The Dears @ Venue -- 03/05/11

I am going to come clean with you right off the bat. The Dears are one of my favourite bands. I hadn't seen them live in almost two years, and was more than a little excited for this show. It was an early show at Venue, which I both liked because I was able to get home early-ish (for I am apparently an old man), but also disliked, because I felt it cut the set short.

As it was a curfewed show with three bands, he first, The Tender Box, hit the stage around 7:20. There weren't too many people when they started, but by the end of their half hour set, there was a decent crowd. They had a pretty basic rock sound, with a high energy, but most of their songs sounded pretty similar. Two back to back songs even had the same "sing along to this part where we just go ooohh-ooooooh" template. Nothing terrible, and enjoyable enough to watch, but not too memorable either.

Next up was Eulogies. I had only heard one song prior to the show, and I liked it so I was intrigued to see them. I was won over, if for no other reason than the lead singer had a Fantastic Four guitar, but also at the incredibly catchy and well written songs. They had a sound that I immediately though to classify as "dark pop", even if that isn't a genre and makes no sense, but the songs managed to be equal amounts upbeat and intense. There wasn't much by way of banter, but the lead singer still had a charm and charisma to him, and did a good job of engaging the crowd. I will definitely be checking them out next time they're through town, and had I the monies, I would have picked up their new album. (But I will have to make do with it streaming from their website for now)

And then the lights dimmed, and "Love me Tender" started to play. At first I wasn't sure if it was The Dears intro music or not, but as the song ended, they hit the stage and launched right into it with the first four songs off their new album, Degeneration Street. "Omega Dog" was brilliant live, with Pat Krief's amazing guitar work melting faces early on and "Tigerblood" (as Murray introduced it), bound to be one of my favourite songs of the year, was incredible live. They went on to play a good cross section of their material, with "Whites Only Party" getting everyone dancing, and Natalia's vocals coming to the forefront with "Crisis 1 & 2". The pair of "Lost in the Plot" and "We Can Have It" were great sing-alongs, and it was nice to see the latter live, as that is more or less the song that hooked me on The Dears. (I had seen them open for Matt Good and liked them enough to get No Cities Left after, and by that song, track one, I was a fan)
There wasn't much chit chat, other than some thank you's and song intros, and near the end of the set Murray explained that since they had a curfew, they wanted to cram as much music in as possible. The "curfew" fact got a few boos, but Murray calmed everyone by quipping that the "shiny shirts" need somewhere to go, too. As the set came to an "end", with a couple more off the new album, there was almost no encore fake-out -- or at least it looked like Natalia was questioning it -- but indeed "left" anyway, for a moment, before came back out with two of my favourite songs, "You & I Are A Gang Of Losers", which was incredibly emotional live, but was somehow topped by the last song, "22: The Death Of All The Romance"

The song began with Murray getting the appropriate parts of the crowd to sing along to the gender specific lines, and by the chorus, he was down on his knees, facing his wife Natalia, vowing to "avenge the death of all the romance". It's hard to convey in text (or blurry cellphone pictures), but it was an incredible moment, and an unforgettable tableau.
After some incredible guitar work (and more melting of faces) by both Krief and Murray, the song ended with Lightburn crouched at the front of the stage, microphone in the crowd, looking emotionally drained.

Part of the reason I love The Dears so much is their live shows. The whole band is passionate, but Murray especially just exudes raw emotion; soaring hope, bitter heartache, and everything in between, he makes the audience feel it. While I think their last show here, at Richard's, was better* it was still an incredible show, and just cemented why The Dears are one of my favourites.
*though to be fair that one is one of my favourite live shows, ever

setlist
Omega Dog, 5 Chords, [Tiger]Blood, Thrones, Whites Only Party, Crisis 1 & 2, Hate Then Love, Lost In The Plot, We Can Have It, Yesteryear, 1854.
(encore) Gang of Losers, 22: The Death of All the Romance.

