Toronto’s own Leslie Feist takes to the stage at the venerable Massey Hall tonight in support of her new album, Metals. Bry Webb will be providing support services as the opening act. Although born in Nova Scotia and raised in Regina and Calgary, Feist’s career blossomed upon her arrival in Toronto. Herewith, a numerical look at Feist’s brilliant career.
1,000: The number of dancers who performed in the opening ceremony of the Calgary Olympics in 1988. Yes, a young Leslie Feist was one of them.
Five: The number of years Feist toured Canada as the lead singer of punk rock band Placebo, severely damaging her vocal chords in the process. They played their first gig opening for the Ramones in 1991. Check out Leslie going all punk-goth, along with slick dance moves from concertgoers here:
Four: the number of tire tubes used for a By Divine Right video for their killer song “Come For A Ride,” where we can see their guitar player, Leslie Feist, tobogganing on one of said tubes. Trivia bonus: By Divine Right with Leslie Feist were the first band to ever play at the Air Canada Centre when they opened up for the Tragically Hip in 1999.
1999: The year Feist shacked up with Merrill Nisker, a.k.a recording artist Peaches. Feist would work backstage at Peaches shows, calling herself Bitch Lap Lap while using a sock puppet. Chilly Gonzales was also part of the crew, before the more radical elements (namely Peaches and Chilly) headed to Europe. This was also the year of Feist’s solo debut album, Monarch: Lay Down Your Jeweled Head. Check out this insane hipster-gasmic performance with all three.
2002: Feist was part of the original lineup of hipsters known as Broken Social Scene, which released their iconic album You Forgot it in People in 2002. The band literally revolutionized the Toronto music scene making their rag-tag group of indie-bearded musicians (excluding Feist, of course) the talk of the world. Here they are grooving at Harbourfront.
33: the number of months Feist spent on the road promoting her breakthrough album Let it Die (2004), according to an interview in Paste magazine. The album, which was recorded while Feist was living in Paris, garnered Feist two Juno Awards, Best Alternative Album and Best New Artist. One of the songs, “Mushaboom,” was used in a Lacoste commercial.
1 million+: album sales for Feist’s third studio album, The Reminder.
4,161: Feist contributed to the big, whizzing number "Life’s a Happy Song" for the soundtrack of the hit movie The Muppets, but we all know her love affair and partnership with fuzzy-headed puppets includes her über-cute appearance in Sesame Street (episode number 4,161, according to the eerily-detailed Muppet Wiki) where she sang “1234” with Elmo and company. How can you not love this person?
18: the number of months Feist took off of the music scene after the colossal success of The Reminder.
$250: The going rate for floor seats at stubhub.com for Feist’s sold-out Dec. 1 concert at Massey Hall. Video from her show in Los Angeles on Nov. 12:
Feist, Massey Hall, Dec. 1