Land of Talk live @ Park Theatre, Winnipeg, Canada (May 1st, 2024) [complete show]

Paleontologists are able to estimate the age of fossils based on the sedimentary layer where the fossil was located. Similarly, I am able to estimate that I first heard Land of Talk in 2006. Their exuberant single "All my friends" off the excellent "Applause Cheer Boo Hiss" EP had just come out and had been included along with a pile of other stuff in one of the monthly MP3 collections put out in the alt.bin.sounds.mp3.indie newsgroup. What's a newsgroup? errr...I'm so goddamn old.
Anyway, thus began my admiration of Liz Powell, the force behind Land of Talk. Her guitar playing is muscular, vital and among my favorite. Her voice? [chef's kiss]. The band put out several excellent albums in the late naughts. The instrumental outro on the song "Blangee Blee" of the excellent "Cloak and Cipher" remains one of my favorite musical moments of all time ( • Blangee Blee -- yeah, at 3:15 that's Liz Powell and Co. kicking your ass). I was heartbroken when the band had to go on long-term hiatus for family reasons, but it made their 2017 comeback all the sweeter. They've since put out several albums of excellent material that I highly recommend.
The band is currently on tour in the Spring of 2024 and I was lucky to catch them at the always excellent Park Theatre, in Winnipeg, Canada. The band was in excellent form despite the fact that Liz was on the verge of losing her voice to the point that the show was almost cancelled. As part of the ardent and appreciative crowd on a mid-week May evening in Winnipeg, I felt lucky just to have the band join us for what felt like an intimate evening among friends. What a beautiful vibe. I just adore the physicality of Liz's guitar playing; live it's just a treat. Footnotes was just incredible...
I'm slammed with work or else I might have followed the band in their travels across the US mid-west, though Manitoba and westward into Alberta and the pacific northwest. Liz was mentioning that they will be reissuing the aforementioned "Applause Cheer Boo Hiss" UK version, which had four additional tracks. With possibly another tour. I, for one, can't wait for that to happen. As always, please get out and support these bands by watching them live and getting some of their merch!
The Setlist
00:05 The band takes the stage; Intro (High Bright High)
00:49 Your Beautiful Self
05:40 Compelled
11:01 Macabre
17:41 Moment Feed
25:53 Marry It
34:44 Loving
39:37 Footnotes
45:37 This Time
54:48 Some Are Lakes
1:02:28 The Hate I Won't Commit
ps. Was happy to see Monty Munro from Preoccupations on keys!
pps. If you were there in person, do drop a line and say hi!