On the Road Again
Live Review

Smog
The Rivoli, Toronto
June 11, 1997

Due to my indie roots bleeding all over my sleeve philosophy, I am partial to all of the cooler-than-cool record labels out of Chicago. One of favorites for the past couple of years is Drag City, the home of the Palace incarnations, the highly underrated Edith Frost and the gloomier-than-thou Smog.

Bill Callahan is Smog, a quiet man consumed by the frightening world around him. Well, that is the image he projects on his two 1996 releases, Kicking... and The Doctor Came at Dawn (the latter of which sounds like it was recorded just after a messy break-up from a long and intense relationship. I have yet to here Smog's latest record but based on the increased pace of many of the songs played live at the Rivoli Wednesday night I would assume that Red Apple Falls is a lot more up-beat and positive.

Callahan (playing an unobtrusive electric guitar) was aided musically by Colin Gagon on electric piano and Jason December on drums. Musically, Smog's lengthy set (over one hour) was sparse with a minimum of instrumental detail. Simple piano chords and a stripped-down drum kit left Smog's sound light and refreshingly uncluttered. The majority of the songs from the latest album highlighted by the album's (probable) title track (Hey Callahan kept saying Red Apple Falls a number of times...what's a guy to think!) and another 'red', one about a blood red burn!

The finale was a great rendition of a Smog standard, "Bathysphere" from an earlier CD Wild Love. Smog played a 15 minute version including two stops which led to three separate rounds of applause by the audience, (thinking the song was over) before it's long awaited end.

What made the music marathon a joy was the simple acoustic trick of delaying Callahan's vocals in one channel for less than a second in order to have his choral chants bounce from one speaker to the other. The effect was so great., Smog repeated the song again when they reappeared for the encore.

- Chris Burland