Little Dragon w/ Saidah Baba Talibah & Maylee Todd – Wrongbar 11/18/09

hyperadmin | A City In Focus,Events,Music | Monday, November 23rd, 2009

To say that Swedish electro-soul four-piece Little Dragon are full-fledged underground heroes here in the city still doesn’t quite describe the energy that surged through the always bumping Wrongbar last Wednesday, as the group paid their second visit to the Queen West hotspot this year alone. That energy was not reserved for the headliners alone, however, as a good portion of the paying public turned out in support of hometown vocal powerhouse Saidah Baba Talibah in her opening spot.

Saidah Baba Talibah (1)

The local soul siren set things ablaze in the early going, serving up luscious full-bodied renditions of the gravely cassette-styled recordings that make up here recently released Phone Demos teaser. Backed by an impressive crew of musicians holding things down on guitar, drums, cello and sousaphone, the ultra-expressive front-woman imbued the unabashedly classic tones and feel of the r&b/rock amalgam that characterizes her latest project with well-received style and substance.

Saidah Baba Talibah (2)

Quirky experimentalist Maylee Todd soon followed, slinging together a strange brew of old school electric funk, breezy rock dabblings, beer-gargled vocals and impressive harp tinkling for an ambitious set of boundary massaging tunes and onstage chicanery. But it was the night’s main event that truly set the room full of unrelenting cheese grills to full beam, as Little Dragon singer Yukimi Nagano took the stage – racket-styled tambourine in hand – to give full-on credence to the worldwide buzz surrounding the Gothenburg-based foursome. Backed by impromptu backup singers Tanika Charles, Zaki Ibrahim and DJ L’Oqenz up front, Nagano led her bearded backers on an all-out synth attack the went well into the wee hours, and that no doubt had fans setting the group’s two records to repeat in the days that followed.

Little Dragon (1)

If you haven’t heard those records, you should. More satisfyingly, however, was the pleasure felt in witnessing this unbeatable opportunity to catch three talented women doing their thing at the bargain basement price of $13.50 – less than the price of either one of those discs, and a chance a truly lived up to all expectations.

Previous: Saidah Baba Talibah releases The Phone Demos

Little Dragon (2)

LLittle Dragon (2)

Maylee Todd (1)

Maylee Todd (2)

Maylee Todd (3)

Saidah Baba Talibah (band)

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  1. wYMUvo Good point. I hadn’t thought about it quite that way. 🙂

    Comment by Irene — April 10, 2011 @ 7:43 pm

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