Australian ska/jazz act The Cat Empire filled Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall July 27th for a performance that can best be summed up in one word, movement. From the moment the sextet took to the stage with their 2013 single Brighter Than Gold until the moment they closed out the final bars of the 2003 hit single Chariot the crowd did not stop dancing.
Opening the night was Swedish Canadian folk singer Sarah MacDougall, a folk singer-songwriter based out of the Yukon. Over all the crowd greeted her band warmly and cheered enthusiastically after each song and though she is a talented enough singer and guitar player I found after her third song everything started sounding the same. For me the most notable part of her set was the fact that she rhymed Saskatchewan.
The Cat Empire however gave a performance which was in stark contrast to the opener. Co-frontmen Felix and Harry exuded the same level of energy the audience was displaying throughout their set. So captivating was the bands performance that you couldn’t help but notice that the wall of glowing LCD that seems to be a fixture in the crowds at concerts these days was refreshingly missing. The audience putting their phones away to instead grab each others hands and dance.
Set list:
Brighter Than Gold
Bulls
Prophets
Wolves
Que Sera Sera/Drum
Daggers Drawn
Two Shoes
Bataclan/Rising
How To Explain
Midnight
Steal The Light
Pocket
Still Young
All Night Loud
Encore:
Darkness/Wine Song
Creature
Chariot
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Related Story: Aussie band The Cat Empire releases new album, Rising From the Sun – An interview with Ollie McGill
All photos by B Hartling
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