Hey Rosetta! @ Rio Theatre -- 03/04/11

Aside from their all-too-short opening set for Stars last year, it had been far too long since I saw Hey Rosetta! play live, so I was quite excited for their show last night. Especially at the Rio Theatre, which is a surprisingly great venue to see live shows in. Not surprising that a movie theatre has great sound, and the seats are incredibly comfortable. Which also have cupholders for your... beverage of choice. It also must be a rarity across Canada, as every show I've seen there, the band has made a comment about how odd it is to be playing a movie theatre.

Up first was Gramercy Riffs from St John's. They had a bit of a pop-rock flavour, with harmonizing male/female vocals, and were really fun to watch. The band was tight, and put on a good set, but while they weren't necessarily generic, they weren't really much of anything I hadn't heard before. A couple songs followed the 'start poppy and then explode into dense guitars and rocking drums' template, and the songs were incredibly catchy, but a bit repetitive. Ultimately, though, I quite enjoyed them and they were a pretty great pick to open for HR! and Perfectly Acceptable Music.

And then was Hey Rosetta!, taking the stage to an instrumental intro. They started the set off, appropriately enough, with "Welcome", from the set a high energy for the night. "Yer Spring" kept the energy up, as they went into some older songs. They played a good amount from their repertoire, spanning all three of their albums. They also proved how great a live band they are, as midway through "Another Pilot" all the stage lights went out and the band finished the song in the dark, without missing a single note.
Throughout the show, front man Tim Baker was oozing both charm and energy; talking between songs, joking about the movie theatre, and jumping and dancing around while playing -- even when he was on the keys, he was chair-dancing a little. Other highlights of the set were the intense "Young Glass", the beautiful "We Made A Pact" and the "closing" song "Red Heart", which got recognition applause.
For the encore, Tim came out wearing a Newfoundland (and Labrador) flag -- that someone had put on stage for them -- as a scarf, and his acoustic guitar for "Bandages", getting everyone to sing along by the end of it. Following that, Mara Pellerin from Gramercy Riffs came out for an awesome cover of "Time After Time". I always love it when bands do covers, and this was a great interpretation of the song, making it very Hey Rosetta-esque. The set wrapped up as appropriately as it began, with "New Goodbye", bringing the show to an intense and climactic ending.

There were a few songs that I was a little sad they didn't play -- "Yer Fall", "Parson Brown", "Handshake the Gangster", and "Holy Shit (What A Relief)" namely -- and at the beginning the sound mix seemed a little off, but it was fixed soon enough and the show was pretty amazing, those minor quibbles aside.

selist
Welcome, Yer Spring, Another Pilot, There's An Arc, Bricks, Young Glass, I've Been Asleep For A Long, Long Time, We Made A Pact, Swing The Cellar Door, Seeds, Red Heart.
(encore) Bandages, Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper cover), New Goodbye.

United Steel Workers of Montreal with Redbird & The Sumner Brothers @ Railway -- 02/22/11

I don't know why, maybe it's by design (in fact, it probably is) but the Railway Club always seems to have a lot of great folk, roots rock, or alt country acts. Last night was a trio of bands that would definitely fit into that.

First up was The Sumner Brothers, and they started their set in a most excellent way, proclaiming "This song is about a giant" before getting right into it. They had a very folk, almost bluesy sound as the titular brothers shared vocal duties, which both contrasted and complimented each other. Both deep, one more smooth and one with a gritty rumble, but full of emotion; one of the brothers was singing through clenched teeth a couple times. He also changed instruments a few times, going from guitar to keys to banjo to soprano sax.
As well as their own songs, they covered Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)" and did a pretty good job of it, and ended with the  traditional song "Pay Me My Money Down".
They put on quite an entertaining show, and I would be interested in checking them out again.

