Reid’s Distillery is known for two kinds of live music acts. If you like to dance and party, they bring in bands that want you to get up and forget your troubles. The other kind of music is usually quieter and much more pensive.

Last night’s performance came from Anastasia Minster, who plays some of the quietest most pensive music of all. This is the kind of music that you can hear a pin drop during a performance. In this case you can hear a drink being mixed at the bar. That didn’t interfere with whispering sound this woman can produce. You will literally hang onto every note and lose yourself in her drama.

Anastasia opened with the first song from her first recording, “Waiting for the Lions”. She tacitly let us know, that the second song is one that we should all know.  I looked around to see when people would pick up on this deep longing song that yearned with a romantic dark component. It was the Rolling Stones, “Paint it Black”. I have heard many different versions of this song over the years, but this was the most original version yet.

The only way I could describe her live performance would be like listening to a whisper coming from a boreal forest. It is stark, and cold with the promise of warmth for your soul. It has to be your journey to seek out the verve within the vibration.

She did a variation of different cover songs that truly fit into her world of misty reverie. I loved her version of David Sylvan’s “Waterfront”. She did a French disco song that became a torch song.

And, I will have to search out a band called Cigarettes after sex, because I need to hear how they do their song called “Apocalypse”. Anastasia’s version left me wanting to discover new music.

The reason we all congregated to this show was because she has a new album coming out called, “Song of Songs”. It will be a collection of her new material with an orchestra as her band. I asked her about performing this music live. Her ultimate dream would be to perform this at Roy Thompson Hall. So if anyone at Roy Thompson Hall is reading this, you should really contact her and set this up.

Near the end of the evening, she invited her friend Alfonso Fasano up to the piano to play a couple of numbers, as she graced the front of the stage. All of a sudden the room became richer and new dimensions were formed as Alfonso brought his affluence to the piano and having Anastasia at the front of the stage gave the audience a more profound awareness of this performer.

The show ran a little late because the crowd demanded more songs, so Alfonso came back on stage wearing a killer hat and for some reason it made the songs sound even deeper. Haha…

Here is a snippet of Anastasia:

If you would like to hear what Anastasia music sound like, please visit: Father | Anastasia Minster (bandcamp.com)

As a side note, I would like to Thank Reid’s Distillery for provided tickets for Blast Toronto to giveaway to this show. We will be starting a contest page soon, so everyone will have a chance to explore new music in Toronto. Here is a photo of myself with the winners.

Our Winner’s: