The Matinée @ Fox Cabaret -- 08/10/17

in
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On a Thursday night, people packed into a (thankfully air conditioned) Fox Cabaret to celebrate not only the new album from The Matinée, but also the band's ten year anniversary. In fact, they mentioned their very first photoshoot was in that same room, back when it was the Fox Cinema and, well, let’s just say it was 19+ for very different reasons.

Unfortunately I missed the first act of the night, Emily Rowed, arriving shortly before The Wild Romantics. They played a set of mostly new, unreleased songs, I believe, starting with a sultry tune and gradually turning the energy up throughout the set. Songs like "Someone Else’s Smile" and "You’re My Whiskey" were on the sweeter side, as couple Aleisha Kalina and Evan Miller sang together, sometimes into a single mic, their chemistry off the charts. Throughout the set, things got progressively more rockin', culminating with the raucous “Fist Fight” and the fittingly titled, “Last Call” to finish off. Hopefully the new music means they have a new album coming out down the line, because I'm definitely looking forward to hearing it. 

After some between-set music clearly chosen by the band, The Matinée took the stage, singer Matt Layzell, Matt Rose & Geoff Petrie on guitars, and drummer Peter Lemon joined by Georges Couling on keys and Marcus Abramzik on bass. They started off with a couple old favourite, "Sweet Water" getting the crowd to stomp, clap, and sing along -- not for the last time that night -- and one of my personal faves "L'Absinthe", before going into their new album, with the title track "Dancing On Your Grave". 
They gave off a great energy, each member clearly having an absolute blast on stage (you can always tell a band member is into it when they are singing along nowhere near a microphone) and that energy definitely infected the crowd. It also helps that they're all fantastic musicians, with Matt Layzell as charismatic a frontman as you'll find. But he also knows when to melt into the back and let the spotlight shine on other members of the band; evidenced when he literally pushed Marcus front and centre.
Highlights from the set included "Figure It Out" which features Emily Rowed come back on stage for guest vocals; my favourite from the new album, "Fireworks" which builds to an appropriately explosive ending; "Show Me" which saw Geoff & the two Matts crowded around the mic to sing softly; as well as a heartfelt cover of The Hip's "Grace Too". 
They brought the main set to an end with the last song from the album, “Heart Still Works” and feigning an encore break, but then Matt Rose saying the whole thing is silly and they were just going to keep going. He and Layzell then played the first song they ever wrote together, an acoustic ballad called “Red Wine and Whiskey” before ending with a bang: first the incredibly infectious “The Road” and finally -- with a little bit of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” slipped into the middle of it -- the perennial summer jam “Young & Lazy” to cap off their 10 year celebration.

And here’s to hoping for (at least) another 10 more. 

setlist
Sweetwater
L'Absinthe
Daning On Your Grave
Sweet Thing
Figure It Out
Fireworks
Show Me
Grace Too
Long Gone
Let Her Go
Blood Alley
Heart Still Works
(encore)
Red Wine & Whiskey
The Road
Young & Lazy

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) @ Fox Cabaret -- 06/28/17

in

As someone who doesn't (read: can't) dance, there are really only a handful of bands that can get me to move more than just the standard Leg-Shake-Foot-Tap and Head-Bob moves. One of those bands is Sacramento's !!! (or Chk Chk Chk if you're trying to say it out loud). Hot off their new album Shake the Shudder, they returned to Vancouver for a show at the Fox Cabaret. 

The five members of !!! were joined by singer Meah Pace, who features on the new album, to get the dance party started with "NRGQ". Clad in a sport coast and shorts, Nic Offer (who I feel is exempt from the No Shorts On Stage rule) soon doffed the coat and lost half the buttons on his shirt, just by sheer movement.
They worked through their discography from new songs like "Dancing is the Best Revenge" (one of my favourite song titles of the year) to older ones, including the vitriolic & explosive "Pardon My Freedom" from '04's Louden Up Now. Other highlights included "Our Love (U Can Get)", showcasing the great blend of vocals between Offer and Pace, the ridiculously fun "Freedom! '15", and the thumping rhythm of "One Girl/One Boy".
Both Offer & Pace were dancing their faces off the entire time, but especially Nic who barely stood still for a minute. Back and forth across the stage, strutting and grooving, even coming into the crowd a few times, Offer was a ball of energy, constantly in motion. 
An hour flew by as they brought the set to a close on the soulful "The One 2", Pace's voice soaring through the theatre, as they were back out for one more in the encore, with the funky "Slyd". 

One of the most flat out fun live bands you'll see, !!! puts on a live set that will get even the most awkward dancing, and promise everyone will leave a sweaty mess and a giant grin on their face. 

setlsit
NRGQ
All U Writers
Pardon My Freedom
Our Love (U Can Get)
DITBR (interlude)
Dancing Is the Best Revenge
Throttle Service
Freedom! '15
One Girl/One Boy
The One 2
(encore)
Slyd