2005/04/07  The Mod Club; Toronto, ON after performing more than 200 shows over the past few years and sharing the stage with such heavy hitters of the rock 'n' roll canon as ac/dc, bob dylan and the rolling stones, canada's country-rock darling kathleen edwards wasn't about to let a toronto club's curfew curtail her set on thursday night. 'There is some lame-ass curfew so the kids can dance," she stated, following her first encore. "but you guys paid top dollar and we still want to play, so if the kids want to come in and dance, fuck 'em!" words well spoken and words well received since the sold-out crowd at the mod club were more interested in getting their groove on to the songwriter's sizzling 90-minute set than dancing to some dj. despite a few sporadic sound problems, hogtown witnessed a maturing songwriter who continues to refine her roots-rock muse - moving away from the sleepy alt.country sounds of her debut failer, letting her hair down and rocking out. her spirited first encore, the dreamy "away" - finger picked on acoustic guitar - proved that she still hasn't lost her cowgirl chops. edwards was joined by a tight band who plowed through every song off her recently released sophomore disc back to me. colin cripps, her producer, guitarist and life partner, was in top form playing slide guitar and offering some inspired solos that at times echoed the work of crazy horse. ottawa songsmith jim bryson, sporting a vintage montreal expos foam baseball cap, played keys and guitar throughout the night, adding yet another layer to edwards' already accomplished backing band of tight musicians. edwards introduced her good friend and fellow songwriter as 'The newest member of the rock machine and the expos last existing fan." at the mention of the now defunct major league baseball team, a joker in the audience yelled, "go nationals!" in reference to the team in washington that replaced the montreal club. bryson responded "politely" with a sarcastic, "fuck you." one of the numerous highs of the night was the duet between bryson and edwards on his song, "somewhere else" - this song inspired a pair of ladies in the front row to dance and twirl during the beautiful ballad. speaking of "highs," the opening lines of "mercury" ("i want to get high...") elicited loud cheers from the audience. during the song, wafts of the forbidden bud were detected throughout the venue - something that didn't bypass edwards' nose. "i do smell some inspiration in here," she said smiling. then, she entered a trance-like state, swaying to the rhythm and staring at the lights as cripps' guitar solo led the band into the next song. edwards ended the evening with a touching tribute to neil young by saying "let's send the people away to have happy dreams," before performing a wistful cover of "unknown legend." finally, at 10:40 - 25 minutes past the appointed curfew - edwards kissed the club crow goodbye. the soulful singer and rebel rouser had made her point, making the club kids wait in the street a little bit longer, while her fans were treated to just a little bit more music before heading off into the night, dreaming of the roots rocker's return. david mcpherson chartattack.com				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews