controller.controller play Lee's Palace

Finally caught controller.controller live in concert after 5 or 6 misses. Something always came up whenever I tried to check out this great Toronto band. The stars aligned, work ended early Wednesday night and I got to Lee's Palace to catch the band.

The word used to describe them usually is "death-disco". Driving beats, fast paced swirling guitar, get your energy up for any activity that involves sweating and heavy breathing. The drummer literally beat his drums to death as a drum broke off the kit. And I don't know what it is, but the pictures I've seen of lead singer Nirmala Basnayake don't do her justice. In person, very much a CBG (cute brown girl). Great set, shame it wasn't longer. The live set up is interesting as Nila sort of hangs back behind the guitairists, facing stage left, then works her way up to the stage. Different style from, say, Emily Haines from Metric, but it works for the show.

Check out controller.controller's myspace page or New Music Canada Artist: controller.controller for songs and bio info.The band I caught before controller.controller was Kids On TV, and they were crazy good, a great band I hadn't really heard of before. This is another band that bounces over a couple of genres, with house music, dance-electro beats, break dancing and some new-wave punk thrown in. This foursome could have beaten the stage to death, it was like Daft Punk on mescaline. I don't know if I'd buy the albums, but I am definitely there for the live shows.

top photo of Nila by A. Whitehouse
controller.controller band photo by Davida Nemeroff