Great Lake Swimmers @ Black Cat

Fellow Canadian Kate Maki opened the show with a few songs on guitar. She was joined by a keyboardist and GLS's drummer, Greg Millson, to play what you might call modern versions of Wild West saloon balladry. She turned to her band and really rocked out a couple of times (well, as much as one can rock out while seated). Her charm showed through in between songs, when she engaged in easy banter with the audience. At one point, she asked what she should do with a free hour in the morning. After fielding a few suggestions from the audience, she quipped, "that sounds like a lot to do, I think I'll just sleep instead." Later, Maki revealed that she is a substitute teacher by day. When someone from the audience asked which age group she enjoyed teaching, Maki shot back that she liked 5-year-olds, but not buttoning up their coats, and that she liked teenagers before the become "saucy." At the end of her set, she instructed the audience that we were quite well-behaved.

Armed with a set list that looked more like a college course outline (it was dated at the top, contained the location of the show, songs were numbered, the solo stuff was indented as were the encores, and it had a nice graphic of a fish at the bottom) the five members of the Great Lake Swimmers meandered onto the back room's tiny, yet sufficient stage. They played through 17 (!) songs in about an hour and a half. The sound mix was great. Dekker's vocals were clean and easy to hear. His guitar strap had a simple painting of a tree under a bright yellow sun. And when he was joined in vocal harmony by Julie Fader, it was sublime.

They opened the show with, "Let's Trade Skins," off 2005's Bodies and Minds. Dekker performed two solo songs, "There is a Light," and "Concrete Heart," which were slow and delicate. He confessed before performing the latter, that he was commissioned to write a song about Toronto architecture circa 1950-1970. This got a laugh from the audience, as did his first delivery of a line in the chorus that goes, "This is the place where I felt like the world's tallest self-supporting tower... or maybe number two." It was a rare break in the tension of the performance.

Some have compared the Swimmers to R.E.M., and listening to "Palmistry" and "She Comes To Me In Dreams," it's easy to pick out a bright, high guitar part that mirrors the essential mandolin riff in "Losing My Religion." The only real complaint I have about the show was that, "Your Rocky Spine" and "Pulling On A Line," two of the GLS's better known songs, were played back-to-back, right in the middle of the set. Some people actually filed out after they were played, and it caused the second half of the set to drag a little. But a very good show, all things considered. Look for them again at Black Cat, only next time, we hope to see them and their ever-growing following on the main stage.