It does seem an interesting bill - one of Canada's most eclectic MC's (and former poet laureate) in Cadence Weapon, opening for the power duo, Japandroids. Brian (of Jpndrds) introduction of the rapper shone a light on this but also highlighted how this introduction shouldn't really be necessary in their homeland. And in reality it wasn't though I'm sure it didn't hurt. People were really into the small ball of rapping energy too as he tore through a bunch of new tracks from his Polaris long-listed recent release, Hope in Dirt City. It was impressive that he didn't miss a beat on songs new and old, including Real Estate, Oliver Square and House Music, while also throwing down some pretty funky dance moves too. The Born Gold DJ held down the beats in his USA t-shirt allowing Cadence to do his thing while the crowd was oddly receptive. Cadence wrapped up an impressively solid set (my first time seeing him) with Loft Party.
Japandroids album (also Polaris long-listed) is called Celebration Rock and much has been made of the title. I, for one, am with the masses in deeming it a worthy and appropriate name for their style of music pumped out by Dave's spectacular drumming and Brian's hugely amplified, and distorted, guitar licks. From song one the energy was there and it did not wane throughout, even with the inclusion of album closer, Continuous Thunder. I'd love to give a breakdown of the songs but I was too busy surviving the frenetic pit to take notes. A tonne of new material was played; in fact, it looks as if the entire new album made its way into the evening highlighted by single The House that Heaven Built and the deservedly-rehashed-for-this-album Younger Us. It's almost cliche to say how much output there is from "just" as two-piece but it needs to be reiterated as Brian really made the guitar soar - so much so that he broke a string and left Dave to drum solo while he swapped mid-song, sans guitar tech. The crowd responded as well to new music as old, though I was pleased to shout along to Post-Nothing "classics" (everything but Heart Sweats and I Quit Girls). In a respectable move they announced that they were going to give it their all with For the Love of Ivy (who knew it was a cover?) and not encore. True to their word they both gave it their all, with Brian perched atop Dave's kickdrum, and left us shouting for more even despite the exhaustion from rocking out for over an hour.
No comments:
Post a Comment