Trust StageDive and Kinemastik to try something different.
After the wonderful Bonnie Prince Billy concert in a graveyard in 2009, you now have the opportunity for a close encounter with the eclectic Owen Pallett at the San Gejtanu Band Club in Hamrun, this Sunday 1st May.
Born in 1979, Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist from Toronto, Ontario. He started his solo career under the name Final Fantasy, and soon gained a strong reputation for his live performances, which sometimes include cover versions ranging from indie favourites like Bloc Party, to OMD, to some very unlikely ones (The Power of Love, anyone?). Pallett’s second solo album ‘He Poos Cloud’ in 2006 went on to win the first edition of the Polaris Music Prize (Canada’s equivalent to the UK’s Mercury Awards). For his third album ‘Heartland’, Pallett enlisted the services of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The record oscillates between 19th century military music, ’70s analog synth-pop, Russian futurism and American pointillism, often in the space of a few bars.
Pallett has also collaborated with such artists as Beirut, The Last Shadow Puppets, Grizzly Bear, Pet Shop Boys and Mika. He especially shares a bond with The Arcade Fire, contributing orchestral and string arrangements on all 3 of their albums, include 2010’s Grammy-award winning ’The Suburbs’, as well as forming part of their touring line-up.
It’s difficult to nail Owen Pallett down. But he provides one of the most captivating one-man shows around – breaking new ground with what can be achieved with a violin, a keyboard and some loop pedals.
Tickets at Euros 15 can be prebooked by emailing stagedivemalta@gmail.com, calling StageDive on 99459555 or Kinematik on 99242815. Tickets for Kinemastik members at Euros 12. Or you can buy a ticket at the door for Euros 18. Or just drop into D’Amato, Coach and Horses or Sugu. Tickets at the door cost Euros 18 and doors open at 7pm. Support is from indie folk band Stalko.
Check out the event page for the latest updates. Hopefully the videos below will whet your appetite for what’s to come from a great artist in a unique, very local setting.
This was such a lovely concert, in the courtyard of the San Gejtanu Band Club. Stalko, the support band, were a real revelation; and Owen Pallett quite extraordinary. I filmed most of the concert on my Flip Cam – should upload it sometime!