Perhaps it was the young wannabe-hipster crowd, or the packed venue, or the gloomy weather, or the hectic touring schedule, but there must be a reason why Tokyo Police Club sounded absolutely horrible live.  TPK is a band that I hold so dearly, living my dream of quitting university to start a band in Toronto’s outer suburbs, now making headlines, praised by critics, playing on David Letterman and recently upgraded to large font; on the posters of Virgin Music Festival. But during the fateful night of April 11th, not a bone in my body was enjoying what was coming out of their set. I simply couldn’t pinpoint why.

Could it have been stage presence? Having toured Europe and the US for two months to return to your hometown for two sold out shows must conjure up some feeling of accomplishment.  Yet between songs, lead singer Dave Monks was speechless. Nothing other than a few generic phrases like "Glad to be back" and other forgettable one-liners to distract the crowd from the sounds of tuning guitars. There was literally nothing that could have singled out this show as more unique than the next indie rock band.

Could it have been the music? The reason why A Lesson in Crime drew so much attention was the oddity of the entire record. Strange hooks mixed with strange noises made for great music. But when rhythmically displaced, it sounds like a mess. Songs such as Nature of the Experiment and Cheer On sound fantastic on record, but hearing live felt like more like an unpolished rehearsal. Songs were emotionally driven, so much so that the tempo changed erratically throughout a single song.

Despite all the shortfalls, kids in the front simply ate it up, perhaps pretending as hard as the performers were pretending to look entertained. Besides, what’s more hip than spending a weeknight in an indie club, dancing to an indie band and telling your friends about it in chemistry class the next morning?

The only redeeming quality was an opening band called Great Lenin’s Ghost that put on an entertaining performance. Picture Chris Farley in a yellow top on lead vocals singing trance/techno with self-deprecating humor. Oh, and the ticket was $16, so that was a bargain I guess.

REVIEWED BY: PHIL LEUNG