Dragonette As Sexy And Sassy As Ever

The Mod Club

Toronto, ON

on Oct 8 2009

Sheena Lyonnais (CHARTattack)

10/09/2009 3:21pm

Life became a dance party as soon as I stepped foot into The Mod Club.

The lights went dark and Egyptrixx began spinning some serious European-influenced beats that made it feel like 3 a.m. rather than 7 p.m. and most of the audience hadn't even had their first drink yet. He was a welcome departure from the usual iPod deejay posse, but he wasn't much of a hypeman. He did a good job preceding Ruby Jean And The Thoughtful Bees, though, especially when he upped the bass towards the end.

RJATTB were exactly as I imagined: Amazing! Their gritty Halifax electro-pop kicked off with a piercing howl from Rebekah Higgs before plunging into "You Don't Miss Me" off this year's self-titled release. Initially, all eyes were on guitarist Jason Vautour, who looked like he had just returned from a fetish party in his bondage mask, studded leather vest, tiny tight leather shorts and man thong.

They dedicated tracks to '80s hero Paula Abdul and sociopaths, an interesting yet fitting combination for the extremely talented band. The set was dripping in sexuality, was tighter than Vautour's shorts and extremely well received. They were the highlight of the night for me, and if this kind of dance party is brewing in the Maritimes, then I don't know what I'm doing here.

Hometown heroes Dragonette took the stage to possibly the loudest crowd I've heard in long time. Currently touring to promote their recently released Fixin To Thrill, the quartet wasted no time before ripping into crowd pleaser "I Get Around." I wasn't entirely sold on the new album yet, which has toned down their hormones in lieu of more polish, so I was extremely stoked to see Martina Sorbara and friends haven't lost their sass.

The experimental new tracks lend themselves beautifully to a live setting, combining seductive bass lines, intense keys and just the right amount of female empowerment. They showed many sides, selectively embracing vulnerability, while maintaining their playful demeanor. They closed with title-track "Fixin' To Thrill," but returned a mere moments later to encore. I was expecting to hear "Teacher, Teacher," but instead they played a revved up version of Tammy Wynette's "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad," before closing with "Get Your Titties Off My Things."

Dragonette put on a magnetic live show that erased any doubts I had about Fixin' To Thrill. The crowd and set list were amazing and the energy was sticky and contagious. If a couple hundred usually reserved Toronto 20 to 30-somethings can get into it, then obviously this was one hell of a show.