On a dark Tuesday night in Vancouver, fans poured their wet selves into the Commodore Ballroom and used heavy bass riffs to dry off with.
But before Canadian rock duo Sebastien Grainger and Jesse F. Keeler shook the stage, the crowd was pleasantly surprised by up-and-comers The Beaches.
This quartet holds nothing back on stage. With comparisons to The Strokes, they immediately took me back to the late 70’s/early 80’s girl rock vibe and sound. The early crowd was bopping and into it immediately. They were tight, the sound mix was spot on and they really owned the set. Honestly, they stole the show. They left the crowd buzzing and pumped. Definitely a band to check out and watch for their next live show.
Headliners Death from Above came out just before 10pm. They put the pedal to the metal, launching in “Nomad” and quickly getting the hands up and heads whipping from the fans. And sure enough, there was some beer flying.
Grainger did take some time between songs to chat and interact with the crowd. He espoused their thankfulness to be back in Canada. He also recommended everyone chew gum prior to a sing along including some interesting puffing sounds…of course some pieces of gum were thrown his way.
And then the drum sample went dead about 30 seconds into their latest single “Freeze Me”.
“We are saving up for a pianist…er a piano player. Also this is what happens when you have your drums in a can.” The song was restarted and carried on without pause. The fans didn’t mind a bit.
The best part of the performance for me was when the distorted bass was dialled back. As much as I understand this is part of their live sound, at times it was difficult to tell if the mix was bad or that’s just the way it was supposed to sound. As a result, it seemed like a fair bit of both as the crowd started to trickle out early.
The mosh pit featured it’s share of cliche’d dudes in mom jeans, jean vests and hair that Jeff Spicoli would be proud of. There was chest bumping and beer chugging as well.
All in all DfA delivered a solid, yet heavily distorted, performance of current singles and fan faves.
But I’ll be keeping my eye out for The Beaches next time they are in town.
Written by Scotty Evil
@nightMair Creative.com
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