Sometimes you hear a band announced for a venue and you think "Oh, that's perfect!" Other times you think "Wait... THERE?!"
And to be honest, the latter was my reaction when I heard Braids would be dropping by The Cobalt for the Vancouver stop on their latest tour. Braid's music is dense and rich, and while I like The Cobalt as a venue, it's definitely suited to... less intricate bands.
But even with those reservations, I wasn't going to miss this show. I had somehow never seen Braids live before, and that was something I needed to fix.
Due to another event, I only arrived for the tail end of Tasseomancy, out of Toronto. The twin-fronted band had an electronic pop sound, with airy vocals. The couple songs were okay, but didn't do much to put my fears of the venue's sound to rest.
After a slight delay with what singer/guitarist/keyboardist Raphaelle Standell-Preston later explained as trouble with her in-ear monitors, Braids immediately launched into one of my favourites off their latest album Deep In The Iris, "Taste". Proclaiming "We experience the love that we think we deserve", Raphaelle's powerful voice filled the room, which was then fully realised during "Blondie" as it soared even as she stepped back from the microphone.
The set focused mostly on that new, Polaris short-listed album, the three members -- Standell-Preston, Austin Tufts, and Taylor Smith -- recreated the lush sound of the album, giving the impression there were at least twice as many people on stage at times.
Raphaelle also had an engaging stage presence; instead of letting the show slow down between songs while she had to untangle her in-ear monitors cord, she jokingly walked us through it, and wasn't afraid to shut up some talkers as she paused at the beginning of "Happy When" to -- successfully, I might add-- silence them. (Which I am especially thankful for, since they were right behind me).
Other highlights included Tufts' impressively frantic drumming at the climax of "Warm Like Summer", and a a brand new song, which Raphaelle joked that they should play in a church, not in a bar on Main Street, which was fitting with the synth mimicking an organ.
They closed out the set with the only song they could have, "Miniskirt". It was an immensely powerful performance, not just because of the subject matter, but the unparalleled emotional heft that Raphaelle puts into it. After the first part of the song, when it transitions from a the haunting piano to the fast paced electro beats, Raphaelle stepped off the mic and looked as if she was wiping a tear from her eye. Simple words do not do it justice, and I can confirm firsthand that she wasn't the only one tearing up.
They thanked the crowd and looked to be genuinely done, house music even came back on, but the thunderous applause from the sold-out crowd drew them back out for what I am pretty sure was the first genuine encore I have seen in a long time, as they fittingly sent the crowd home with "Getting Tired".
Every worry I had about the sound quickly vanished at the start of the set, and all the hype and praise I had heard about their live show beforehand was completely justified. This was hands down one of the best shows I have seen all year, and one that will not soon be forgotten.
setlsit
Taste, Sore Eyes, Blondie, Bunny Rose, Happy When, Warm Like Summer, [New Song], Miniskirt.
(encore) Getting Tired.
