Devendra Banhart's Quirk Goes Over Well In Concert

Hippies get a bad rap these days, but you've got to hand it to them: They know how to have a good time at a show.

As soon as Devendra Banhart and The Grogs — his back-up band that's not really a back-up band — took the stage at Toronto's Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Friday (Nov. 27) evening, everyone got up out of their seats and rushed to the stage.

It was a dance party in the aisles at the back and I counted at least three different couples around me getting their free love groove on at various points. Given that Torontonians are well-known for standing as still as statues at shows, this kind of enthusiasm was impressive.

Banhart was his loveably insane self right from the start. He kicked things off with "Long Haired Child" from 2005's Cripple Crow and ran through "Baby" from the recently released What Will We Be before beginning the evening's hilarious banter.

"It's as cold as an Inuit's queef or an Eskimo's fart outside!" he yelled, showing just how unused to cold weather he is. (Banhart grew up in Venezuela and Los Angeles.) "You pick."

Come back in February; it's worse.

A hilarious version of "Shabop Shalom" followed, as did takes on new tracks "Angelika" and "16th And Valencia Roxy Music." The Grogs left the stage for a bit so Banhart could run through Nino Rojo's "Little Yellow Spider" and Rejoicing In The Hands' "A Sight To Behold" by himself.

More quirk followed when Banhart pointed out the doll hanging from his mic stand (which he introduced as his friend) and then covered Simon & Garfunkel's "Punky's Dilemma." The song, which features the line "I wish I was a Kellogg's Corn Flake," goes well with Banhart's songs about being a rodent and all manner of other creatures. He screwed it up at the end, but that made it even more enjoyable.

At one point, Banhart remarked between songs that he loved Canada because "I enjoy that you invented basketball."

Hockey and lacrosse, too, but okay.

The evening also included songs written by members of The Grogs. The group includes Little Joy's Rodrigo Amarante, who led Banhart and company through Little Joy's "No One's Better Sake" while wearing a pirate hat tossed up from the audience. (Fittingly, Banhart had already said the band's name was appropriate because "grog" is "pirate slang for 'rum.'") Bassist Lucky Remington also took the lead for one of his songs, as did Priestbird's Greg Rogave.

Unfortunately, Rogave's "Diamonds" was the low point of the evening. Its stoner rock dirge wasn't out of place next to Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon's "Seahorse," but Rogave's off-key singing and the meandering structure of the song made it a chore to take in.

"Carmensita" was another highlight and seemed to get the room bouncing more than any other track that evening. Banhart and company closed with the very Zeppelin-ish "Rats."

Of course, the quirk wasn't finished, though, as Banhart and company came back on stage for a medley of Cripple Crow's "Chinese Children" and "I Feel Just Like A Child." He ran through these shirtless and it quickly became obvious just how skinny he is — at times it seemed as if he was badly in need of better fitting pants because they nearly fell down several times.

Banhart needs to come back soon because overly serious Torontonians need him around to help them lighten up. Hippie dance parties are too seldom held around these parts.