Dan Mangan performs at the Horseshoe in Toronto.
Dan Mangan
- At the Horseshoe Tavern
- in Toronto on Thursday
He had me at "Good night; drive home safe."
He told jokes that were not funny - "What do you call a dog with metal balls and no legs? Sparky" - and he sang songs just as unmemorable. And yet his loyal following laughed at his quips, and at the end of night they left the packed room humming his chummier melodies. Vancouver's Dan Mangan is the Canadian indie-idol troubadour of the moment, unaccountably.
He wins awards - iTunes Canada best new artist, an XM Verge Music Award and a couple of CBC Radio 3 Bucky Awards - but these are fan-voted contests. Let's just say Mangan is the Alexander Keith's Pale Ale of plaid-shirted singer-songwriters: Those who like him, as the television commercial goes, like him a lot.
Me? I don't favour Alexander Keith's products, and I didn't the drink Kool-Aid at the Horseshoe Tavern, where Mangan proudly took the stage for his first time ever. Here was a humble talent, gruffly barking lyrics that should be described as earnestly observational. A sample, from The Indie Queens Are Waiting: "Down the road and on the right-hand side, there's a place I sometimes like to dine, coffee refills as far as I can see."
Dylan Thomas rests in peace, soundly.
Not a sweet crooner, he employed a halting kind of phrasing, picking up passion as his simple songs swelled to modest heights. But no matter how hard he clenched his throat or how meaningfully he gripped his acoustic guitar, his words never seemed to be any more important.
He has a beard. He has a handful of likeable tunes. But any other comparisons to someone like the downcast coffee-house soulster Ray LaMontagne seem stretched.
On occasion his band - guitar, drums, stand-up bass and a cornet player who blew wistfully - would stumble from their bland arrangements into a shambling roots-jazz thing.
He had his moments. On the dour Basket, from his latest album Nice, Nice, Very Nice, he brooded wonderfully. But then came a wincer of a line - "and you know dogs, they need ample time outside" - that destroyed the mood.
The night ended highly, with the main set finishing at Robots, a friendly rumination on the needs of lonesome mechanical people. More clapping and singing along came on the encore, So Much for Everyone, the song to which people hummed to on the sidewalk, walking off.
So, what do you call a singer-songwriter who has unexceptional material and the undying goodwill of his fan base? Dan Mangan, no joke.
* * *
Bottom line
The show Dan Mangan, the friendly, lamenting and dog-loving singer-songwriter from Vancouver, offered a dozen acoustic-based songs at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on Thursday, where a sold-out crowd of well-wishers appreciated what he did.
The judgment The loving acclaim of this modestly talented chap is hard to fathom.
The tour Continues to Ottawa, today; Squamish, B.C.'s Dancing Bear Music Festival, tomorrow; Duncan, B.C., May 6; Victoria, May 7; Vancouver, May 8; Prince George, B.C., May 15 and 16.