On April 27th, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Eliza Niemi ‘served’ at her album release party, which took place at The Garrison. Niemi celebrated the release of her new album, Progress Bakery, and yes, her iconic cello made an appearance! More on Niemi’s set soon.
First on the menu, the Toronto band Cootie Catcher rocked it! I was captivated by their synchronicity, stage presence, and catchy tunes. They treated the crowd to unreleased songs and tracks from their latest album, Shy At First. The finale of their set was the banger “Friend of A Friend,” which is currently stuck in my head while I am writing this review.
I caught up with the band before the event, who shared the inspiration behind their album, which is about “lots of relationships platonic and otherwise.” They added that the band’s guitarist/vocalist Nolan Jakupovski came up with the name Shy At First for the demo and it reflected the theme of the album.
The next course was Owen Ashworth who goes by ‘Advance Base’ for his most recent projects. Ashworth previously went by ‘Casiotone For The Painfully Alone.’ Ashworth’s set was a one-man show. He played an electric piano with drum machines and samples to performed songs from his latest album, Horrible Occurrences, inspired by fictional tragedies.
Ashworth expressed, “I really love performing solo and I think it is the best way to present these new songs.”
I enjoyed the intimacy of his set, especially because these songs are ominous and haunting. The album reminds me of a horror film soundtrack which is demonstrated by Ashworth’s unique raspy timbre.
Niemi and Ashworth are touring across Canada together, with Toronto being one of the first stops. On touring with Niemi, Ashworth says, “We just both thought we were just a really good match and our sets worked together really well. It just worked out really nicely with Eliza’s new album that it would make sense to tour Canada together. I am really delighted because Toronto is one of my favourite cities to play, and I always enjoyed my shows there. But I’ve never been any further East in Canada than Montreal.” Ashworth adds that most of his touring is in the US and he is excited to have Eliza as his tour guide.
Finally, Eliza’s set was a sweet dessert with her smooth angelic vocals and cello giving her performance a relaxed feel. When Niemi wasn’t on the cello she played bass. A highlight was when she brought out Toronto artist Dorothea Paas to sing back up vocals on the song “Dusty.” I captured an audio clip of that moment which is linked below. She also had the crowd grooving along to “Wild Cat.’
I was also delighted when Niemi performed my favourite transition on the album, “I Tried,” followed by “Melodies Like Mark.” They flow into each other seamlessly.
I loved the attention to detail in Niemi’s set as she balanced the slower ballads such as, “Do U FM” and “The Linda Song.” More mid-tempo tracks including “DM BF” and “Pocky” added to the relaxed mood of the night.
I also appreciated how the crowd was quieter during intimate moments, while also jamming along to the upbeat tracks.
This show was a 10/10 as each set was unique.
Check out my full review of Eliza Niemi’s album, Progress Bakery, here.
Live Recording: “Dusty”