Ladyhawke Makes Strong Canadian Debut On Perez Hilton Tour

The Perez Hilton Presents tour kicked off the night with a trippy video montage of the Queen Of All Media himself encouraging people to "discover" new music. While it was obvious most at this 19+ show was there to see New Zealand electro-pop artist Ladyhawke, the crowd openly took his advice and was pretty damn receptive to the other artists.

Original opener Ida Maria was disappointingly cancelled last minute (official release cited "illness," rumours of hissyfits suspected), so local artists Anjulie and Woodhands took her place.

Anjulie tore into an absolutely stunning performance that began with a smooth soul jam and two beautiful backup singers in matching dresses accompanying the foxy singer out on stage. Triangulate Bollywood-meets-Motown soul and pop and you've got a decent idea of Anjulie's shtick. She tore through tracks like "Boom" and "Jamba" with the confidence and showmanship of a headliner. Her performance was unique and fun and definitely packed with mainstream appeal.

Woodhands were up next. Unfortunately, they were the biggest victims of The Opera House's poor sound. The vocals were muddled too much with the music, translating it to a mass of noise instead of the hyped synth party they usually generate. I'll give them another shot, since they definitely played their entire (lengthy) set with passion. The fans loved it, but I wasn't sold.

Then came New York glam rockers Semi Precious Weapons. If foul-mouthed, bleached blond, flamboyant frontmen who like to talk about how fabulous they are offend you, then drop your reservations just enough to appreciate how truly awesome their music is.

Everything from self-titled opener to the new tracks in between to closer "Magnetic Baby," was packed with an unmatched amount of rock and vigor. Vocalist Justin Tranter even performed an onstage costume change at one point before jumping into the crowd, stealing CHARTattack photographer David Leyes' camera and snapping the crowd and himself with his pants down before returning it (P.S. Watch for that special bonus gallery to be published on Monday).

This was the band's fifth time in Toronto and my third or fourth time seeing them, and while it wasn't the same as watching Tranter crawl around The Velvet Underground like some deprived sex kitten, it showed these guys will have more than just their solid debut album to rely on into the future.

Ladyhawke walked onstage with her messy blonde hair and a torn Nirvana shirt before tearing into "Magic." This was both her premiere Toronto and premiere Canada gig, and the anticipation was high. She totally delivered.

What I love about Ladyhawke is her songs and music make me long for London, England, despite the geography discrepancy. She played all of her hits and most of the tracks off her debut self-titled album, including "Back Of The Van," "Paris Is Burning," "Dusk Till Dawn," "Better Than Sunday" and some B-side material including "Danny And Jenny" before closing with "My Delirium."

This was her show — despite some guitar difficulties at the beginning and the unsatisfactory sound, the night belonged to her. Ladyhawke (born Pip Brown) and her band combined the best aspects of powerful '80s synth and enough rock grit into their smooth tracks to appease both the kids who breakdance and the kids who break hearts.

While it was a short set and there was no encore, she sang and played guitar like a star. Say what you will about celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, but the man lines up a mighty good show.

To view a photo gallery of Semi Precious Weapons click HERE. 

To view a photo gallery of Ladyhawke click HERE.