CMW 2015: LYON @ The Mod Club

FRIDAY — The most pleasant surprise of our Canadian Music Week came on Friday night. We already knew we liked LYON — at least, we did on record. In fact, we included the slow-burning synth-pop of "Indian Summer" as part of our preview podcast before the festival began. But this was our first time seeing the Toronto group — fronted by Lauren Malyon — live. And you can never tell how the songs you love on SoundCloud are going to translate onto a stage. Especially when that stage is as big and bright as the Mod Club's.

Turns out they translate pretty fucking well. The set launched with the understated "Indian Summer" and took off from there. By the time they reached the full-on dance-pop of "Catch Me If I Fall" it was obvious that LYON's songs are even better live, the kind of anthems that demand to be heard in a big room crammed full of people late on a sweaty festival night. Malyon was a tall, charismatic figure, her long, psychedelic print dress bathed in the ever-changing light. There were synths and electric guitars and two electric violins. And there was a cover of the Eurythmics' "Here Comes the Rain Again". Finally, there was "Cut Me Loose" — the catchy climax of the set had the crowd dancing along.

We'll have the records to tide us over, but the next time we get the chance, we'll be seeing LYON live again.

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Read all our coverage of CMW 2015 here.

Words and photos by Adam Bunch, Editor-in-Chief of the Little Red Umbrella and the creator of the Toronto Dreams Project and Toronto Historical Jukebox. You can read his posts here, follow him on Twitter here, or email him at adam@littleredumbrella.com.