Next up was Redbird, who I was quite looking forward to seeing. It would be my first time seeing them play a full band show since August, and thus my first time seeing the current lineup in full; who meshed very well together, despite being fairly new. Since that August show, I had seen and heard some acoustic songs, so it was interesting to see those same songs with the full band feel to them. The set started off with "Oh Please My Heart", which is one of the songs I knew acoustically. When the full band kicked in on it, I knew they would make the songs stronger than they already were.
Another song that I was more used to acoustic -- and one of my favourites of the songs I had heard -- was "No Game", and I was a little surprised by how much of a rocker it ended up being. But pleasantly so, as it worked very well. Definitely made me more excited for the upcoming EP.
There were, however, some technical problems with the set -- for a couple songs, Savannah's mic seemed low, and her vocals were drowned out a little, but it wasn't a persistent issue (at least not during Redbird's set) and not terribly noticeable or anything.
I've always liked the roots rock, as well as being a sucker for strong voices like Savannah's, and so the more I see Redbird, the more I am enjoying them. I am certainly looking forward to the next time I will be able to see them live (whenever that might be)

And finally was the United Steel Workers of Montreal. I had heard a lot of good things about them, so was quite intrigued. They hit the stage six people strong, and I immediately noticed there was no drummer -- just guitars, stand up bass, banjo, mandolin and accordion. The launched right into it, and pretty much set the tone for the rest of the night when they broke a string during the first song. And not only that, but they managed to joke and banter enough to keep the crowd entertained while the guitar was being restrung.
Despite being from Montreal (imagine that, a band who is actually from their namesake) they gave off more of a maritime, folk-alt-country feel, reminding me a little of the Tom Fun Orchestra, with the dual male/female vocals and raucous, fun sound. They put on a show that was just plain fun to watch, with the singer even going into the crowd and involving those in the front, from singing to/at them to getting them to shout to actually dancing with a guy. And of course, it was made that much better by the fact that the music itself was actually really good, very catchy.
The aforementioned mic problems reared up again, though, as Felicity Hamer seemed to be continually having issues with any mic she tried. But they didn't let that slow them down as they soldiered through their set.
The encore consisted of the incredibly powerful "Jesus We Sweat", and a slower song that they encouraged everyone to dance for, promising that any pair of people who did so would be getting laid that night.

Definitely a great trio of bands that, despite the technical difficulties, each put on a great show.

West Coast Pop! w/ Bend Sinister, The Racoons & Rococode @ Red Room -- 02/19/11

The West Coast Pop concert series kicked off in fine fashion last night at the Red Room, where it will be running every Saturday for the next 13 weeks. Future acts include 41st & Home, Kyprios, The Dudes, Treelines, and the show I am most looking forward to thus far: We Are The City with Aidan Knight and Analog Bell Service. There will also be more shows announced soon (like, next week soon).

As for the first show... I am not going to lie, I am still disappointed that Young Galaxy had to drop out, but Bend Sinister is always a good time, and the other band I really wanted to see was still on the bill.

That band? Rococode. I had seen this new project from Laura Smith and Andrew Braun in December at the Biltmore (and acoustic at Sitka) and was really impressed, so I was definitely looking forward to seeing them again. Despite being a brand new band, they are not unfamiliar with playing together, which helped them sound incredibly tight. Braun and Smith shared vocals -- and for at least one song, keys -- for some insanely catchy power-pop songs, and even though the crowd was a bit thin due to an early start, they soon drew everyone's attention and filled the dance floor area. I have no doubt they won over more than a few fans, and I especially can't wait until they have some recorded material out; one of their songs, "Empire", was still stuck in my head all morning.

Next up was The Racoons who, after a bit of a false start, got right into it. They were a bit harder rocking, and at times reminded me a little of The Constantines, in both sound and especially vocals. Their songs were good, if lacking a little in variety, and they had a pretty good stage presence as well. I did have some issues with the sound, though. The other two sets sounded fine, but for some reason, the bass was really overpowering; especially at the start of the set. That aside, I did enjoy their set; I wasn't overwhelmed by it, but I liked it well enough and would be interested in seeing them again.

