Dan Mangan is a 'Basket' Case at Canadian Music Fest

Over the course of a Canadian Music Week / Canadian Music Fest set that saw award-winning Vancouver indie-folk troubadour Dan Mangan perform much of his 2009 breakthrough album 'Nice, Nice, Very Nice' -- including 'Road Regrets,' 'The Indie Queens Are Waiting,' and 'Robots' -- the song that cut the room in half was the one we maybe weren't there for.

'Basket,' a song Mangan wrote about and for his grandfather, was the song that he visibly felt more than we did, the one that hurt him a little. Performed towards the end of his time onstage, it almost brought him to his knees. His massive, full rasp shook and strained like he was holding on for dear life.

Onstage, solo, with his backing band taking a breather, Mangan laid himself bare. He sang with furious energy and maybe a touch of anger, hammering his guitar strings just about as hard as I've ever seen anyone do. With sweat dripping from his brow, his eyes set and focused, you'd swear singing 'Basket' was the single-most inspiring thing he's ever done.

To see Mangan play live is to see what all the fuss is about. It may not have been his best show last night, but it really didn't matter. His performance of 'Basket' is still echoing in my head, its lyrics still poking at and bruising me, and I'm surely not the only one left feeling this way.