I had high expectations going to this show, and the 'lab did not disappoint. Quasi were the openers. I admire the discordant sounds of Sam's keyboards and Janet is an amazing drummer, but they did not really appeal to me live. Maybe it was because the speaker was right by the ear and I felt like I was going deaf during the show. =)
Stereolab came on and started off with a great version of Nothing to Do With Me. The band was quite serious throughout the show and were less talkative and friendly than the Montreal show I went to in the summer, but they were still pleasant. (Someone yelled out "The Free Design" and Laetitia coyly said "Freakazoid? What's that?") The keyboardist, Dom, looked very comfortable at this show. In Montreal, he made a few mistakes and looked unsure of what he was doing and stared at Tim throughout the entire show, but he was dancing, jumping and singing in Toronto. At the end, Stereolab came back for an unscheduled second encore. Tim and Simon came with ciggies in hand, and the groop played a short but fun version of John Cage Bubblgum. The highlight of the night for me was the groop's live rendition of Parsec, which was fast and quirky. It sounded really different from the actual recording.
Setlist:
Encore 1:
Encore 2: