It was with joy and a bit of relief that I saw Owen Pallett who is Toronto, Canada’s Final Fantasy. About two years ago, a Canadian friend told me about the wonder of Owen and I had to special order Has a Good Home from a Canadian distributor as I was unable to find it anywhere in the states. I was, of course, amazed by the very essence of it. Owen’s violin playing combined with his insightful and sensitive lyrics transformed me into a true Final Fantasy believer that only deepened farther with the release of last year’s unfortunately named but just as glorious He Poos Clouds.
Download: Final Fantasy - "The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead"
Unfortunately, when Final Fantasy came before I had relatives up and I remember that grim July 1st night rather well as it was the longest night on Earth while I dreamt of what songs Owen was coming up with to mesmerize the audience and break Chicago’s hearts. I was filled with anguish about what I was missing. Thankfully, Owen Pallett came back to visit in a very special intimate setting. Switching between violin and piano, he played some of my favorite songs from both of my favorite albums and his voice was just a full of tenorous delicacy as I’d imagined. Owen was really well received as well. Playing to a sold out crowd of adorers, he looped his vocals and violin parts in a way to create a one man orchestra with original and arty projections coming from Stephanie Comulang. (Projections varied between everything from very personal letters written to his father to silhouettes filled with faces, horses, and hearts around a birthday cake.) His set up was similar to when I’d seen Andrew Bird play at Schubas in years past. Though it may be interesting to see Owen play with a full band as accompaniment, there’s something entirely innocent and pure about the way he is now. In addition to his stellar setlist that included his own songs, as a special treat Owen played a cover of Joanna Newsom’s “Peach Plum Pear” which I found a great deal more enchanting that the original.
Basia Bulat from London, Ontario opened up prior to Final Fantasy and played country-esque songs that included guitar, ukelele, autoharp, drums, and violin. With three beautiful young woman situated up front and at times harmonizing in key spots, they showed a great deal of promise and talent. Country music has always beenea challenging music genre for me to love but I think if you happen to like it, I’d recommend seeing Basia Bulat the next time they come around to Chicago.
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