Halifax Pop Explosion | Day 3

Cadence Weapon at The Paragon

By this point, I'm about five days removed from actually having went to shows last Thursday night, so I'm going off my memory, plus some notes I made the day after. Let's get right to it:

Jenocide | @ The Paragon: this duo reminded me right off the bat of Crystal Castles. Nowhere near the stage presence or ominousness of that Toronto pair, but the same girl vocalist and silent mixer thing going on, plus of course the electronic nature of the whole thing. Whereas Crystal Castles has that dissonance between Alice Glass' shouts and the otherworldly hums, burrs and samples coming from Ethan Kath's various electronic instruments, Jenocide's a much more straightforward venture, in that they sound poppier, and lead singer Jen Clarke's voice is clear and complimentary to the tracks.

That didn't necessarily mean however that they were always needed. Jenocide's mix-maker Ed Renzi more than holds his own, ever-so-quietly providing killer beats for Jen to work with and around; when some of the loops dropped in, or an additional beat kicked up, they came harder than you'd expect for such a seemingly electro-pop outfit. How they tied in to Jen's vocals was almost strange: although her singing was great and her stage presence an integral part of the show (wandering down on more than one occasion to serenade the crowd of 20 to 30, both on the floor and from a strategically placed chair in front of the stage), you almost felt like Renzi's beats alone would be enough to start a party, and Clarke's lyrics just a sugary side dish to the main beat-centered course. Either way, the singing never took away from the quality of any of the tracks, so I'm not complaining here.

Jenocide - Fashion Icon

Old Folks Home | @ The Paragon: I first have to point out that I'm used to going to bigger shows, where you're lucky to even catch a full look at what the band members' faces all look like. Thursday night at The Paragon, the members of Old Folks Home were actually standing right beside me during Jenocide's show, unbeknownst to me until a stage manager came up behind them and said "they've got five more minutes and the stage is all yours after that." Definitely a different kind of vibe for the Halifax Pop Explosion shows I'd have to say, and the only time I can remember something like that happening was when my friend and I accidentally stole The Pack A.D.'s table before their show.

Anyways, Old Folks Home's set was definitely a smidgen darker than Jenocide's (the acts during these shows didn't always exactly follow the same genre I found) and provided lots of distortion, as well as drum and synth loops -- which was weird, considering they already had a drummer. That led however to pretty well-textured sound to their set, but also some awkward moments when the drummer just kinda sat there while the loop played for the first minute or so on some songs. Overall, the duo had a spacey sound, and the lead singer's voice was pretty good for a band that relied so much on distortion of instrumentation -- usually a sure sign they're trying to compensate for a singer's lacklustre vocals.

They killed their first two or three songs as far as I remember, but the pace and ferocity really slowed down after that, and never really recovered. During one of the tunes though, lovely local star Rebekah Higgs wandered out from backstage and lent her vocals, which was kinda cool. Overall though, I felt a little underwhelmed by these guys. The rest of the night in retrospect was upbeat and electro-driven; Old Folks Home had some of those elements in their show, but used them in a slower, more deliberate and probably "deeper" way. I wouldn't know for sure though, as I could barely make out most of the words being sung.

Funny aside: between songs, they mentioned their merch was all $5, to which a (drunk) female crowd member yelled what sounded like: "five dolla make you holla!"...but unfortunately, the lead singer must've heard something different, and responded by saying "no, five dollars makes YOU hotter!" in a jokey sort of way, but which elicited some "oohs" and a general uncomfortableness among the crowd. Thankfully, he realized his faux-pas, and proceeded to apologize, but it couldn't have felt too good.

Old Folks Home on MySpace

Think About Life | @ The Paragon: to quote the first line of my notes? "FUCKING KILLED IT." It was by far one of the most fun and exciting shows I'd been to all year. But before that, I'm gonna bore you a bit. As the band was tuning and setting up, there was a woman walking around in what looked like an awkward 90's pantsuit: it went up to her waist, she was rocking quite an unflattering top and a bowlish haircut straight out of some "how not-to" guide. She just looked completely out of place. Plus her shoes didn't match the rest of the suit. Anyway, I thought she was some understudy at soundcheck or general "stage-handing" and that they were kind of "letting" her do the show. I mean, she just looked like that to me. Lo and behold, she walked out with the three guys I'd seen in The Coast's pictures of Think About Life, and grabbed a spot in front of one of the mics. Go figure. She proceeded to provide some harmonies, a few vocals, and awkwardly nonrhythmic dance moves for the next half-hour or so. Even slapped some bass for a tune.

