I was fortunate enough to get tickets to Imogen Heap’s sold out show last night @ the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto and I walked away stunned. The supporting acts Back Ted n Ted and Tim Exile couldn’t be more different than any other openers I’ve ever seen (read more about them below). Both of these fine musicians would later come back to the stage, along with Chris Vatalaro (I need a link for him!), to support Immi’s brilliant performance (Tim Exile’s addition to her music was nothing short of awesome).

The show had an intimate quality… almost like sitting in on a well polished rehearsal. Immi’s interaction with the audience before each opener and during her set, between songs, was definitely enjoyable. She has this awkwardly confident and charming English personality that was so very evident whenever she spoke or noodled around the stage. Oh, she’s hilarious too (why are you still single, Immi?! haha).

Anyhow, there were various instruments on stage and a large amount of real-time sampling, looping, and effects-if-ying. The most standout use of tech that I saw was Chris’ application of a military-grade throat mic. The mic was linked to a synth and the result was his ability to offer up thoroughly satisfying bass, as he played drums. Ah, and I should mention the fine Torontonian cellist, Katie, who was chosen the night before the show to help perform ‘Aha!’ (a song which has an apparently amusing inspiration).

I don’t want to gush too much, but it’s not often that I take the time to plug a musician. Her recordings are great, but her live performance is just beyond anything I could’ve imagined.

Videos of shows never do them justice, but I took this one because I didn’t trust my memory (which is also why a tiny bit of the song isn’t in the video, I couldn’t decide whether to trust my memory or not). If you know the name ‘Imogen Heap’, you would likely know her from this outstanding song:



Note about the video: You may hear some back-up vocals late in the song, these were provided by the first in-tune audience I have ever been a part of. Also, the most respectful. You could’ve heard a pin drop in that room.

Follow @imogenheap on twitter.
Are you a cellist? Audition for a spot in her show. Details here.

A bit more about the openers.

Back Ted n Ted: The band is essentially one musician, Ryan Breen. He had a guitar, a laptop, and some sampling/triggering gear, which allowed him to build a backing track of music that he would then sing atop. His music is catchy, it’s kind of eletronic-pop. It was interesting to see him set up the songs and this would be great to see in a section of a set, but I think his performance could only be enhanced from a live backing band (of which I would love to be a part of :D). Definitely check out his stuff, he has a strong voice and I’m envious of his falsetto ability, haha.

Follow @backtednted on twitter.

Tim Exile: Again, just a one man show. If you don’t like electronic music, you won’t like what he does. If you do like electronic music and inventive use of technology, then you’d adore him. His performance was a mixture of real-time modifications and looping of both pre-rendered and real-time samples. It was neat to see such mastery and improvisation in person. Also, I loved his use of a wireless joystick as an x/y controller, with the buttons… apparently mapped to start/stop functions on a sampler?

Follow @timexile on twitter.