By: Mehek Seyid (@whatthemehek) –
Martina Sorbara of Dragonette. (Photo: Mehek Seyid/Aesthetic Magazine Toronto)
Toronto-based synthpop trio Dragonette and Vancouver-based Indie-Electro-RNB trio Dirty Radio brought the dance party to the CNE last night in Toronto. Performing to a relatively smaller, family-filled crowd proved to be a challenge for each group because of their unique, sometimes eclectic sound, but they each managed to find their way with pockets of the audience, ending the day for many exhibition patrons on a fun note.
Fans (albeit on the younger side) arrived early to the Bandshell to catch Dirty Radio, a trio that experienced handfuls of success online and over the radio with top 40 tracks like “I Found You” and “Wanna Ride”. Although there were glimpses into this aspect of the group’s profile, particularly during the first half of their set with performances of “Ground Shake” and “My Heart”, the rest of their performance was a blur of dub step-influenced sounds, rap rhythms, and rock interludes. This odd sonic mash-up, though laced with impressive vocals from lead singer Farshad Edalat, failed to attract the majority of the audience, save for the dedicated following lining the stage. Despite the lack of audience reception, the band pressed on and maintained their high energy, with Edalat impressively taking on triple duty as a vocalist, percussionist, and hype man. At one point he urged the audience to “show their Beyonce hands” and dance to “that booty shaking music”, but perhaps after a long day of rides, deep-fried Oreos and ring-toss games, it may not have been the best time for such a request.
Dragonette had better luck, possibly because they drew in older members of the crowd with their short rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” at the top of their set. For the duration of the 75-minute performance, the crowd slowly gathered at the front of the stage with more energy and enthusiasm than before. The trio flew in that very day on a 5:00am flight from Newfoundland, but there was no indication of fatigue. Vocalist Martina Sorbara triumphantly led the way, swaying and jumping between drummer Joel Stouffer and bassist Dan Kurtz as they performed the heavily remixed “My Legs” and “Live in This City”. The only time jet lag seemed present was during Sorbara’s interactions with the audience, which included a broken anecdote about being able to ride her bike home, and then requesting that someone give her a ride home. Judging by the line near backstage, it seems that many were more than willing to help the Canadian songstress out.
Although they maintained the pace of the show, Dragonette ignited a contagious sense of excitement it got really exciting in the last twenty minutes when the band performed a string of hits that included “Giddy Up,” “Let It Go”, “I Get Around”, “Fixin’ to Thrill”, and their feel-good collaboration with French DJ and producer Martin Solveig on “Hello”. The difference in the audience’s energy was notable as they watched Dragonette bring stadium-like qualities in stage presence and performance to a smaller show, really seeing them at their best. Few artists can achieve that, especially after tremendous amounts of international success, but Dragonette have perfected this aspect of their live show. It is the very reason many at last night’s show will likely attend a Dragonette
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Dragonette
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Dirty Radio
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