While everyone knows my hate for the Bronson Center, nothing is more irritating than arriving a little later than you wanted and having the security guards point you towards the ‘upper deck’ which basically consists of a seat where while seated down, you get a view of a steel bar in your view. Sigh.
I went to the concert alone which is starting to become a common theme in concert going…I must be starting some eclectic tastes in music! I scooped up a nice poster and dropped it off at the car and then headed to a seat against the left wall in the upper deck. Listened to a few of the opening bands (Daredevil Chritopher Wright, The Crackling) which didn’t really do much for me. I’m pretty sure that one of the opening bands were the members of Dan Mangan’s backing band.
I stuck to searching through notes on my iPod in between sets to keep me occupied. Thankfully there wasn’t too much time in between sets!
This is my first time to a Dan Mangan show and I was surprised to see the amount of electricity through the instruments. Granted, I was introduced to him through his second album which is a much lower key album than his first and third which he is touring currently. The lead guitarist was the highlight of the band…he was all over the place!
The setlist was great…a lot of tracks from Oh Fortune and Nice, Very Nice including some of my faves such as Basket (done solo acoustically…beautiful!) and I would think that he may have played the entire Oh Fortune album. Too bad I can’t find a setlist online. This reminds me of how I used to bring a pen with me to mark down the setlist as it happened. A pen. Who carries a pen with them in their pocket nowadays? A lot has changed.
Dan Mangan is a great performer…the band is tight and Dan himself has funny stories in between the songs and enjoys the crowd. A highlight was when he unplugged everything and had the crowd singing along with ‘So Much for Everyone’ using the acoustics of the Bronson Center. That was the first time I realized that there are some really great acoustics in that hall compared to a dingy old bars.
Dan Mangan is a Canadian must-see.
I’m going to compile a setlist solely from memory of hearing some tunes played…no idea what order they were in, and if I’m forgetting any!
About As Helpful as you Can Be Without Being Any Help at All
Sold
Oh Fortune
Leaves, Trees, Forest,
Post-War Blues (awesome lead work on this tune)
Basket (solo)
Road Regrets
If I Am Dead
Starts With Them, Ends With Us
Some People
Rows of Houses
How Darwinian
Jeopardy
Indie Queens Are Waiting
In The Aeroplan Over the Sea
Robots (with some awesome crowd members getting up on stage because of their awesome robot costumes!)
So Much for Everyone