The safety in numbers
The multi-act pop show, like this weekend's Moist/I Mother Earth/Mudgirl package, is a sign of the downsized times
Ira Band
In the downbeat, downtrodden and downsized '90s, where the concert industry is slipping and sliding along with so many other sectors of the economy, a formula for surviving is emerging.
Safety in Numbers.
The idea of combing two or more bands on a single travelling ticket isn't exactly new to music. In fact, it's exactly the way Alan Freed and the gang launched rock'n'roll 40 years ago.
But in 1997, musicians and promoters alike are turning to the multi-act package with renewed vigor.
A case in point: The biggest concert buzz of this young year surronds the four shows I Mother Earth and Moist are doing together at The Warehouse, running tomorrow night through Sunday and again Tuesday.
Another act, Mudgirl, is also on the bill. A new alter-ego for Vancouver-based singer Kim Bingham, formely of Montreal's much loved band, Me, Mon & Morgantaler, Mudgirl has been generating increased interest from major record labels since the independent release last summer of tis debut recording, First Book.
Although the Moist/I Mother Earth concerts were originally slated for a one night run, overflowing demand necessitated the addition of a third show and then a fourth, all of which quicly sold out.
Pretty impressive for a pair of bands that have been around for only a few years. And while it may be a tad mischievous to inquite as to who is the top draw on this officially co-healined double bill, the debate simmers in some circles.
In terms of actual record sales in Canada (both groups have released two CDs), Moist is ahead somewhat and also has a slightly greater presence on the singles charts.
"Well, we're closing every show except on this (11-city) tour," says Moist frontman and lead singer David Usher. "But there's not technically a headliner.
It's all suppose to be communal love and peace, right," he laughs.
Edwin, the single-named singer of Toronto's I Mother Earth, is more forthcoming.
"It's a co-headline arrangement. We wouldn't have done the tour if it wasn't. We're getting along really well, but the pace is so hectic, we haven't had much time to socialize together on the road.
"Moist may have sold more records, but we both welcome each other's drawing power to raise us up to the next level. Sure, there may be a few egos under the surface, but everything is really cool."
"This is a classic case of one plus one equals four," says Elliott Lefko, a talent booker for Universal Concerts Canada (formely MCA Concerts), the promoter behind this series of concerts.
"Each of these bands could probably draw about 1,500 people on their own in Toronto. But put the two together and it explodes."
Over the course of four nights at The Warehouse, the performances will attract a total of7.500 fans.
Lefko notes that while I Mother Earth drew 900 people to its most recent show in Ottawa, the Moist/I Mother Earth double bill achieved a 5,000 seater sell-out this time around.
Already, promoters are using the success of the Moist/I Mother Earth tour to lay plans for as namy as six all-Canadian, multi-artist shows this coming summer at The Molson Amphitheatre. Universal is looking to gang-book acts that individually might be able to fell large clubs like the 1.800-capacity Warehouse, but together may have to marquee power to carry the 16,000-seat amphitheatre.
The commercial success of I Mother Earth and Moist isn't entirely confined to Canada. IME's 1993 debut disc, Dig, had slow but steady sales here, reaching the gold record threshold of 50,000 copies sold by mid-1994.
Steady interest from the United States, however, particularly in such unlikely states as Florida, resulted in U.S. sales of more than 100,000. The figure is unlikely to wilt the collective egos of Alanis, Celine and Shania, but impressive nonetheless.
Likewise, not only has Moist's debut album, Silver, sold nearly 400,000 copies in Canada since its 1993 release, the band also made a dent in Britain when its single "Push" cracked the U.K. Top 20. Elsewhere, the album has also gone to gold in Thailand.
So what, you may ask? Well, one compelling reason to take notice of the international interest is the fact that there's nothing distinctly Canadian about either band. Unlike such groups as Barenaked Ladies, Rheostatics or The Tragically Hip, who are all at least attitudinally Canuck, there is no such distinguishing mark on IME or Moist.