Before the whole group materialized though, the guitarist stood by some of his electronics and started fiddling with them to create some really interesting atmospherics. After that however, Think About Life went on to bang out one song after another of pure. awesome. dance-inducing. party-starting. music. I cannot stress enough how much I immensely enjoyed their set. Unfortunately, a certain fellow in a plaid red shirt beside me (coulda been anyone considering how much plaid was being rocked over the weekend) seemed like he needed a few drugs to enjoy the show, and was writhing and dancing like a maniac for the first few tunes -- on top of delivering the most malicious elbow I've ever felt at a concert as he was trying to go by me, and this is from a guy who will literally let anyone by him if they wanna move up. After their first few initial tracks though, Think About Life had me dancing at a pace approaching his drug-induced level, so that's how that all ties in; just totally contagious, body-moving sounds.

At one point, I turned around to see Rebekah Higgs moving to the music with some of her friends, and looked across the floor and spotted Wednesday night's star Hannah Georgas similarly enjoying herself. Think About Life brought out that night's headliner Cadence Weapon to help out with the energetic "Sweet Sixteen," which had everyone shouting along the words and simultaneously jumping up and down to the stuttering beat. Cadence was just as into the show as Think About Life themselves, and it was one of the most engaging renditions of any song I've heard on the festival circuit this year so far. The crowd itself was so locked in to the performance that we started an instant call-and-response with lead singer Martin Cesar (aka "Dishwasher") from one off-key shout of "woo-oo!" Cesar even proceeded to come down into the now-packed crowd and get up close and personal with the raucous bunch.

Overall, Think About Life was one of the catchiest and best live groups I've ever seen, matching the same feeling of fun (though not quite the same deliriousness) I had during Crystal Castles' set at Osheaga in the summer. Their zest for their music and Cesar's indelible stage presence made every single second so full of energy and vigor that even a set twice as long would never be enough. Their style was completely unique, and I definitely can't wait for the next time they come through town. I was actually so taken by them that on my way out (I didn't stick around for Cadence Weapon's set) I bought one of the t-shirts the band had for sale at the merch table, something I've never actually done at any show. Oh yeah, we also cheered like crazy for an encore, but I guess only the headliners were allowed to come back out for one during Halifax Pop Explosion, so that was literally the only letdown associated with Think About Life on such a great night.

Think About Life - Havin' My Baby

Fox Jaws | @ Coconut Grove: I wound down my Thursday night with a visit to see these guys play where my roommate and his girlfriend were for the night: the nicer-than-expected Coconut Grove, a cozy little club with a low ceiling I'd always known about, but never been to. It was the kind of place that would be a perfect basement spot...if it wasn't on the top floor overlooking the infamous Pizza Corner, with its own patio and all. The place had a weird stage set-up inside, with the guitarist and singer on the floor, and the bassist and drummer on a small elevated platform in behind.

The first thing I noticed as soon as the set started was the sound: it was nowhere near as encompassing as The Paragon's -- but I'm now convinced that no venue in town has a sound system quite as great as that club's. At the Grove, there were only about 25-35 people taking in the show, but in a small venue like that, we were all pretty close in. I was told that the night's earlier acts - Yukon Blonde, The Paint Movement and Hot Panda - all put on a good show, so I was looking forward to a nice close to my night, a kind of wind-down from Think About Life's spirited set. Singer Carleigh Aikins (drummer Brandyn's sister evidently) has a great voice, with the slightest rasp to it, and she sounded great even when yelling some of the vocals, keeping good tone throughout.

Carleigh often had a tambourine in hand during the set, and although I'm not usually a fan of that instrument, Fox Jaws brought up a sax player for "Ahab's Ghost," a song which also featured a persistent guitar loop. On that latter point, I'd never been to so many concerts featuring as much sampling and looping as I had over those few days. It's probably more to do with the smallish size of the bands themselves and the genres of the music I was watching, but it was almost a mini-revelation to see how a lot of the music I like is done live.

Fox Jaws played a pretty all-out and rock-infused set, keeping up their intensity throughout. They were definitely deserving of a bigger crowd, and even their sound itself is built ready to tackle larger venues and sound systems, so it was a bit of a shame they were secluded to a sparsely-attended show at Coconut Grove. To temper that though, I wasn't particularly blown away by their music - it could've been me coming down from the amazing Think About Life set, my creeping tiredness, or my general need to grab a slice of pizza - and we ended up leaving early to grab a bit of said pizza and head home.

