On the weekend that saw Toronto host the NHL's 2000 All-Star festivities, it was strange to be in one of the old shrines to speed, skill and violence — Maple Leaf Gardens — used for a rock show. Banners of the Toronto Maple Leaf past glories and memorable players wavered far above in the rafters. Way down below at ice level, the boisterous and confident Danko Jones took the stage in front of a small milling crowd by introducing himself.
"MY NAME IS DANKO JONES!" he proclaimed, further claiming that it was a mistake for the powers at be "to put this microphone in front of this mouth." He continued to introduce himself, filling the arena with the booming sound of his baritone voice. "I am the loudest person in here... and no matter how loud all of you get, you'll still not be as loud as me," Jones tried to get a rise out of this typical Torontonian crowd of listless fans.
He (guitars/vocals) and his trio of JC (bass) and Nico (drums) blasted through a quick, short set of blues-fueled thrashing rock tunes culled in part from his latest album My Love Is Bold. Throughout his set, Danko continued to get some response from the sedate crowd by suggesting that if any of them saw him on the street to not address him as Danko or Danko Jones or Banana Baby but as simply as "The Mango Kid." Near the end, it was only the mention of Beck Hansen that led to some effective crowd response. Danko then urged the crowd go out and buy some Stereolab and Solomon Burke albums (among others) and quoted KRS-One's wise words, "Squash The Beef!"
After a prolonged wait where the only thing constructive to do was ride up and down the escalators (either that or get shafted at the concession stand), Beck finally hit the stage and the crowd woke up enough to acknowledge his presence. Using the same backing band that he featured at the small "industry" show in December, Beck jumped into high gear beginning his show with a rousing rendition of "More Bizness" from his latest album, the much maligned Midnite Vultures. With The Artist (Formally Known As "The Artist Formally Known As Prince"), in Toronto that weekend (taking in the Macy Gray show the night before ... a little bird told me!!), Beck was obviously choreographically-inspired by the spirit of the little fellow from Minneapolis.
Following up such a strong beginning, Beck and his band lost whatever momentum by sleepwalking through another new one "Milk & Honey"... possibly one of the worst songs Beck has ever written. The crowd was completely out of it throughout the evening... so much so, that Beck even commented on their lethargy late in the show. In some collective critique of Midnite Vultures, the only the only positive reaction the fans gave Mr. Hansen came in response to the familiar sounds of Beck's past glories, especially a tired version of "New Pollution" and to a lesser extent, "Deadweight" (from the soundtrack to the '97 film A Life Less Ordinary. This was not one of Beck's best shows. All of his moves have become old hat, and though the material of Midnite Vultures translated quite well to the live format, his audience was more interested in hearing "Loser" and "Devil's Haircut" than they were to his recent foray into '80s soul and funk sounds.
