It's been a few months since the release of Centerfold, the latest album from Toronto's Darcys, and while the duo has been to Vancouver since, it was always opening for someone else. Now they're back for their first headlining show since the new album, and the changes in both their band (dropping down to just two members, Jason Couse & Wes Marskell) and sound.

Opening the show was Vancouver's Sex With Strangers, their indie-dance-rock a nice compliment to Darcys. As usual, singer Hatch Benedict was bursting with energy and he barely stood still for a second, his raw vocals contrasting with those of Shevaughn Ruley. Near the end of the set, as they went into "Gift of Fear", Hatch jumped off the stage and onto the dance floor to, well, dance. He went around the growing crowd, singing to/at people, urging them closer, and encouraging them to move, while ending off the set with a cover of "Don't Change" by INXS.

As it was a curfewed show, it was a fairly quick turnaround for Darcys, as the duo took to a somewhat tropical looking stage; plants lining the sides, a light up palm tree, a projection screen behind them showing a tree-lined road, and a large neon sign with their name emblazoned.
They mostly played off the new album Centerfold, with songs like the catchy "Arizona Highway", "Miracle", which got everyone moving, and one of my favourites, the frantic "Coming Up For Air". But they also threw back to a couple older ones, both "The River" and "Shaking Down the Old Bones" bringing the old songs into their "new" sound nicely.
During the set, Jason and Wes joked a lot, both with the crowd and with each other, clearly having fun. They shared stories from the road, bantered about early shows (it was almost definitely still light outside when they started their set), and seemed like they were trying to entertain each other as much as the crowd.
As the curfew drew closer, they wrapping the set up with the simmering slow burn of "Lip Service", erupting into an intense ending before thanking everyone and taking off. But they made the crowd work for the encore -- blaming it on the distance from the stage to the bathrooms -- before coming back to play a couple more.
I've said before, I'm not really a fan of the whole encore process, unless the band uses it to have some fun, not just play more of their songs -- or worse yet, their big hit. And that's exactly what Wes & Jason did. After joking with the audience about not knowing anymore songs (and barely knowing the ones they were about to play) they launched into a pair of amazing covers. First was their recent release, a version of "Kiss" by Prince, followed by Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is". Both were super fun and had the crowd singing along, and a perfect way to end off the show.

It can be hard when a band you really like goes through changes. As much as I love the dark art-rock sounds of their previous album Warring, the new album is ridiculously fun and catchy, and even with a bit more of an 80s pop sheen to it, the new songs still sounded like The Darcys, still have that slightly dark edge creeping in underneath the shine. And even with all that aside, they're still a great live band.

setlist
Studio City
I Want It All
Alibi
Arizona Highway
The River
Shaking Down the Old Bones
Coming Up For Air
Full Throttle
Black Diamonds
San Diego, 1988
Miracle
Lip Service
(encore)
Kiss [Prince cover]
I Want to Know What Love Is [Foreigner cover]