Think About Life - Ahab's Ghost

Death Cab Concert Review. Mega Post.

Sooo, while it's still fresh in my mind...and I smell like crowded concert...

Alysse won VIP tickets, so we got to go early around 5 to the sound check. There was maybe 30 of us max there. We got to go in, right up to the stage, Death Cab played 3 songs I'd personally never heard, but they sounded good. Only downside was the mixing drowned out Gibbard's voice if you were too close, so standing further back woulda made it sound a little more balanced. The other thing was that depending on where you stood, you seemed to get only that bass or guitar's speaker. We were in the middle and it was nothing but bass.

Got to meet the band about 5 minutes after that. During the sound check everyone seemed really awkward, like we didn't know how to act. That was the weird thing about having so few people there: you don't really get that "concert" kinda feel. Anyways, we lined up, got to shake hands with all the band members, got our pics with them. Great guys, real laid back, introduced themselves and everything. Told the bassist I liked his beard haha.

After that we got to chill in the VIP lounge, got a wicked little buffet and everything. The Rogers people were there to whore out their new phones and the prizes you could win for texting...lucky us, we've been Telus customers for years. There were two girls there that for God-knows-why, changed their outfits in between the sound check and the concert. Go figure. Another couple there had won tickets from Nokia to fly down for the concert, plus they got a new phone.

We got to watch everyone line up, starting around 6:30-7 I guess. Shitty day outside, overcast, and it didn't seem like they even opened the Dal SUB, so everyone had to wait outside no matter how early they got there. Recognized a few people in line, til it started curving around the block. We heard there were 1000 tickets up for grabs...I heard 150 before that somehow, dunno where or why or when though. Judging from the venue (McInnes room upstairs SUB) 1000 was NOT happening.

We got to go in for the show earlier than everyone else cause of VIP, so we got front row views, but it was further back than sound check. The place started to fill up pretty well, but definitely didn't stretch to the back, and there was maybe 500 there, not even close to the 1000 available. It started getting pretty hot, but I couldn't leave my spot to get water cause I was sure to lose it. I ended up being second row with my friend Jocelyn in front of me. Pretty much 5 feet from the stage either way.

After about half an hour of waiting for the opener to show up, The Midway State finally got on stage. The time seemed much shorter either way though, they had two screens up from projectors with 4 texts showing at a time from everyone in the crowd who submitted one. Pretty funny ones, pretty lame ones. Lots of marriage proposals. Not many screams of "Yes!"

Frankly, The Midway State wasn't all too bad, but all their songs sounded the same. The lead singer was totally overdramatic...and his afro was appropriately inflated to match. They had a pretty good instrumental opener, they seemed happy to be there, but the songs just weren't doing it for me. There was no subtlety at all; they played every song hard, there was tons of noise and guitar and drums filled every noise crevice; no silence to kind of absorb it in. 

I really think the lead singer ruined them for me either way: drama queen, and his voice always sounded strained and like he was gonna cry, but in a really wussy way. The other part I really didn't get was the guitarist: they gave him a solo basically every song, no matter what. He ripped pretty well, but there was one particular solo I remember that was absolute shit; like literally it contained every single thing I hate when it comes to guitar. Low note to low note, chords that were really sad and didn't mesh well...think of something absolutely horrible and melodramatic from the worst 80's rock song you can think of, and then imagine this guy playing it. It was not only bad, but he repeated the same progression. Not impressed.

Anyways, they did their big song "Never Again" then I think one more about rain and why the girl didn't love him. Boo-hoo. I don't think they're going anywhere really; it'd be nice to have them make me eat my words, but I could care less.

Anyways, Death Cab came on after like a half hour of the crew playing around with the drums and the keyboards and guitars. What was the point of the sound check? Don't ask me. They had the set list up on one of the speakers and me and the people beside me tried for a solid 5 minutes to zoom in and find out the order, but the most we figured was that "Cath" was smack dab in the middle. I had a strong feeling they'd open with "I Will Possess Your Heart" cause of the awesome long intro which builds really well and takes a solid 5-6 minutes. Nope.

