Purity Ring on Thursday @ The Marquee (pic courtesy of @usualsuspectguy)
HALIFAX
POP EXPLOSION! I can’t say enough about this awesome event every year, so I’ll
try to keep it short here, and do what I did last year with haikus for each act
I saw. One thing I feel compelled to do however is add a little snippet
underneath where I have to say more about the show. Discipline is the hardest discipline, right?
Tuesday @ The
Seahorse
Camp Radio
Were
a cool Ontario bunch
Only
knew one song of theirs
Kinda
meh, whatevs
The Dudes
Really
fun songs and vibe there
Had
to leave early
Tuesday @ Gus’
Pub
HUMANS
Oh
man, what a show
Eminently
danceable
We
loved them so much
Okay,
I could go on forever about these guys, so I’m stealing some of the words I
left out for the above shows. Gus’ is nice and small, so the acoustics are
great, and the stage is only a foot or two higher than the floor. HUMANS are
just two dudes from Vancouver with a table of electronics, two microphones, and
possibly a guitar. I don’t even remember. All I know is that they killed it, in
the kind of quietly powerful way that ends up sticking with you for years.
I
could compare the show to SBTRKT, who I saw at Osheaga this summer. Same deal
there, just two guys and their electronics. Both guys have a mid-tempo sound,
but where SBTRKT left you kind of head-bobbing, HUMANS were more body-moving.
Each song built up perfectly, from the sparse backbeat, to the added layers, to
the chanting vocals that would kick in like halfway through. Heck, everyone was
so into it we even started adding our own vocals, which I have to say I’ve
never experienced before.
That
was the other thing. I haven’t seen a crowd embrace an artist so
whole-heartedly as we did that night. Their first song was basically a
15-minute dance affair, at a volume so bearably pleasant that you could have a
chat (and I did) with the people right beside you. Once that introductory tune
was over, we applauded them. Maaan, did we give them a hand. This was the first
song! You could see the sheepish smiles on their face for such a reception, and
it was a genuinely great thing to see at a concert. HUMANS wasn’t just a show,
it was an experience.
They
kicked into their next tune and had us dancing anew. I only knew two of their
songs that night, but hell if that mattered. I just remember dancing for what
felt like two hours (it was only one), and the guys didn’t let up. Once they
played what they said was their last song, we cheered hard and long for an
encore, to which they obliged, with this warning: “Okay guys, we can play one
more song. But that’s it – we literally don’t have any more after this!”
Earlier, after the second or third song break, the feedback from the crowd was
so amazing that the duo spontaneously yelled “Halifax is the the greatest
fucking city ever!” That’s obviously not true, but the sentiment was nice, and
maybe to them, that night, we were.
Wednesday @ The
Seahorse
Kuato
Imagine
your life
Set
to an epic soundtrack
That
was these guys’ sound
I’ve
basically been explaining this group (one drummer, four guitarists,
instrumental rock) that if you set every great and uplifting moment of your
life to music, it would be these guys’.
Wednesday @
Reflections
The Elwins
Not
that into it
Kinda
old-fashioned group
Left
to go get food
The Dudes
(again!)
Secret
guest that night!
Brought
up free-styling MC’s
Was
such a fun show
This
was awesome if only for the fact that we got to see a full Dudes show after we
missed about half of it the night before. They were announced as the secret
guest at Reflections that night, and I was pretty excited to see them without
the pressure of having to leave early to catch another show.
They
rocked the hell out, and then – in something they apparently do at every show –
invited up any local freestylers to have a go at it during their final song. No
less than three people – in varying states of sobriety – took the stage,
ranging from somewhat painful (but eventually redeeming) to refreshingly
laid-back, to professionally-prepared (there’s no way the last guy didn’t write
what he said before the show; it was that good).
Born Ruffians
Quite
interesting
His
voice is unlike others
Steadily
improved
Thursday @
Olympic Hall
Elliott Brood
We
barely got in
Quite
dapperly-dressed fellows
Sound
was very bad
Wintersleep
Sound
still was not good
Slightly
disappointing show
Left
it early too
The
only thing about both shows: not sure if it was just the venue (a
high-ceilinged hall with a second level that might have been sucking the sound
up to the underage kids banished there), but the sound was consistently bad. As
soon as any guitar was strummed, the whole thing turned into a shoegaze-fest:
just one layer of sound blending into another, which didn’t suit either of
these bands. Both bands’ lead singers have very distinct voices, but they were
largely lost in the shuffle of bad sound.
Thursday @ The
Marquee
Purity Ring
Just
kidding, I’m sad
Couldn’t
get into this one
Still
upset today
FUCK.
Got there an hour early for the show and still didn’t get in. They had to tell
us three times that “there’s absolutely no way you guys are getting in without
a ticket” (we had wristbands) before we ended up leaving. That’s how badly I
wanted to see this duo. Fuck everyone who went to this and said it was great.
I’ve seen the pictures. I’ve heard the stories. I hate you all, forever. Fuck.
Friday @ Gus’
Pub
Lantern
Was
a 1am show
Napped
and almost slept through it
Really
riffy rock
Saturday @ The
Palace
Tasseomancy
Got
there too early
Had
to see their creepy show
Felt
a little bad
Zola Jesus
“Wow”
is my sole word
Such
a stunning vocalist
Performed
with bare feet?
Zola
Jesus is from the Midwest. Zola Jesus has a Russian-sounding real name. Zola
Jesus is 4’11”, 90 lbs. Zola Jesus has the voice of a seven-foot opera singer.
Zola Jesus would probably be a hundred times more popular if she had a
different name. Zola Jesus was the second-best show I saw after HUMANS.
Zola Jesus, please come back to Halifax soon.
Saturday @ The
Company House
Mo Kenney
Went
to school with her
Blown
away by her great voice
Great
rapport twixt songs
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