Controller.Controller

On Friday night I went with a friend to see the amazing new Toronto band Controller.Controller. Before I discuss Controller.Controller, though, I'd like to talk about their headliner, You Say Party! We Say Die!

The band itself was not bad, enjoyable even. The base player was the most interesting to watch, he would be climbing all over the stage, lights, and balcony as he played. This made for some tense moments as he knocked over equipment with his cord. The drummer was fun to watch too as the band's beat is very fast.

The more interesting part of the headlining band was the associated photographers, two of them. Both were situated right in front of the stage. One wore a yellow shirt, one wore a blue shirt. Both digital shooters. The yellow shirt one basically stood in one spot the entire show, snapping shots with what looked like a 20D with a zoom lens. He didn't pay any attention to the crowd, nor to what was going on with the people on stage; he reminded me of a robot. Something moves in front of him; snap. When he ran out of space on his memory card (I'm assuming), he switched to a point-and shoot digital. He did not move his feet the entire show.

The blue photographer took some time to set up; wasn't paying attention too much to what was going on as he adjusted his settings. He was shooting with what looked like a Nikon D70 with a prime lens, and an external flash. Once his camera was set up, though, he would put the camera down on the stage and dance with the crowd, really getting into it. Every once in a while he would reach over, grab the camera, snap a couple shots of the people on the stage, and start chest-banging with the crowd again. Very cool to watch, even more fun to watch than the musicians.

So on to Controller.Controller. Their stage presence needs work, but something I like about the band is the lead singer Nirmala is a dressed-down teatotaller kind of gal, who likes jeans and the female equivalent of wifebeater shirts. But thicker. Some problems slowed down the performance at first; the drummer's high-hat broke and he needed another. The band seems to be cursed with mechanical problems, including the breakdown of their van.

Once they got going though, they really cooked. Everyone got into it. Dancing in the rafters. Bodies surfing the crowd. You get the idea. It was one heck of a good show and the jam at the end was very memorable. It seems that the band reaches its best when all the musicians are 1 or 2 beers into a hangover, except Nirmala.

Now comes the hardest part. Waiting for their next album.