The Tom Fun Orchestra w/ The Strumbellas @ Electric Owl -- 11/23/12

The first time I ever saw The Tom Fun Orcheastra live was back in '09; it was their first Vancouver show, at a crappy pub with mediocre opening bands, and they didn't even go on stage until 1am, thanks to a lengthy turnaround due to the venue not letting the eight piece band set up beforehand. In short, it was a bit of a gong show.
But as soon as they played, they turned the whole night around. They took what could have been a terrible night, and with the power of their live show, wowed everyone in the room.
I've seen them every time they've been back since (which is not often enough), so I wasn't going to miss them at the Electric Owl. Especially since they were touring with a band that I had been meaning to see for a while, so that worked out well.

That opening band was Lindsey, Ontario's The Strumbellas. The six members took the stage and from the opening song, I was struck by their stellar harmonies and upbeat, alt-country "folk-popgrass" sound. The insanely catchy "Lakes" was a great example of said harmonies, and their whole set was bubbling over with energy. Other highlights included "I Just Had A Baby" with the lyrics "I have cried to bigger men than you, I have lied to better friends than you." and yet another song to get stuck in your head long after the show, "Sheriff".
Each member had a great enthusiasm and stage presence, with a lot of funny banter -- most of which was off the cuff ribbing of other band members; especially from lead singer Simon Ward. You could tell they were all having an absolute blast on stage, and that excitement was definitely infectious. I have no doubt that I'll make sure to see them next time they're through town.

It wasn't long after that Cape Breton's The Tom Fun Orchestra hit the stage, now down to seven members with instruments ranging from accordion and banjo and horns, for a rich and lush eclectic mish-mash folk, roots, blues, rock and punk. The sound is driven by the distinct and unique rough gravel of Ian Macdougall's voice, which contrasts beautifully with the lovely voice of Breagh Potter; their different styles could easily clash, but they blend together so perfectly.
Most of the set focused on the new album, Earthworm Heart, starting off with the lead track, "Merry Christmas, Jim" -- not a very festive song, despite the name. Some highlights includes the cacophonous "Watchmaker" from their previous album, You Will Land With A Thud, and "Lungs", which rises to a grand ending.  They played right up until the curfew, not bothering with the faux-encore, ending the night by first inviting members of The Strumbellas back on stage for a big group party for the explosive "Animal Mask", and then inviting everyone on stage for their last song of the night, "Sympathetic Wolf" culminating in a giant sing along, the stage packed with musicians, friends and fans.

As amazing an energy as The Strumbellas has, Tom Fun managed to not only match it, but top it as well. The term "force of nature" may be a cliché when describing music and bands, but it definitely applies to The Tom Fun Orchestra, and with the strength of both bands, this may be a late contender for one of the best shows of the year.

The Tom Fun Orchestra @ David Lam Park -- 07/04/11

As the Vancouver International Jazz Fest wrapped up for another year, they put on a day of free shows at David Lam Park, and closing out the festival was one of my favourite live bands, The Tom Fun Orchestra. I've seen them twice before, in small clubs, and while both were amazing shows it was really cool to see them on a big outdoor stage on a beautiful evening.

They took the stage seven members large with no two members playing the same instrument (well, if you count acoustic & electric guitars as separate) and launched into a new song, "Miles Davis". It was a perfect song to start the set, with a great energy, and they even slipped in a few covers; a verse from "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, and some of Bonnie Tyler's "It's a Heart Ache". From there the set was a a mix of old songs, from 08's You Will Land With A Thud, and new ones. They didn't mention when/if a new album was due, but if the live songs are any indication, it will be pretty amazing.
The new songs sounded very "Tom Fun", their eclectic mish-mash folk, roots, blues, rock and punk, which is complimented perfectly by Ian MacDougall's gravely, raspy vocals. I didn't catch the name of most of the new ones, but my favourite started off calm and exploded into the usual Tom Fun cacophony of noise.

They brought the set to an end with "You Will Land With A Thud", somehow topping the energy that they had all night, which was no easy feat. You could tell throughout the set that they were having loads of fun, with MacDougall talking and joking between songs, from effectively stalling while they fixed a couple technical difficulties, to praising the crowd and city skyline, to inviting a couple people in cardboard robot heads from the crowd on stage to dance.

And while there were a couple small technical difficulties through the set, as mentioned, they were mostly nothing too distracting, except for one; the female vocals (not Carmen Townsend, but I didn't catch her name) were a little too low, so sometimes you couldn't hear her. But that aside, it was an incredibly fun set, and I already can't wait to see them again, and especially for the theoretical new album.

Carmen Townsend @ Railway Club -- 01/11/11

Two years ago I saw The Tom Fun Orchestra live, and in the middle of the set, they had one of their members perform a few of her solo songs. I liked the songs, but never really heard anything from her since. Skip to now and Carmen Townsend has a new album, Waitin' and Seein', due out on the 25th of this month, and a CD release show at the Railway Club to go along with it.

