Amon Tobin

The Brazil-born, England-raised and Montreal sometimes-resident electronic musician brought his amazing machine for a second stop in Toronto. And it was indescribable.

The hero of the night, in his space suit.

New favorite image

Liza does Toronto

Despite joint replacements, encephalitis, strokes and gay divorces, Liza Minnelli is still a force to be admired as the ultimate entertainer. She may slur a little, but her voice reaches all the highs and sounds just as perfect in New York New York as it did in 1977. And she may limp a little, but she’s still dancing and she still got all those Liza moves. Her concert at Massey Hall last week was short but sweet, just like Liza.

U2

U2 rocked Toronto on Monday night with their 360° Tour de force and their 360-degree stage in the shape of an alien spider.

The show came to town late since being postponed last year when Bono hurt his back. But the greatest showman/egomaniac on the face of the earth is back in shape (except for a little paunch) and looking good at 51. Say what you will, the man is charming and entertaining as hell (Mephisto?) – it’s no wonder he’s got the leaders of the world on speed-dial.

The rest of the guys have a certain regal-ness to them, a sort of “rock star royalty” stance. And seem to be all too happy to leave center stage for their ring leader. Scenes from the beginning of their career helped put in perspective where they are today and how these middle-aged guys can fill stadiums any day of the week anywhere with more than 60,000 people.

The concert was a string of hits and energetic performances by Bono. It was also a political free-for-all, mixing music and heavy-handed populism, with messages ranging from human rights to religion being systematically delivered in the 360-degree screen above the band. You could also sign up for Amnesty International initiatives during pre- and post-show.

Bono called Canadians “idealists,” praised their “leadership” and declared his love for the country.

A great show and not as much spectacle as I expected, despite cameos from astronauts from the International Space Station and the incredible, stretching, 360-degree screen which enveloped the band and turned the stadium into a disco tornado.  The band came out for two (pre-scheduled) encores.

Here’s a couple of great moments from the show.

The Queen

To keep calling her the Queen of Soul seems lazy, but the woman is a majesty. There's something very cool about Aretha, and by cool I mean something very warm in her voice that talks directly to you and makes you feel good. Yes, her mumu was a size too small at the free concert she gave us at Metro Square as the kick off to Toronto Jazz Festival, but whatever - she could've dressed in anything she wanted.

And here's the very end of "Say a Little Prayer."

Robyn

In the music world, the live concert is an art form in itself. Something that sounds exciting and visionary on record, can sound less than extraordinary live. Case in point, Swedish pixie Robyn this past weekend at Echo Beach.

Don’t get me wrong, Robyn got shown a lot of love and her set was filled with pop stompers that were worth the price of admission (she has, after all, put out a trilogy of excellent electronic music last year). But there was a lack of visual style to the whole production that made the whole thing look like an aerobics competition at times, with Robyn as the only contestant.

The fact that she decided to have a team of tech guys doing by hand what sequencers are for can be be seen as idiotic, considered insane or lauded as avant-guarde.

In the end, is it cheesy pop? Maybe, but one fact remains: Robyn is doing the best cheesy europop out there right now. And speaking of out there, Toronto’s own Boy George (or white Grace Jones) Diamond Rings opened for Robyn with a spasmodic but fun concert.

Diamond Rings

Röyksopp

The Norwegian band played in Toronto last week, opening their North American tour in support of their new album Senior.

The album is a bit of a departure from Röyksopp’s usually ebullient pop ditties, but thankfully the concert didn’t focus on its more somber, abstract and down-tempo tracks.

Compact and powerful vocalist Anneli Drecker was a welcome and lively presence on stage.

Despite being a band with such a cool videography, Röyksopp didn’t bring any visual aids on tour. No projectors, no laser beams, not even LED lights! All we got was the guitar player with a pillowcase over his head.

In all fairness, Drecker stroke the most curious poses wearing an elaborate head piece.

And band member Svein Berge wore a cool bracelet made of light!

Overall, the concert had a very experimental feel to it, but the band still delivered the hits and made an explosive finale. Much a propos for a band whose name in Norwegian means the mushroom cloud that appears after the explosion of a nuclear bomb (an ecstatic fan volunteered the factoid to me.)