the Biltmore)

I had really fallen for the Some are Lakes album by Land of Talk but was hesitant to see them live as I thought I would be disappointed. This was because I had heard Land of Talk on Q (CBC radio with Jian) and was not overly impressed. I decided I would give it a shot, with a chance of ruining my love for the band if they were horrible on stage. I went to the Biltmore Cabaret this past Saturday to see their set and it was quite a show, at a good venue I might add.

Elizabeth Powell showed no signs of recovering from surgery due to a hemorrhagic polyp on her left vocal cord, which temporarily slowed down her meteoric rise last year. Powell was masterful on the guitar and the band were very in-sync even with the many changes they have had to her three-piece. Powell may be the most legitimate Canadian female indie rock star I have seen live to date, rivaling the likes of Julie Doiron. Their set allowed for them to keep the intensity high with their up-tempo songs, including incredible versions of ‘Yuppy flu’ where the drums and base played the opening sequence for minutes working the crowd into a frenzy and ‘Corner Phone’ which was an intense closer. They still managed to throw in some of their softer classics including ‘It’s Okay' which is definitely a classic and a ‘Troubled’ encore. She seemed to be quite surprised about the number of people there but with the quality they were putting out it was no surprise to me. It sounds like they have garnered most of their fame down south and don’t due to much up north anymore, as evidence by their two stops in Canada on a 16 gig tour. It is a shame that we didn’t grasp a hold of them before they made it big down south.

An evidence of their fame is the 'Its Okay' video that they put up online just weeks ago. It has been garnering over a thousand views a day and was made by a couple of Canadian artists who call themselves We Were Monkeys. They have also made videos for Malajube, another band from Land of Talks’ hometown, Montreal. It is an interesting video, seen below, and I am still on the fence if I enjoy these types of videos which do not have any connection to the music although I am sure the artists would argue they do. Land of Talk have a new EP out called Fun and Laughter and I am looking forward to getting my hands on that.