Mazzy Star makes magic in Toronto!
by PonytaGT on 2013-11-20The Danforth Music Hall - TorontoWhen we arrived at the venue, there were several security guards outside shouting loudly that if anyone was caught using a cellphone during the concert, that they would be thrown out. Period. Pretty brutal as a welcome but, honestly, as one of the last cellphone-free human beings on the planet, I had to applaud the effort... and it worked! People were forced to be present in the moment and listen. Imagine that... listening at a music concert. But I digress... The band walked onstage calmly and the lights did not go on. Because we arrived late, we thought it might be just the opening act. A few notes in, and THAT VOICE resonated loud and clear and we were instantly filled with bliss... Ahhhhhhh... MAZZY STAR!!! The slide guitar, the pedal steel, the tasteful crunchy guitar solos and, of course, that dreamy floaty feeling... it was all there, and all we could see were candles and outlines of the musicians' bodies, so listen we did. Although the band did not play my favourite song - Be My Angel - I still left happy and even more bewitched than before. What a magical evening! There was no in-between song banter. Instead, you could hear the sound of cans of beer being ripped opened at the bar which made people laugh. We got so used to the silence that it was surprising when Hope Sandoval actually said four words in a row at the end. If you saw them live in the early 90s (as I did) and you are hesitating about going, know that this concert was STELLAR compared to their early shoe-gazing days. Just bleed the money and GO!