Aroara - Cameron House (Jan 27/13)

A last minute text dragged me out of my comfortable Sunday confines for the AroarA show - a makeup gig for a missed opening slot on Friday previous due to snowy traffic conditions. As Andrew Whiteman explained, it could have been in Ariel's basement with her studying daughter but for the intimate crowd who gathered in the Cameron House back room we were thrilled about this venue. The band are playing in lead up to the release of their debut album, one based on a collection of poems about somebody tripping out on Hep C medication contracted while doing Speed. Uplifting huh? Strangely so, according to Andrew. The sample- and guitar-based songs do come across positively and sound quite good under the vocals shared by the two members, Andrew and his wife, Ariel. Partway through the set they invited the one and only Feist, who had been whooping it up in the crowd, to join them for a rehearsed number or two. Her acoustic guitar complemented the others and the double female vocals worked off of each other really well. The room was full of fans, some of whom were surely introduced to the band at Jason Collett's Revue this December past (who was also in attendance following his theatre performance on the same stage prior to the show). They performed a full set covering the range of sounds and were invited back for Number Six - as the band and fans alike had fun with the fact the poems, and hence the songs, are all just numbered. I bet if you polled people they'd number this performance a ten - worth going out for!