Ben came out solo with the acoustic and started strumming "I Will Follow You Into The Dark". The crowd went crazy and everyone knew the words which was awesome; especially big cheer when he sang "from Bangkok to Calgary". By the way, if I haven't mentioned yet, everyone was crammed together, the boards were bouncing underneath our feet, and it all smelled like sex. Don't ask. We all belted that song out anyways, but Gibbard never really looked amused. In the back of my mind by the way, I'm comparing this whole thing to The Weakerthans show I saw the other weekend. The whole show, their lead singer was happy to be there and looked amused/bemused by the whole idea of the show and everyone there to watch him/them. That didn't seem evident with DCFC; I think they've been doing it for too long in too many places to really be excited anymore.

Each time a new song would start, Ben would look at the set list and nod at everyone else. There wasn't much interaction during songs other than the bassist turning and playing facing the drum set for half of each song, and Gibbard exchanging awkward stares with the drummer. The other guitarist Chris was off in his own world on the far end (I was standing exactly between the lead singer and bassist, about 7 feet from each...Ben was sweating profusely and it was whipping off him onto the stage every time he twisted his body in the his awkward little high-stepping/prancing around the stage. Strange, but hey, he can have some eccentricities, he's allowed) and he seemed to be singing Ben's parts occasionally, though there was no mike around him to be heard.

I'd say they played 15 songs? and I knew around 6-7...one of the few who seemed to recognize a song they said came off their first album "Something About Airplanes". I think it was "State Street Residential" but no one seemed to know it and it's pretty dark and cynical sounding anyways, not really sure why they played it. You could tell the songs everyone knew and loved though, like "Summer Skin" and "Sound of Settling" which was upbeat and one of the highlights of the show. They never really slowed it down much, though when they did get around to IWPYH, the intro was nice and long, the effects were great, and it was very true to the album version. That's the one thing about DCFC though, they're not really about the effects, just straight up two guitars, a bass and drums (plus piano for some songs and a little drum-machine thing for others). Respectable and really well done, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

My favorite part of the whole concert though was them playing "Cath". They rocked it really hard, the sound was awesome and very true to the real thing...but sadly, two things happened. Not many people seemed to know it, and this was the time they started handing out water to anyone who needed it. Distracting, but I still had a blast during that song.

They didn't talk much in between songs, but they made sure to thank us for having them (greeted to raucous applause) and wondered why the didn't come earlier. I think the more the show went on, the louder we cheered and the more we appreciated them. When he announced the last song and finished...I have literally never heard anything louder in my entire life. The cheering, the screaming, the yelling, the whistling, the clapping, the "en-core!"s the "death-cab!"s, the insanity of it all...my eardrums have never felt like that, ever. We must've cheered our hearts out for a solid 3 or 4 minutes. We knew they were coming back anyways, but that didn't stop us from going berserk. It was astounding really.

It was just Ben again I think who came out. Right now, I honestly forget what song he started with though. They played about 4, maybe 5 songs. I was blown away though by the closer, "Transatlanticism". I've never heard it before, but the progression between the awesome start of Ben playing piano and the timbre in his voice, that great acoustic feel, his bandmates standing around taking it all in, giving their guitars a strum here and there for atmosphere...then him getting back to his guitar, the song picking up, and them just absolutely rocking it out for a solid 2 minutes instrumentally and the awesome, repetitive "I need you so much closer". It was easily the most "into" a song any of them were. The bassist was thrashing, getting on his knees at the end...the drummer was murdering the set, the cymbals were flying, it was just awe-inspiring. I caught myself actually exhaling when it was all done, one of the best musical experiences of my life. It really brought the concert up a notch in my mind and it was an amazing close to it all.

Overall, it wasn't one of the better concerts of my life. I frankly even had more fun at The Weakerthans. The main reason? I knew going in Death Cab isn't necessarily the best group to watch live; their music is great to listen to at home, chill to, really take in and appreciate the lyrics. It's not the best at a concert, where the words are drowned out and some of the music is too soft to even bob your head to. When they played their "rock" songs, you could see the energy pick up, and you have to wonder why they don't give that to all their songs. Even when it came to singing and the lyrics, you could FEEL it when John Sampson was singing, no matter what it was. You could feel the pain or the joie de vivre in his voice and you could see it in his face. That wasn't always there with Death Cab, which I felt took away from it a bit. I dunno if that's just how their show is all the time, or if it was just this one.

Disclaimer: I didn't buy the tickets. Alysse won them. There's at least 10-15 bands I'd put ahead of Death Cab that I'd love to see live, so this was more of a "they're in town, it's once-in-a-lifetime, why not?". I did come away impressed, but only by Death Cab though, not in terms of them compared to other bands I've seen live. Overall? 8.2/10 if I had to put a number on it. Would I pay $400 like I heard some people did though? Never.