Birds of Wales Live at NXNE 2007
The Canadian Indie Band Shows Why North America Is Just the Start
One of the stand-out acts at NXNE 2007, Toronto indie band Birds of Wales plays a stunning live set and show why it's just a matter of time before the world joins in.
- Genre: indie / folk rock / pop
- Morgan Ross (vocals / guitar), Mike Caputo (guitar), Morgan Smith (bass), Jesse Smith (drums)
- Sounds like: Travis, Damien Rice, Del Amitri
- Event: NXNE 2007
- Venue: The Drake Hotel, Toronto, Canada
- Date: Friday June 08 2007
- Birds Of Wales
Hometown Heroes
Taking to the stage at the unearthly hour of 1:00 am, it's testament to Birds Of Wales' popularity with the live music-goers of Toronto that a half-empty venue was suddenly full to near capacity. When the band launched into their set, it wasn't difficult to see why it'll probably be a cold day in Hell before the people of Canada's music capital have reason to end their love affair with this affable quartet.
The easy camaraderie between the members of Birds of Wales transferred from the stage to the crowd, so much so that impromptu dances between strangers were par for the course. Listening to their music, it's not hard to see why the band has such respect and bonhomie in their hometown – melodic slices of folk pop, tinged with the type of radio-friendly songs that have seen the likes of Travis, Keane and Damien Rice enjoy such stellar success, are played with such joy that it's impossible not to be swept along.
Band On The Rise
Front man Morgan Ross has that kind of voice that melts into your subconscious – you recognise it, yet you just can't pin it down, but it's perfect for the music that Birds of Wales plays. Live favourite Few More Days is almost country in structure, yet tonight it was played with a heavier feel (as, indeed, many of the band's older songs are) and it's a change that improves on an already impressive collection of tunes.
Ably completed by the happy-go-lucky Mike Caputo on guitar, with rhythm suitably laid down by the dual force of Morgan Smith on bass and new drummer Jesse Smith (making only his second live appearance with the band), Birds of Wales is a band on the rise and enjoying that knowledge, as was shown by the carefree manner in which they tried new arrangements of some of their best-known songs.
Time To Break Out
Current single Cinderella (Has Nothing On You) is quite possibly the song that will launch Birds of Wales to the next level, and tonight the band was happy to throw in some heavier (yet still melodic) guitar chords halfway through the song, and it worked. A tune that Scottish band Del Amitri would be proud of, it's a beautiful love letter to the titular girl, and deserves to be heard on commercial radio stations nationwide.
The Damien Rice-like My Lady; In July is another stand-out track, and a perfect example of the writing skills that Ross possesses – a lilting lullaby that affirms that deep down, and perhaps not even that far below the surface, Ross is an old-fashioned romantic at heart and isn't afraid to show that in his music.
Finishing with the double-header of live favourites Fine Art of Ballet and Fall of the 49 was a masterstroke in how to close a performance to perfection, and one that had the crowd laughing along as Ross admitted the inspiration for the former was how he took up ballet to impress an old girlfriend. The latter had the whole floor space of the Drake moving as one and again saw the genuine love Toronto has for this band, with the crowd singing all the words as vocally at the end of the night as they had been at the start of the show.
Next Stop The World
With the band's music starting to receive airplay on the influential Toronto-based music television station MuchMusic, as well as signing to new management and preparing to play Europe in July, it seems that the rest of the world may soon find out what the people of Toronto have known for a while – Birds of Wales live is an experience you shouldn't miss, and the fact that they were 1 of the stand-out acts in an already impressive line-up at this year's NXNE merely affirms that. Miss them at your peril.
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