Jon Langford, The Sadies And A Choir

03/03/09 12:57am

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern provided a great night of entertainment on Friday, starting with an hour-long performance by Jon Langford (The Mekons, The Waco Brothers) and the 30-piece Burlington Welsh Male Chorus, comprised of mostly older Canadian Welshmen all dressed in black pants, white shirts and ties.

The chaps are used to singing in concert halls (including New York City's esteemed Carnegie Hall) as opposed to rock clubs, but they took full advantage of the venue's two bars before taking their places under the lights. One of them fell climbing on to the stage and a couple of others had to take timeouts, but they were in fine voice and their harmonies made a fine counterpoint to Langford's rougher-edged leads.

Sadies guitarist/violinist Travis Good and bassist Sean Dean were visible, but drummer Mike Belitsky and guitarist Dallas Good were hidden behind the choir. But even if they weren't seen, they were heard. And behold, it was good.

Langford is a master storyteller as well as a singer, songwriter and guitarist, and his song introductions were often almost as entertaining as the music. There were two Tom Jones hits ("Delilah" and "The Green Green Grass Of Home") and two songs about Jones, which isn't surprising since the panty-collecting singing star and Langford share Welsh heritage and a reputation for having prodigous trouser eels.

The choir did a couple songs on their own as well before the set ended and they descended back upon the bars. Jon came off the stage and gave me a friendly hug, and then it was time for a 45-minute set by The Sadies packed with favourites. I see this band more than any other, and they never fail to fill me with glee.

Maybe this isn't news for anyone who's been to a recent Waco Brothers show, since I haven't seen them since last March in Austin during South By Southwest, but I found out that steel player Mark Durante is no longer in the band. While he could be a bit o a goof, I still enjoyed his drunken stage mishaps and will miss him. (And I shouldn't forget a big thank-you to Mira MacRae for including me in her new painting of the Wacos performing at the Yard Dog Gallery last year. It looks great.)

After another short break, Jon Langford And His Sadies returned to play material from their excellent 2003 collaborative album, The Mayors Of The Moon, and other equally moving pieces of repertoire. It was simply a brilliant night of music that many of us wished could have continued until dawn.

But it wasn't exactly over yet. An acquaintance drove Jon and myself and a couple of other friends to the concert promoter's house to continue the festiviites along with some of the musicians and other people who had been at the show. The hosts were generous and there was lots of socializing, but most people eventually filtered out and others went to bed, so I was invited to the house of other friends who lived nearby for a few more nightcaps.

I didn't end up leaving until late in the afternoon.

Here's Jon Boy and the choir doing "Butter Song" at New York City's Knitting Factory last year:

And though you can't see the choir, here they are singing "Come Home Tom Jones" (I'm not sure if that's the exact title) with Langford and what looks and sounds like Kelly Hogan and Sally Timms at Chicago's Hideout in 2007:

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