Saturday night Ty Segall played the Horseshoe to a sold out (for weeks) crowd, in what seemed to be one of the most anticipated shows so far this year. I had been looking forward to it for months too, but became a bit wary of the raucous night ahead after having my eyes dilated earlier in the day and almost passing out because the optometrist used the word "dilated." ("What did you think Erin? You were going to have a baby through your eyes?" - my Mom). Health things make me queasy.

A Neon Indian live show is a very different experience than listening to his recorded music. Most notably, he (Alan Palomo) is joined by a live band consisting of a keyboardist, a drummer, and a "live visualist" (barf), all together creating an infectious energy.

Plants and Animals first appeared on my radar — I'm not from Clinton, but I do take pride in my radar (and in obscure references to small town Ontario) — when they were shortlisted for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize. Those Polaris folks are smart, so I knew they were a band worth watching. Admittedly, I hadn't been paying them much attention lately, but that made my visit to Lee's Palace all the more intriguing.

When I lived in Londontario there was basically only one music venue, Call the Office, and I would go to basically any potentially-ok show. One time Yukon Blonde opened for Ladyhawk and that is all I remembered about them. Oh, and also that they rhymed "wind blow" with "window."

British band Metronomy sold out The Hoxton Monday night in support of their latest album The English Riviera. Toronto local Sandro Perri opened the show and drew a great response from the crowd. I shared his sentiments when he thanked the crowd for "being so nice" and noted he "doesn't usually go to places like this - but it's good to get out of your box".

By the time Metronomy took the stage shortly after 11pm I had almost stopped worrying about whether I "fit in" at the venue or not (ok, I had two gin and tonics). Founder Joseph Mount on keyboards, guitar and vocals was joined by Anna Prior on drums and vocals, Oscar Cash on keyboards, guitar and vocals and Gbenga Adelekan playing bass guitar and also contributing vocals. All four wore push lights stuck to their chest (see photos) which lit up in synchronicity. Fun? Annoying? You decide.

After rescheduling their February 18th show for a spot on Saturday Night Live, Sleigh Bells played The Phoenix last night to a packed house. Toronto band Trust opened, (not to be confused with the French 80s rock band) who you can read more about here.

I don't think their huge sound translated very well to the SNL stage, nor do their recordings do them much justice. As our photographer noted, Sleigh Bells are a band to experience live. Frontwoman Alexis Krauss had control of the crowd from the second they stepped on stage to about an hour later when it was all over. Guitarist Derek Edward Miller, who formerly played in the hardcore band Poison the Well ("Cool!" — 15 year old me), was joined by touring guitarist Jason Boyer to round out the duo's sound.