Owen Pallett/ Snowblink

Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Cost: $32.00
Hand Stamp: None
April 08, 2010

LA’s Snowblink (meaning a white sky glow reflected from snow fields) is songstress Daniela Gesundheit and a group of rotating musicians. On this particular night, Gesundheit appeared with only one other musician, and the duo began their set by handing audience members in the first row a rather unique instrument that appeared to be simply a long rope with bells attached. Gesundheit explained that this was the, “SeaWorld-You Will Get Wet, section,” to the polite chuckle of the crowd. Her range is quite impressive, and can drastically go from a soft almost throat-singing like whisper to a really impressive high note. Gesundheit’s talent and experience is impressive, in addition to being trained in South Indian classical vocals, she is also a published poet and performance artist.

During a rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature”, Gesundheit demonstrated her looping skills, and then once again in her deadpan humor fashion told the crowd, “We’re Michael Jackson.” Special guest, ‘Thomas’ (Gill), Owen Pallett’s multi-talented instrumentalist was also invited on stage to play with the band, although he was crouching towards the back of the stage and it was difficult to see exactly what he was doing. Towards the end of their set, after Gesundheit discussed the weather and asked the crowd if there were any questions, the front row had their moment to shine and contributed their expertise in rope and bell playing. These really aren’t the kind of songs that will get stuck in your head, but to hear them performed live was quite the unique experience.

Mr. Owen Pallett appeared on stage in a smart suit and even though he is in his stocking feet, he still looks professional and classy. The Queen Elizabeth Theatre has to be one of Toronto’s better sounding venues, but seating over 1200, it wasn’t a very intimate show, but this is probably something Pallett will have to get used to as his popularity grows exponentially. Playing a good mix of both old and new material, Pallett looks perfectly comfortable playing both, until he admits that he has just updated some software and apologizes for any strange sounds. He is incredibly humble, expressing a quiet and sincere, ‘thank you after each song.” Pallett was then joined by Thomas Gill who came running around the audience, and grabs his guitar on stage as he alternates playing snare and tom drums. Pallett joked with Gill saying, “I called you by your real name tonight, you were Puppy Dragon for a few months. I think it suits you.” With his hauntingly beautiful violin symphonies mixed with modern recordings, I get the impression people with colour- synesthesia, the neurological condition which causes people to see colours and simple shapes when they hear music might actually enjoy the condition while listening to Pallett’s music.

Pallett even took a moment to mention Snowblink in his usual humble fashion, “If I were a musician, I’d like to make music like theirs.” He even told the crowd he was getting used to playing art galleries and the like for free, and was just now getting used to music becoming his full time job. With Pallett’s creativity, and the praise of both critics and fans alike, surely this is only the beginning of his career as a full time musician.

One of the highlights from the evening, “This is the Dream of Win and Regine”