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I can’t remember why I was in Toronto on March 24th, 2012. It just seems odd that I would make the drive solely to see Daniel Lanois play at the Black Box, but I guess I did. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a pretty big fan of Daniel Lanois – as both a musician and a producer – but he comes to Ottawa regularly enough that I don’t generally feel the need to drive almost a thousand kilometres (return) to see him play.
But whatever brought me to Toronto that day I’m sure glad it did: this was one of the greatest concerts I’ve ever seen.
The Black Box is (was?) a weird, seemingly pop-up venue in Toronto’s west end (I think – I’ve been there maybe twice?). It is indeed painted black on the inside and it is certainly box-shaped, with a square balcony running around all four sides. In lieu of bars the place had a few folding tables set up here and there laden with 60oz bottles and red plastic cups, kind of like a low-budget stag-and-doe party or something.
But the important thing was that Daniel Lanois was set up in the middle of the floor, along with Jim Wilson on bass* and my favourite drummer ever, Brian Blade. There was no stage or anything, just the three musicians in the middle of the floor set up in a tight circle facing each another. I was just a dozen feet away when the band started to play. I looked to my left and to my right and wondered, “is this really the deal? Are we really supposed to just crowd in and watch the band from a few feet away?”
Apparently that was indeed the deal. I hugged my beer tight and eased in close, joining about fifty others in forming our own tight circle around the three musicians, from where we would watch them bounce sonic joy and musical glory off of one another for the next ninety minutes or so. It didn’t take long for everyone in the room to realize that something special was going on. The air quickly thickened with muse. It was unmissable; we all felt it. The band and the audience were free to feed off of each other in a symbiotic soul-swelling embarrassment of riches, and did we ever! Lanois was playing his old Les Paul Gold Top, a two hundred thousand dollar guitar that in his hands sounded like a million bucks. What a tone, what a player, what a band.
What an experience.
It was a treat to be so close to such an incredible rhythm section in Jim and Brian. They were psychically linked (to each other and to Dan as well) and the two of them created a sonically perfect canvas for their boss to lather his art upon. Lanois is always, always great – I know that and I suspect you do too – but there was really something special happening inside the Black Box that night. My goodness, it was such a good show…the quality of the music was downright breathtaking.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. The concert was recorded by the CBC and I’ve actually seen it on television, so you can probably find it somehow. The video includes a nifty, quirky Go-Pro camera angle that is taken from a toy train that circled Brian Blade’s drum kit the whole night. If I remember correctly the video feed from the train-cam was playing live in the room throughout the show but I was so focussed on the concert that I don’t think I gave the screen anything more than a fleeting glance.
Heck, I was so downright enthralled that I didn’t even go to the makeshift bar for a second drink until the music ended. And that’s saying something.
*After the show I talked to Jim Wilson and was surprised to learn that he’d been playing with Lanois for almost fifteen years. I was even more surprised this afternoon when wikipedia informed me that he’d been playing guitar in Henry Rollins’ band pretty much that whole time as well.
Todd Man Out 