IME's sonic drive is heavily influenced by hard, arty progressive-rock, alternative sounds, Santana and Led Zeppelin. Moist tranverses the line between the atmospheric gloom of Seattle grunge with passing nods to sunnier contemporary Brit-pop melodies.
In other words, there's already an abundance of such bands in the U.S., Britain and elsewhere.
So why the enthusiastic domestic and international embrace for these Canadian acts, whose work is at best marginally, rather than dramatically, different from others in the pack?
"There's little doubt that a lot of the current interest is a result of the unprecedented worldwide success of Alanis Morissette, Celine Dion and Shania Twain.," syas Brian Robertson, president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA).
"Those three Canadian women collectively sold 50 million records last year throughtout the world. What they've done is buoy a flagging industry. Without these three, 1996 international record sales would have been noticeably worse.
"They've created an oppotunity for other Canadian artists like Terri Clark and Deborah Cox along with I Mother Earth, Moist and namy other bands. These artists will all be the beneficiaries of worldwide interest in Canada.
"But all of these acts are also the product of a maturing Canadian music industry," continues Robertson.
"All the layers of the business have become more mature than in the past, from the artists, to the booking agents, to the record companies.
"The major companies are now spending $20 million annually to develop Canadian acts, and groups like Moist and I Mother Earth are the beneficiaries of this big investment in the industry."
Both bands would afree with Robertson's observation as to this higher level of "maturity" and professionalism in th various levels of the industry, going all the way to the artists themselves.
"Undoubtedly, the fact that we've played hundreds of shows in the last few years has raised our ability to write better and perform better," says I Mother Earth's Edwin.
He suggests the result of all this experience and industry support can be heard on the band's second CD, Scenery and Fish.
"We wanted to get away from the heavy metal lavel that dogged us after our first album came out. We wanted to make this record more listener-friendly. The production is more stripped down and in your ear. The band also expreimented with lots of different sounds and layering to fet exactly what we wanted."
The disc has generated enthusiastic reviews domestically, not to mention a borderline rave from the New York Times which said, "The music on this album breaks down the walls that seperate the pop, rock and alternative genres...Scenery and Fish has all the bases covered."
Late last week, the disc was certified double platinum in Canada (for 200,000 copies sold), a strong improvement on the solid 130,000 copies IME's debut Dig has sold to date here.
Partial credit must go to I Mother Earth's "new look" and strong video for the song "One More Astronaut."
"Actually, that so-called new look happened by evolution," says Edwin. "It started when we did the video for 'So Gently We Go,' from the Dig album, a couple of years ago.
"I cut my hair the day of the shoot and then everyone else in the group cut theirs. Then we just began weaing cooler shirts and jackets instead of cut-offs and suddenly we looked different. But it wasn't a calculated move like the makeover with the guys in Metallica."
Moist has benefitted from the video age even more than I Mother Earth. And it's not simply because of fromt-man David Usher's vaguely exotic features.
"We've chosen to get actively invovled in our videos," says Usher. "You have the choice to be actively involved or not and I've always loved the film medium, so it meant a lot to me to be in on the production."
Like IME, Moist has been touring almost incessantly since the band arrived on the scene in 1993. The only time off was in late '95 and early '96 so the group could write and record its second album, Creature, which was released in late September.
And, as with IME's Edwin, Moist's Usher attributes the more professional sound of Creature to the experience garnered from continuous touring.
"Just the fact of performing every night and doing the songs you've written over and over - you want to experiment and play around and so your over-all musicianship naturally improves.
"I don't think the new album has a different sound and there was no conscious effort to cultivate one. The first album was largely a demo; it gives a rough garage sound. The new album, though, is much more layered."
At this point, it has yet to take off like the first disc, Silver, although it's closing in on double platinum, the same as IME's sophomore effort.
The two bands share additional similarities beyond releasing debut albums in 1993, followups in '96 and tireless performing schedules. On each of their new recordings, Paul Northfield is listed as co-producer. Now that they're touring together, too, are they starting to finish each other's sentences?
"Nah, it hasn't quite come to that, yet," laughs Edwin.
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