Final Fantasy

Went tonight to see Final Fantasy, i.e. Mr. Owen Pallett, his violin, and a tape recorder. We were first introduced to young Owen when we attended a live taping of the Vinyl Café about a year and a half ago. I thought he was great. Then, a few months ago, he won the first-ever Polaris Music Prize, which brought him to the attention of a much wider audience. He’s a bit of an acquired taste for some, to be sure.

Tonight’s show was held, weirdly, in a church downtown. This particular church seems to play host to quite a few concerts, CD launches, and similar events these days – guess it must be a good money-spinner for them. I figured we’d be in the church hall or something, but no – it was the church itself. The stage was set up in front of the pulpit, and the audience filled the pews!

Anyway, the place was packed tonight with scores of indie hippie freak children, bless them. Performance was very good (Owen’s voice is quite soporific) though not without a few glitches. His performance was accompanied by a pretentious “conceptual” slideshow projection, which I had a bit of a giggle over. But I still find myself fascinated by what he does with the violin and the tape recorder – amazing stuff, and very beautiful.

In the final estimation, there’s no escaping that his show is artsy-fartsy in the extreme. But I liked it a lot. :-)