This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive.
By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, November/December 2005
Venue: Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Date: October 2, 2005
Rating: ★★★ (3/5)
On a sunny Sunday on Lake Ontario, we sat on a field in front of one of Harbourfront’s many stages. The atmosphere was great for an afternoon of music and “youth culture,” as the promoters were calling it. Although this festival had been happening through the weekend, nothing on the bill interested me except for this afternoon’s show; an afternoon in the sun with Cuff The Duke and Gentleman Reg. The first to come out was Gentleman Reg, who proceeded to woo the audience with his soft vocals and brand of “twee” pop rock. With an easily-recognized voice sounding like a cross between Rufus Wainwright and Belle & Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch, Reginald Vermue is definitely unique.
Gentleman Reg played with a different band than the last time I saw him perform. Previously I had seen him with a guitar and violin; this time he had two guitars and it made for a very different experience. If you haven’t heard his latest album, Darby & Joan, you’re missing out on one of the best albums of last year. Reg played these songs true to the album versions, and played them very well. His vocal performance was on target and his band was tight, even after having just come into town from a performance at Pop Montreal.
Playing mostly songs from his latest album, Reg did throw in a bit of older material and near the end performed a cover of Elliott Smith’s “Between The Bars.” The cover surprised me, and I’m not usually one who likes to hear an established performer sing somebody else’s song. Reg however was able to successfully pull it off because he didn’t perform it like Elliott Smith did. Reg made the song his own, and it only strengthened the show. Following up that great cover, Reg coaxed the audience to get up off their collective asses with his performance of the overly catchy and danceable “The Boyfriend Song.” He closed his set with another other über-poppy song, “It’s Not Safe.”
Gentleman Reg seemed to connect with an audience who were mostly there to see Cuff The Duke, and hopefully they gained a few fans in the process.
After a short break, some food and lots of stretching from the crowd, Cuff The Duke came out performing their Radiohead song, “No Sleep, No Heat.” Not that “No Heat, No Sleep” is actually a song written by Radiohead, but it certainly sounds like it came out of the sessions from OK Computer. This Cuff The Duke original is not a good opener for a band who plays alt.country. However, once Cuff The Duke got past this hurdle, they quickly found their way by sticking to their catchy country songs with a hard rock edge. “The Ballad Of Poor John Henry” got the audience bouncing early in the set. The band seemed to be on a bit of a giddy high, really enjoying the afternoon.
Frontman Wayne Petti did not easily handle some technical problems with static on his acoustic guitar, and muddled his way through a song unhappily. Despite minor problems, the sound-mix was surprisingly good, particularly for an outdoor venue. Though Cuff The Duke’s stage banter was in desperate need of fine-tuning, they still put on a very respectable show. Their set was filled mostly with songs from their new self-titled album, and they had a good segment of their loyal following in attendance. If the promoters had advertised this show better however, they could have easily doubled the size of the audience.