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Sometime during the last week of January, I was at our university's community center doing some reading between classes when I received a phone call. The caller ID was UNKNOWN, so I debated not picking up; but like many times before when I got a random phone call, I gave the caller the benefit of the doubt and answered it. And wow, if I didn't answer it, I wouldn't have gotten to see Down With Webster. Funny how things work...So yeah! I won two tickets in a contest held by Toronto Star (it was one of those easy ones where you just send them your name and contact info to enter). I wasn't too excited because it wasn't a contest I really wanted to win (they also had contests to win tickets to all Leafs home games for each month - those were the contests I was really hoping to win!), and I wasn't a "true" fan of DWW; but I accepted the tickets wholeheartedly because, hey, it's not everyday you win free stuff.
[[CRAZINESS BEHIND THE JUMP CUT!]]
I did a bit of research before heading down to the Sound Academy and learned that a) the Sound Academy is a terrible venue, especially because it's quite a distance away from actual downtown Toronto, and b) Down With Webster always puts on a good show.
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The lackluster view of downtown Toronto from Polson Pier... the CN Tower was red in support of Team Canada! |
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And now we start with evidence that iPhone 5c's camera was not made for concert photography. |
As for Sonreal - I had never heard of him before, and neither did most of the crowd. His performance was okay. His music isn't quite my cup of tea. And his singing was really off-key and I have no idea if that's intentional as most rappers don't really try to sing nicely or on-key; but it was brutal. The girl in front of me kept yelling at him to get off the stage. I would have liked to knock her over because no matter how bad a performance is, you shouldn't be disrespectful (okay, well, unless they were THAT bad, that their performance was actually disrespectful to you as a listener who paid to watch them).
Then, the main act. Long story short: they were frickin' amazing.
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Notable things:
1) They opened with One in a Million which will ALWAYS be one of my favourite pump-up jams. Always, always, always.
2) Dude can SING! I think his name is Pat. I'm always excited when an artist can actually sound as good as they do on their records, live. He had an acoustic solo moment where he covered Get Lucky, Hold On We're Going Home, and did a snippet of Jessica (which has recently become a song that keeps getting stuck in my head) which was really, really good.
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No but he actually had a drum solo, which was awesome.
4) This concert was particularly a home-coming concert, as they are all Torontonians and they've been together for 13 (?) years. They had a little montage with clips from childhood to the early beginnings of the band, and I guess for the super fan, that was really emotional; but for the casual fan like I was, it was pretty cool to see how far they've come.
5) They closed with Chills which is currently my favourite song to howl out in the middle of the night while trying to make the situation awkward in the room next door (my sister's room, and she brings over boys a lot).
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Okay, present-day me talking now: All in all, it was an amazing concert, despite the dingy-ness of The Sound Academy. I mean, it was kinda cozy, but I did not appreciate the girl and guy shoving each other in front of me, and when the girl behind me told me to move forward, just because there was half a foot of space in front of me. I need my personal bubble, yo! But the intimacy also created a kind of atmosphere that wasn't there during the 1D/5SOS concert. Everyone was up and jamming at the 1D concert, too, but with rails and seats in the way, and the band being a zillion feet away, it just didn't feel the same, ya feel?Anyhow, I would totally go see Down With Webster again. They're in town on the 15th; anyone up for it?
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