Bedouin Soundclash concert at The Opera House in Toronto, Canada
Thu, 20 Feb 2020

An overall good set by the band in a venue very suitable for them. I love how they limited tracks from their new release "Mass" and mixed in a healthy spattering of older favourites. The crowd was equally mixed of new and old fans and they seemed to recognize the importance of variance in the setlist. The addition of the brass section was excellent and really enhanced the set, although holding back the individual brass solo sessions would have been nice as I would have preferred 1 or 2 extra songs in the set instead of showboating. One big standout was the session drummer either had a rough night, or he is just not up to the task. There were a lot of very noticeable dropped sticks, and he drifted in and out of tempo. Several times he stuttered to a complete pause when he lost a handle on the song. It wasn't enough to ruin the set, but for a band with such a rhythmic backbone to their music, a bumbling drummer behind a bassist as accomplished as Eon was a real disappointment. Really the only negative on the night however was the opener, Odario Williams. Way too much 'self-expression' spoken word rambling and repetitive crowd raising cliches: "When I say I love, you say Music"...and throwing merch from the stage; I was embarrassed for him. Obviously only added to the bill due to his CBC connections.