Toronto Show - Sept. 10, 2007

[armyofstars]

This was my first Damien concert and it was amazing! He played for around 2 and a half hours with at least 3 "jams" within. Just absolutely awesome!

One of my favourite parts was near the end of the Coconut Skins(?) jam when Vyvienne went to hit this giant symbol thing but she was kind of scared and hesitated. Then she look at Shane and Damo and they were smiling and urging her on so then she finally banged it to finish the jam. It was really cute. I hope someone puts it on YouTube.

I don't remember the whole setlist or much of the order but here it goes anyways.

-Rootless Tree (Piano)
-Amie
-Cannonball
-9 Crimes
-Childish (Yay!)
-Vyvienne did a song, didn't catch the name though
-Grey Room
-Coconut Skins
-Woman Like A Man
-The Blower's Daughter (unplugged)
-----------------------
-Accidental Babies
-Volcano
-The Professor
-Cheers Darlin' (he smoked indoors, can he do that in Canada? )

[pixie77]

The show was indeed amazing! Still processing, but it was one of my favourites. I always love his storytelling and there was quite a bit of it tonight.

I waited around at the stage door for about an hour and a half and he finally came out. Of course, I ended up clamming up and just listening to him talk to other people. Did manage to shake his hand and thank him though. I'm not usually the type to try and meet people, but when he mentioned that they weren't going to be around for awhile, I decided that I should do it now to make this night live a bit longer in my memory.

Oh, and he was wearing the patchwork shirt!

[sjps220]

Accidental Babies was soooo beautiful, and yet people laughed when he actually said accidental babies.

[Bohemian_Babe]

I agree...this was one of the best concerts I've ever been to (tied with my first Damien concert at Danforth Music Hall). It was really interesting to see Damien at a bigger venue since the first one I went to, at Danforth, was so small and hot (Damien even made reference to that concert and the extremes between the temperature of the two venues). It was also interesting to see Damien with his band, as it was just him at the Danforth Music Hall. I had such an amazing time tonight, especially with my awesome third row seats. The only problem with seeing a Damien concert is that it really ruins all other concerts for me...how can anyone possible live up to his example?!

[pixie77]

For some reason people always laugh when he sings Accidental Babies. I've never understood why.

[srahman24]

Originally Posted by armyofstars

-Cheers Darlin' (he smoked indoors, can he do that in Canada? )

No! But he does it anyways, and it's always brilliant.

The show was amazing! A friend of mine managed to record the audio for most of it, so hopefully that turned out well!

The song Vyvienne did was a Flaming Lips cover - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and it was pretty great. Definitely one of the highlights of the night.

Getting to hear Childish was awesome. He always throws in something special for his Canadian gigs

He was in a great mood the entire night... he told us the Mr. Penis story before The Professor, and a great story comparing a relationship he had to a can of peas...?

It was before I Remember and he was talking about being really hungry and wanting beans and toast, going to a store to get them, buying a can, and then coming home, dumping it into a pot and realizing that it was actually a can of peas... "I had a relationship like that once... I started out thinking she was beans but..."

And for the looped ending to the song, Vyv was on the piano, so that was a nice treat too. The entire band was on fire tonight. Brendan and Joel were both on drums at one point (well, Joel on his red box) and Damien was just jamming on the guitar with them and it may have been my favorite moment of the night!

We got a lot of extended outro's and intro's, and his version of 9 crimes was fierce. And having seen him end a show with Cheers Darlin' 4 times now, I have to say that this was by far my favorite! (I have the audio, so I'll get it up here tomorrow)

There was also a moment where he asked the entire audience to get naked (2nd time this has happened in Toronto!)...

We hung around to see him afterwards too - he came out in the lovely and very faded patchwork shirt that we all love so dearly. Reiterated his plans to take some time off, Adelaide asked him about the charity album he'd been working on and he said he'd like to get back to that during his time off. And she gave him chocolate (I don't remember when it was, but during the show he was talking about how he loved chocolate)

If my pictures came out at all, I'll get them up here...

[melodie]

It seriously was amazing. I wrote down the setlist, because I'm a geek like that:

Rootless Tree
Amie - jam - Eskimo
Cannonball
I Remember - Bang Bang
9 Crimes
Childish (!!!!!!!!)
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Viv's song)
The Blower's Daughter (unplugged)
Me, My Yoke and I
Grey Room
Coconut Skins
Woman Like a Man

--

Accidental Babies
Volcano
The Professor & La Fille Danse
Cheers Darlin' (usual story)

mmyeah, i was quite pleased. his song introductions were hilarious as always, i hope someone recorded them!

