Dan Black’s show at Wrongbar in Toronto on Saturday, February 20, 2010 showed a lot of promise for this UK musical mad scientist whose debut CD UN I have been listening to for months now.
Black is an engaging performer who unfortunately didn’t get the response that he deserved from a club crowd looking for a regular Saturday night out. The complexity of Dan Black’s music commands attention, and only a select few of the crowd was willing to give it. Black made the most of a very small stage – he deserves a huge stage full of props that would expand his story-telling and allow him to let loose – accompanied by two musicians (guitarist/percussion, and bass) instantly revving up the club with “Pump My Pumps”, and continuing on with great songs like “Alone”, “Cigarette Pack”, “Yours”, and of course “Symphonies”, which unfortunately seemed lost on the crowd. He even worked in some of his mashup work from mixtape Weird Science, such as the rollicking “Pass That Head Noize”.
There wasn’t much of a crowd when he began shortly after 11:30 but by the time he finished at about 12:20 the club was packed. I was definitely left wanting more – he disappeared into the crowd to sign autographs but I couldn’t locate him – but figure better showcases were to be had in New York City, Los Angeles, and Montreal.
Toronto is definitely losing its edge in terms of what audiences seem to want and don’t want in a club setting, and it’s no surprise based on concerts like this that someone like Dan Black might return as an opening act or on a multi-artist show. So once again I feel very fortunate in seeing this show and the remarkable talent on display, however restrained it might be given the venue and audience.
I snapped a few pix but unfortunately my Blackberry doesn’t give very high quality shots. I doctored one pic up to interesting if unintended effect using Adobe Photoshop. At least it’s proof I was there 
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