Great Lenin’s Ghost at Rancho Relaxo
September 24, 2008
At some point, I had the pleasure of kicking back and enjoying the cool electronic stylings of Great Lenin’s Ghost! It was a balmy Wednesday evening above a Toronto taco stand, wafting it’s delights to the second floor bar. The idea of Pay What You Can was my indulgence, as was the fact my camera was dragged there for the earlier set of Senor Kasio.
I digress (as I so often do). Great Lenin’s Ghost! hits the stage, and I’m much too tired to continue standing. Thankfully there were people there to take my place in front of the stage, and I sat back and amused myself with my tired musicians while listening to music that greatly resembled the very old Nintendo 8 bit games that were oh so popular when I was 10.
A part of me couldn’t believe my ears, that such music would be popular, since it’s quite simple sounding. But judging by the crowd it couldn’t be denied. And the more I listened the more I started to get into the groove of things as well. You couldn’t really argue that Great Lenin’s Ghost! can’t entertain a crowd, because the crowd was definitely entertained.
Since this band was completely new to me, my favourite was definitely when they covered Rihanna’s “My Umbrella” because it was a song I recognized. And seeing everyone, the band, the crowd, and even the group I was sitting with, who wasn’t a part of the crowd, get into this new remix of such an over-played radio hit… was quite fantastic.
In short, geeky guys can be musicians too. And Great Lenin’s Ghost! are hopefully not offended by that comment 