[srahman24]

Some of the stories, as best as I can remember them:

He said that Childish was about singer/songwriters and how they spend a lot of time up their own arse.

And Grey Room was also about singer/songwriters and the process of writing a song.

Then before Coconut Skins, it went something like this:
Here he mentioned that we were in a lovely venue... "Well done." And then he brought up the Danforth Music Hall show from last summer and said "modern things are great, but there's something special about getting hot and sweaty" (this theatre was nicely air conditioned, whereas the Danforth Music Hall is much older and the AC was broken last time he was around, so we were all sweating bullets by the end)... "So I'm going to f*ck it up a little... everyone get naked and take your clothes off!" haha... and then he went to say that the next song was a song about society, and how everyone always tells you "no", and when you're in school, you're told "no, don't do this" and then you're told that you need a degree to be successful, and you need a partner to be happy "I had a partner... but... f*ck it". "So, f*ck them all"

And he told us about his friend, "Mr. Penis". (Best story of the night... also, the one I remember the least well, go figure.) But he mentioned his friend, and said that he had a stroke one day, so he went to the doctor, but the doctor just sent him away. But he kept having these episodes and "it got so bad he started vomiting"... "and he was always right there infront of me and he didn't know what to do"... and he mentioned the trouble with having a million sperm/day floating around in you and then he said something like "oh you women have no idea how hard it is for a man!", which led into... The Professor & La Fille Danse.

2 pictures for now:

[mariaoran]

Originally Posted by srahman24

The show was amazing! A friend of mine managed to record the audio for most of it, so hopefully that turned out well!

He was in a great mood the entire night... he told us the Mr. Penis story before The Professor, and a great story comparing a relationship he had to a can of peas...?

It was before I Remember and he was talking about being really hungry and wanting beans and toast, going to a store to get them, buying a can, and then coming home, dumping it into a pot and realizing that it was actually a can of peas... "I had a relationship like that once... I started out thinking she was beans but..."

And for the looped ending to the song, Vyv was on the piano, so that was a nice treat too. The entire band was on fire tonight. Brendan and Joel were both on drums at one point (well, Joel on his red box) and Damien was just jamming on the guitar with them and it may have been my favorite moment of the night!

We got a lot of extended outro's and intro's, and his version of 9 crimes was fierce. And having seen him end a show with Cheers Darlin' 4 times now, I have to say that this was by far my favorite! (I have the audio, so I'll get it up here tomorrow)

There was also a moment where he asked the entire audience to get naked (2nd time this has happened in Toronto!)...

We hung around to see him afterwards too - he came out in the lovely and very faded patchwork shirt that we all love so dearly. Reiterated his plans to take some time off, Adelaide asked him about the charity album he'd been working on and he said he'd like to get back to that during his time off. And she gave him chocolate (I don't remember when it was, but during the show he was talking about how he loved chocolate)

If my pictures came out at all, I'll get them up here...

Originally Posted by srahman24

Some of the stories, as best as I can remember them:

He said that Childish was about singer/songwriters and how they spend a lot of time up their own arse.

And Grey Room was also about singer/songwriters and the process of writing a song.

Then before Coconut Skins, it went something like this:
Here he mentioned that we were in a lovely venue... "Well done." And then he brought up the Danforth Music Hall show from last summer and said "modern things are great, but there's something special about getting hot and sweaty" (this theatre was nicely air conditioned, whereas the Danforth Music Hall is much older and the AC was broken last time he was around, so we were all sweating bullets by the end)... "So I'm going to f*ck it up a little... everyone get naked and take your clothes off!" haha... and then he went to say that the next song was a song about society, and how everyone always tells you "no", and when you're in school, you're told "no, don't do this" and then you're told that you need a degree to be successful, and you need a partner to be happy "I had a partner... but... f*ck it". "So, f*ck them all"

And he told us about his friend, "Mr. Penis". (Best story of the night... also, the one I remember the least well, go figure.) But he mentioned his friend, and said that he had a stroke one day, so he went to the doctor, but the doctor just sent him away. But he kept having these episodes and "it got so bad he started vomiting"... "and he was always right there infront of me and he didn't know what to do"... and he mentioned the trouble with having a million sperm/day floating around in you and then he said something like "oh you women have no idea how hard it is for a man!", which led into... The Professor & La Fille Danse.

thanks for all the stories!!!! yayyyy i'm always interested in knowing these!! ... i'd never heard the Peas story and the getting naked thing must have been very hilarious!! Thanks!

you're pictures look great too ... cant't wait for the rest!! and the recording of Cheers Darlin!!

Originally Posted by Bohemian_Babe

The only problem with seeing a Damien concert is that it really ruins all other concerts for me...how can anyone possible live up to his example?!

I feel the exact same wayy!!! ... i will never go to another concert without comparing it to Damo's !! hehe


so glad you all had a great time!!

[mariaoran]

Originally Posted by melodie

It seriously was amazing. I wrote down the setlist, because I'm a geek like that:
Rootless Tree
Amie - jam - Eskimo
Cannonball
I Remember - Bang Bang
9 Crimes
Childish (!!!!!!!!)
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Viv's song)
The Blower's Daughter (unplugged)
Me, My Yoke and I
Grey Room
Coconut Skins
Woman Like a Man
--
Accidental Babies
Volcano
The Professor & La Fille Danse
Cheers Darlin' (usual story)

mmyeah, i was quite pleased. his song introductions were hilarious as always, i hope someone recorded them!

hehe you're not a geek you're just amazing!!
thanks! ...mmmm i would've been Veeeery worried if by the time he left the stage before the encore he hadn't sung The professor and Volcano ... couldn't have lived without those two!

[Ca11um]

Thats a tremendous setlist! It's a strange feeling loving damo so much... because he only has two albums of songs to choose from. If you count the albums, and each album has 10 songs on, he has 20 album tracks to choose from. He regularly plays for around 2 hours or more, which is more than rock bands that have been around for ages and have loads of album tracks to choose from do. My fav bands are very generic with their setlists and always seem to play for 1 hour 30 mins; there's something so special about damo. I love the way he mixes up the setlist and right now Damo's live set is the purest, most motional and honest reflection of music in my opinion. I find myself praying he doesn't change his outlook on life for the next album... or that he doesn't change his style to a more uplifting thing =P I'm hoping for another album like 9 to be honest, where the main concepts are love, loss, pain etc. Ahh i digress too much, i could go on for ages about this whole atmosphere damien creates - but im made up you all had a great time and if there's any audio that comes to light from this gig i would be greatly interested

Sorry for the no paragraphs situation too :P

~ ca11

[Adelaide]

he was in a very lighthearted mood for the most part, telling stories, wanting to "**** up" on purpose, asking people what he should play (which he followed with a "stop" or a "shut up" haha) ... it was good times.

the hall's sound quality was supreme, really nice venue... but i found security guards and crew members to be rather rude to audience members than necessary. bitches.

joel shearer was looking fiiiine as usual.


and that was by far the most beautiful version of 9 Crimes I've ever heard, and believe me I've heard a lot of'em.

also: this was the third best show i've ever been to (first Damo in Montreal, second Damo at Danforth Music Hall-- which he himself remembers to be a very memorable show yay), in terms of show overall, but in terms of his singing, I found this one really good. His singing was better than I remembered, range and clarity and all.......... but then again that's just me, and I know nothing about singing, lol.

[Me2you]

Best Damo's concert i've ever been to. Got front row seat, nobody checked my bag for camera or recorder like in Vancouver but too bad i didn't bring one ( he was so close). Everbody else already said, it's just simply AMAZING!!!

[srahman24]

Originally Posted by Adelaide

this was the third best show i've ever been to (first Damo in Montreal, second Damo at Danforth Music Hall-- which he himself remembers to be a very memorable show yay), in terms of show overall, but in terms of his singing, I found this one really good. His singing was better than I remembered, range and clarity and all.......... but then again that's just me, and I know nothing about singing, lol.

Yeah, I completely agree with you there. I'd put this one above the last Toronto show, but DMH and Montreal in May will be hard to beat. I was so glad he remembered the DMH show! Of all the hundreds of gigs he's played, it's nice to know he's got an especially fond memory of Toronto, specifically.

[borneoman]

We want the patchwork shirt pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!

[srahman24]

Ah, we weren't allowed to take any! The (unnecessarily mean and arrogant) security guard came out before Damien did with a stern warning that if he saw any picture taking, or autograph seeking, he'd whisk Damien away and we'd have only ourselves to blame.

So we were all on our best behavior...

[Lindsay]

(.....glad my post last night for some reason didn't get posted, I think it was nearly nonsensical )

Sounds like it was incredible, glad you all had a great time!! And thanks for such sharing so quickly....muuuch appreciated!!
Thanks for the stories, setlist, pictures, everything !!

