Juno Award Winner Dan Mangan Enchants The Danforth Music Hall In Toronto

Words by: Chiara DiAngelo | Photos by: Nim Mendoza –

Dan Mangan at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto. October 25th, 2012. (Photo: Nim Mendoza)

Arriving just after doors opened to the already sold out show, there was already a lengthy line that snaked down the street filled with fans both young and old, eager to secure a prime spot on the floor. Rural Alberta Advantage (RAA) opened the night, playing a marathon 20+ song opening set that included many from their 2011 Polaris Music Prize longlisted album Departing as well as a couple of new tracks from their upcoming album currently in the works. Few openers could get away with playing for an hour – especially in anticipation of headliner Dan Mangan to come – but their raucous folk songs and spirited stage presence made the time slip away too quickly.

The band may be based out of Toronto but much of their songs draw from and reference the expansive prairie skies and boundless lands between the small towns of Nils Edenloff’s (vocals, guitar) childhood Alberta. Their colossal sound matches this sense of vastness, with Amy Cole (keyboards, percussion, vocals) and Paul Branwatt (drums) adding vivid texture beneath Edenloff’s slightly nasal (yet completely endearing) vocals. RAA may just be a trio, but it could be argued that the honourary fourth member of the band is the kick drum, which often took centre stage and shone prominently on songs like “Under the Knife,” and “Tornado ‘87.” The expressions on Branwatt’s face were also quite something to watch – almost exclusively for a song or two. Whether she was pounding on the keys, tinkling the xylophone, hitting drums sticks together or whacking away at the tom drum, Cole’s energy never waned, constantly bouncing away in her stockinged feet.

As has become a set favourite, Edenloff performed a solo performance of everyone’s favourite childhood television memory – “The Littlest Hobo” theme song. Another set highlight was “Rush Apart,” on which both Cole and Branwatt took turns on the tom drum. After finding some brief solace in the quieter “Summertime,” their set came to a no-holds-barred rocking end with four of their most high-energy songs: “Drain the Blood”, “The Dethbridge in Lethbridge,” “Barnes’ Yard” and “Stamp.”

With a rip-roaring drum solo, Juno Award winner and Polaris Music Prize long-lister Dan Mangan kicked off with his latest single “We Want To Be Pleasantly Surprised, Not Expectedly Let Down.” There was a slight moment of confusion amongst the sell-out crowd as they tried to decipher the still potentially unknown song. After a few tracks from Oh Fortune, the crowd was fully absorbed in Mangan’s enchantment by the time the fourth song and clap along-favourite “Sold” came around.

It was often difficult to pay attention to anyone other than the charismatic Mangan on stage. However, diverting attention away from him momentarily, you would soon become cognizant of the extreme level of talent backing him in his six-piece band, which included trumpet, violin and keys. In particular, guitarist Gord Grdina’s outro to “Post War Blues” was enough to make your head spin, and drummer Kenton Loewen’s (The Crackling) eye contact with Mangan during his resonating drum beats on “Rows of Houses” was really quite fascinating to behold.

JP Carter (right) performing with Dan Mangan at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto. October 25th, 2012. (Photo: Nim Mendoza)

Inserting “Robots” mid-set meant there was less boisterous crowd participation than when it is saved for the finale, but there was an outburst of pure joy when Mangan walked out to the edge of the stage, laid down and let himself be carried away by the hands of the crowd. He was returned to the stage to conduct the masses in the final exclamations of “robots need love too – they want to be loved by you.”

He remains genuine and humble no matter how large the stage he plays. There were however a few awkward moments in the set, such as when the over-zealous audience beat Mangan to some of the lyrics on “Road Regrets” and shouted out answers to the rhetorical questions set forth in set closer “Jeopardy.” Watching Mangan puts you in such a good mood though that it was easy enough to let these minor irks go and get caught up in the excitement.

After an eruption of thunderous applause, Mangan returned to the stage alone for an encore, first playing “The Indie Queens Are Waiting,” before being joined by the rest of the band for “Tina’s Glorious Comeback” (Although Loewen and Grdina may have taken part of that song off to sit at the foot of the drum kit and do shots straight from the bottle). In what has become his new tradition, Mangan ended the night with “So Much For Everyone” from his first album Postcards and Daydreaming. To the delight of the crowd, he lowered himself down off the stage and stood on a chair in the midst of everyone, as they all circled in around him. To allow the audience to really soak up the moment, he requested “just this once, put your phones away.”

There is an indescribable magic that occurs during a Dan Mangan show that really has to be experienced to truly be understood and fully appreciated. The power he possesses over people, to elucidate a hush and then a swelling of collective choir-like “oh’s” from even the stodgiest of hipsters.

It may still be too soon to call, but the obvious next stop for Mangan is the lustrous Massey Hall.