It’s hard to believe, but after more than 20 years as a performing artist in his own right, this was uber-producer Daniel Lanois’ first time treading the boards of Massey Hall. “It’s a great honour to play here,” said Lanois early in the proceedings, mentioning the many ghosts of players past in the hallowed hall, and recalling the time in 1969 when he sat in the front row for a Miles Davis show. Later on, he introduced a song “about brotherhood, and raising the roof off of Massey Hall.”
Which was exactly what he came to do. Lanois re-invented his well-crafted songs, like “The Maker” and “Here Is What Is,” as springboards for lengthy, loud and distorted guitar solos, jamming out off the top and in the middle. Coaxing blistering, grungy tones and highly melodic lines out of his gold-top Gibson Les Paul, Lanois played extensive solos that fell about midway between Hendrix and Neil Young with Crazy Horse. Luckily, in his hands the solos came off as more organic than indulgent, more tasteful than masturbatory, as he used them to conjure up atmospheres, or to induce a trance, rather than merely show off his skills. (Though he accomplished that as well.)
Lanois and his band tempered the fire of his guitar with gorgeous three-part harmonies, never more back-woodsy and effective than on “Still Water.” Lanois balanced material from throughout his entire career, from his earliest songs like “Jolie Louise” (done here as a gentle, finger-picked solo number) to the instrumental works that he played on his beloved pedal-steel guitar (as he did on his Belladonna and Shine albums), to “The Collection of Marie-Claire,” a standout song from 1993's For the Beauty of Wynona, about a dark and obsessive love.
“It feels great to be here in Toronto,’ said Lanois, who’s gave shout-outs to Ronnie’s Local in Kensington Market, the Shanghai Cowgirl restaurant, Dave “Bookie” Bookman at the Edge for his support, and to the work crew that’s helping him set up a new workshop/studio in town.
No review of a Lanois show would be complete without acknowledging his monstrously talented and ever-present studio and live drummer, Brian Blade. He and Lanois have worked together for so long that they have near-telepathic communication, and Blade is as precise and yet swinging a beatmaster as you’ll ever hear, anywhere. Blade is like the basketball player who never scores a basket, but nonetheless leads his team to victory by setting up every key play of the game. Small wonder he earned a 30-second ovation when Lanois introduced him.
His other sidemen, bassist Marcus Blake and guitarist Gino “Side-Pipe” Wilson, were as capable and supportive as any frontman could ask. Often Lanois would cue them from the extended solos back to the songs with a simple wave of his hand, or even a look, which only goes to show how well they work together. Adam Vollick — who helped shoot Lanois’ 2006 documentary film Here Is What Is — was also onstage, shooting live black-and-white video of the show, which was projected on a small screen above the players.
In fact, the staging was as simple, subtle and effective as one of Lanois songs. Beyond the one-camera live shoot, there were only a handful of overhead lights, one floodlight on either side of the stage, and single-colour washes of white, red or blue. There was a dry-ice machine making smoke from time to time, but unobtrusively, almost unnoticeably, and only to accentuate the lighting. The quartet dressed in simple street clothes, all in black — except for Lanois’ iridescent pale-green shoes, a finer touch that contrasted nicely with his thick, full beard.
Just before his encore, Lanois brought out two women, one of whom works for the charity organization World Vision, and one of whom was sponsored by the organization, and has traversed her life from poverty in her birthplace of Kenya to now studying at Ryerson. “Why not give up smoking,” said Lanois, who has sponsored more than 200 children himself, “and take that money to save a kid’s life?”
“You get out what you put in,” he said before the final encore, and it’s true. Lanois put in a great, roof-raising debut performance at Massey Hall, and that’s what we got out of it.