Originally Posted by armyofstars

This was my first Damien concert and it was amazing!

Woohoo.....first concert, glad you thought it was so great!

Originally Posted by pixie77

I waited around at the stage door for about an hour and a half and he finally came out. Of course, I ended up clamming up and just listening to him talk to other people. Did manage to shake his hand and thank him though. I'm not usually the type to try and meet people, but when he mentioned that they weren't going to be around for awhile, I decided that I should do it now to make this night live a bit longer in my memory.

Good for you! You're much braver than myself

Originally Posted by sjps220

Accidental Babies was soooo beautiful, and yet people laughed when he actually said accidental babies.

eek....people are still laughing? Hmm, maybe it's a Toronto thing , I think I remember there being laughter at a previous show as well

Originally Posted by srahman24

Of all the hundreds of gigs he's played, it's nice to know he's got an especially fond memory of Toronto, specifically.

Haha, I was kind of thinking what did Toronto ever do to him.....how could he be so cruel and assault the senses with his patchwork shirt ! But really, great to hear he likes Toronto so much....how could he not though!

[cille]

Was it Massey Hall? (sorry if I already asked this, but I forget)

[Adelaide]

Originally Posted by cille

Was it Massey Hall? (sorry if I already asked this, but I forget)

This one was at "Sony Performance Centre", waayyy better known as the Hummingbird Centre. it changed its name very very recently.

I like the Hummingbird wayy better..

[cille]

Originally Posted by Adelaide

This one was at "Sony Performance Centre", waayyy better known as the Hummingbird Centre. it changed its name very very recently.

I like the Hummingbird wayy better..

YIKES talk about selling your soul!

[armyofstars]

I didn't even know it changed names until I looked for directions yesterday. I like Hummingbird Centre better too. But it's like the Skydome now known as the Rogers Centre.

The security people were so tight with pictures in my section meanwhile on the other side of the hall, cameras were always flashing. I wish I could have taken pics but I got "warned". Heh.

[srahman24]

Originally Posted by armyofstars

The security people were so tight with pictures in my section meanwhile on the other side of the hall, cameras were always flashing. I wish I could have taken pics but I got "warned". Heh.

Yeah, I saw them warning people in the beginning of the show - but I took all my pictures without flash, so they didn't bother me. I think they were pretty strict with people taking video clips, though. We had our cameras in our laps... so we've got audio of 90% of the gig, but no video...

[armyofstars]

I didn't take it with flash either but my phone, the screen was I guess glowing a lot when I was trying to focus the camera so I guess he saw. But someone was blatantly filming like 3 feet infront of him and he didn't do anything. Hopefully that guy uploads soon, I want to re-live Childish. It was funny when he forgot the lyrics and said "I don't relate to the song anymore."

[srahman24]

Originally Posted by armyofstars

I want to re-live Childish. It was funny when he forgot the lyrics and said "I don't relate to the song anymore."

Can't believe I forgot to mention that! I hope someone's got a recording of that

[Lindsay]

I still can't believe he played Childish and not Insane .....so close....and yet...so far

Originally Posted by armyofstars

But someone was blatantly filming like 3 feet infront of him and he didn't do anything. Hopefully that guy uploads soon, I want to re-live Childish. It was funny when he forgot the lyrics and said "I don't relate to the song anymore."

Woohoo! That's good news

[mickey13086]

is there any chance of a recording of the show to surface? I would love to hear that 9 crimes from this show as I was supposed to go and couldn't and now I'm regretting it because it sounds like an amazing show.

[Ca11um]

Originally Posted by mickey13086

is there any chance of a recording of the show to surface? I would love to hear that 9 crimes from this show as I was supposed to go and couldn't and now I'm regretting it because it sounds like an amazing show.

ill let you know if i hear anything! I hope one turns up - nothing beats listening to a show in bed at about 3am when you're drunk and drifting off; its a great feeling. maybe that's just me but i'll let you know either way :P ...

[melodie]

last night's version of rootless tree was also absolutely GORGEOUS. his voice and intonation were just..... phwoar.

[Ca11um]

i want a recent show recording! they all sound so brilliant! =(

[Hodder]

to those of you wondering about copies of the show - i've got most of it on tape. Sadly, i had to cut his banter in favour of the music, and i A) Missed Rootless Tree b/c of technical error, B) lost part of Cannonball(the long outro before Bang Bang, is actually what i lost) due to memory capacity on my camera, and i may or may not have gotten the ending of The Professor. I've yet to get to it to get it into mp3 format. You all shall have it soon enough.