It was an early, free show with Townsend playing a 45 minute set, with a couple members of the Tom Fun Orchestra as her backing band. I don't know if "power folk" is a genre, but it would be a pretty apt description of her sound. She completely rocked out for most of the set, with the blues driven songs giving a rich sound that seemed larger than the simple three piece on stage. Despite her powerful voice in the songs, Townsend started off not saying much between them, but seemed to get a bit more talkative, not overly so, as the set progressed -- though she admitted being a bit out of sorts due to both just having arrived back from Australia and hearing word she'll be opening for Heart across Canada. But despite that, she had a great energy while playing, and great chemistry with her band (which is not surprising).
Mid way through the set she switched to an acoustic guitar for a few mellower songs, showing off a good range, before driving right back into high gear for an incredibly explosive climax.

I don't know what it is about Nova Scotia, pumping out so many great musicians, but if they keep producing people like The Tom Fun Orchestra and Carmen Townsend, I will keep lining up to hear them.

The Tom Fun Orchestra w/ Treelines & Redbird @ The Media Club -- 08/11/10

A year and a half ago, I saw The Tom Fun Orchestra live at Pub 340, a dive pub with mediocre sound, a terrible setup and two crap opening bands. It was a testament to how good the band is live that they still put on a fantastic show, one I have been itching to see live again. When they were added at the last minute to the bill of the Treelines show at the Media Club, I was more than intrigued, since Treelines was a band I had heard nothing but praise for, so I was interested in seeing them live. Throw in local acts Redbird and Garrett Kato, all for only $8, and how can you go wrong?

Sadly I missed Garrett Kato, arriving just in time for Redbird to hit the stage, the new musical project from Vancouver's Savannah Leigh. They had a bit of an alt-country sound to them, but not crossing that line into too twangy. Almost similar to Neko Case or Jenny Lewis' solo work, but not quite as strong a voice -- which isn't a slight to Savannah, as she does have a very nice voice, but those two are hard to match. For the last song, the band was joined by Debra Jean Creelman (formerly of Mother Mother, currently in the Peak Performance Project) for a cover of a Bob Dylan & The Band song (which one, I am blanking on), and I'm always happy to hear cover songs live. Her songs were quite catchy, and I would very much like to see the band again, especially on a show where the following bands didn't completely overshadow everything that came before them.

Next up, in prompt fashion, was Kelowna's Treelines. After all the good things I had heard I was on my toes a little, thinking they might not live up to the hype... but they more than proved to be worthy of the buzz. They had a fantastic energy and stage presence to them, absolutely rocking out for most of their songs. The lead singer (Matt, with his "giant eyebrow") especially, who had kind of an understated charisma to him, and was a great storyteller -- regaling us with the story of their drive down from Kelowna that day, which included a guy in a van, with a machete and a 4L jug of milk.
They started big with "Ghost Towns" and didn't look back, playing mostly from their new EP, but throwing in a few songs from their first disk, too.
The set came to a close with "Lions" and "Cowboys", both songs that close out their two albums. Again, I can not wait to see them live again, and that right there would have been a perfect night of music... but there was more!

Finally was The Tom Fun Orchestra. Seeing as they were kind of added to the bill at the last minute, were going on at 12, and being a weeknight, people were slowly trickling out, leaving the place about half full by the time they started. But they thanked everyone for staying out late and launched into a set that those there will not soon forget. Taking the stage eight members strong, no two members with the same instrument -- drums, accordion, banjo, acoustic & electric guitars, violin, trumpet & bass -- creating their amazing and incredibly unique sound, with the lead singer (who I have seen go by pseudonyms Johnny Turbo, Animal Houston and Bob Dilemma) and his Tom Waits-ian rasp, complimented perfectly by Carmen Townsend's smooth vocals.
They kicked off the set with a brand new song, from their forthcoming album (I think he said next year) and playing a good mix of new and older, from their first album, You Will Land With A Thud. As incredible the energy was for Treelines, TFO not only matched it, but beat it, almost making you forget any other band had played that night, no matter how good they were. "Highway Siren Song" and "Watchmaker" were two songs that got everyone rocking, and "Last of the Curious Thieves" brought the house down. Among the new songs was the one they recently released on the interwebs, "Miles Davis", which was absolutely stunning live. They didn't bother with the clichéd encore (yay!) and brought the set to a close with another new one, after a good hour and a half of playing. By the end, seeing as it was 1:30, there were maybe two dozen people remaining, but those left were in awe.
I managed to obtain a setlist, and while this seems about accurate for the most part, the ending was changed up a little.

This year, I have had the good fortune of seeing a whole bunch of shows where every single band playing is a band I would pay to see on their own. I can say, without a doubt, that this can be added to the ranks of those shows, and I can't wait to see any of the above three again.