Going with the short version of my concert review because I am lazy.
Passion Pit, June, Royal Oak: Really solid. Loads of dancing and hot emo chicks. Tokyo Police club opened and they were almost as good as Passion Pit. PP stuck to their shtick, sounded really crisp and gave the audience all the songs they wanted without a lot of improv.
Broken Bells, June, Detroit: I missed the opening band but the tickets were cheap and I didn't care. Morning something or another. There were a couple of covers I didn't know and then mostly current album stuff. Good but unspectacular. I like the band more than most people I know, but they really lacked energy and spent a lot of time fiddling with gadgets instead of engaging people.
Modest Mouse, June, Royal Oak: So this is my favorite band and Isaac Brock didn't seem wasted, so that is a good thing. They played a number of songs off the older albums (Trailer Trash, Cockroach... some stuff off of Good News and some stuff off of M&A). but it was mostly the highlights of the older albums and not of the really raw, but far superior tracks. They did go into some extended improv, which they always do better than most, but they didn't really have the right set list for it I think. It has sort of been the story with them for the last several years in that they are catering more to what people want and less to what makes them unique and creative.
I missed the Heartless Bastards show like an *******. I had some friends catch them and they said that band has so much energy and really maintain their identity on the stage. Loads of charisma. I wish I would have went.
Toronto Island Concert, June, Toronto: Timbre Timber, Beach House, Band of Horses, Broken Social Scene, Pavement: Super hot, super long, crowded and overpriced concessions... but the music was awesome. Timbre Timber is sort of made to see live. Probably not the best fit for that venue because they are so folky and it was outdoors, but I really enjoyed seeing them and would like to again. Calm but cool. Beach House was a real surprise to me. I have listened to them a little but did not appreciate them until this show. They cracked me up, they really had unique style without having a shtick, the girl was the sexiest un-sexy girl I ever saw, and the guitarist and keyboardist rocked. The drummer wasn't that enthused but did not hold them back. Band of Horses was odd. They played every song I would have wanted them to play and they played them well, but... Ben Bridwell is probably the only talented and interesting person in that band. Everyone else seemed lazy and apathetic and did not impress me musically at all. In fact, Bridwell played almost every difficult solo despite their being two guitarists who did not have to belt vocals the whole time. They just stood around and let Bidwell sort of do everything. That being said, he was an awesome guy and a huge Pavement fan I guess. Broken Social Scene was awwwwesome. You have to see them in Toronto when they get their whole posse involved. They never had less that 6 people on stage and had up to 18, all participating. Emily Haines seemed wasted, Feist sang like 5 songs, Drew was getting super rowdy, James Shaw played some awesome guitar a couple of times, and John Mecentire (who I think is just ridiculous) participated a bunch as well. I could have watched them for 8 hours. Finally, Pavement came up. They sounded perfect, played every song a deep Pavement fan would want and brought up a bunch of members from the previous bands to participate. Malkmus has not aged a day. That being said, they weren't in sync and you can tell that the band does not really have very good chemistry. They were mixed up a few times on what they were going to play, there was very little intraband talk, and they did not improvise at all. Energy was good, especially from Bob and Stephen but they all seemed to be doing their own thing. Despite all that though, they played a really long set, sounded awesome and were worth all the effort and the long wait. One of the best overall shows I have ever been to.
Seeing Black Keys next. I am super excited.