And rounding out the night was Bend Sinister. They are always incredibly fun to watch live, and last night was no exception. Even being the first show with the new bass player, they were firing on all cylinders, with intense energy from the whole band, especially Dan Moxon. Sprinkled throughout their set were some new songs, as they teased a new release at some point. They were definitely "Bend Sinister songs", lively and enthusiastic, and one of which was introduced as "an ode to Hall & Oats". Among the older songs, "CT" and "Dr. Lee" were both highlights, being incredibly frantic, and the pairing of "Don't Let Us Bring You Down" leading into "Things Will Get Better" was pretty great.
At the end, they broke out a Billy Joel cover (I think "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)") before an intense ending with another new song (I think) and, refreshingly, just left the stage, all done with no encore. I think I've ranted before about how I think the encore break is a waste of time, now that everyone expects it, so it's always nice to see a band just use their full time without it.

In all, a damn good launch to what is sure to be an excellent concert series.

Plants & Animals w/ Yukon Blonde @ Commodore -- 02/18/11

Plants and Animals are getting in the habit of picking some really good touring partners. Last time they were here Said The Whale opened for them, and the second leg of their current tour will be with Karkwa. To be honest, I am disappointed that Karkwa didn't make it out west with them, but that disappointment was sated a little when I found out who would be opening.

That band? Yukon Blonde, with a set consisting of some old and new songs. The new ones were great, though not too much of a departure from the bands sound; but they did have the same excellent energy. The four members on stage had a fantastic energy as they rocked through the set. From the harmonies of "Wind Blows" to the great solos and guitar work throughout, the band owned the stage. And they talked about being incredibly happy to play the Commodore -- and to find out the double-headed showers in the back were not mythical.
I wish they had played for a little longer, but it was a good length for an opening slot, and I have a feeling they'll be playing again soon enough.

setlist: (taken from their setlist, which was all shorthand, so a couple of the songs may not be the full title)
Oregon Shores, Wind Blows, Brides Song, Water [?], Babies Don't Like Blue Anymore , Radio [?], Breathing Tiger, Nico Canmore.

Every time I see Plants and Animals live, they never fail to astonish me on how they have such a huge sound with only the three of them, and last night was no different. They started with a new song that they later identified as "2010" (or "Twenty-Ten") before some more familiar material. The set started off a little mellow, with a couple from the new album and "Good Friends", from Parc Avenue, which was fantastic live and really got the crowd into it.
Frontman Warren Spicer broke out an acoustic guitar for an older song that I didn't catch the name of it, but I think it's all the With/Avec EP. That was followed by another new song, "Why & Why Not"; it was more rocking, and raised the energy, which was continually topped for the next few songs. "Bye Bye Bye" got everyone moving and "Mercy" was, as always, stupendous live -- definitely one of my favourite songs to see performed. They had the crowd singing, clapping and chanting along, and as the song came to a crashing finale, Spicer and Nicolas Basque met mid stage, and began playing each others, and their own, guitars simultaneously.
"The Mama Papa" managed to match that energy, with everyone dancing, and the set came to a "close" with the sprawling and epic "Faerie Dance".
But of course, there was the encore. Another new song started soft with Spicer on the acoustic guitar again, before switching to electric mid-song for a rousing ending. And their last song of the night left the crowd in high spirits, getting "recognition applause" for the whistling intro of the raucous "Feedback In The Field" for a superb ending.

I was slightly disappointed they didn't play "Guru/Sinnerman", which I've seen them play every time, or especially "American Idol", my favourite off the La La Land. But despite those small qualms, it was still a great set, and reminded me why Plants & Animals is such a great live band.

Setlist:
Twenty Ten [new], Undone Melody, Jeans Jeans Jeans, Good Friend, [older song], New Kind Of Love, Why & Why Not [new], Bye Bye Bye, Mercy, The Mama Papa, Faerie Dance.
(encore) [New song], Feedback in the Field.