The Sunparlour Players were in fine form on this Tuesday night, as well they should be with the end of a month that saw them playing Tuesday night residency sets at the Dakota and Wednesdays in Guelph. Their first set stretched well into the evening and covered a solid number of their top songs - though really the quality of the songs is top-notch even with the fairly wide-ranging variation that they cover. This is especially impressive given that they are down to a two-piece, and it continues to amaze me how they lost a third of their band yet continue to reproduce that same SPP sound. Mind you this is no easy feat and does take each member playing a number of instruments with all extremities at most times. The baritone recipe from their latest Sunparlour Preserves EP played them in but unfortunately I didn't hear the catchy single from that release, Shake and Bake for Goodness Sake, by the time I left partway through the second and final set. They did pull out standards If the Creeks Don't Rise and Battle of '77 as if they weren't show closers, finally shutting it down with the wildly intense John Had a Bell and a Whistle. Maybe I'm just a huge fan but it felt like a best-of first set, with the second act serving as a little more experimental. This makes sense as now that March is over their plan is to hunker down and cut a new record. Can't wait for that to drop and add some new favourites to the repertoire they can tour!
Let's Just Be Friends
A relatively recently formed band featuring two lead vocalist females (and guitar players), with delightfully airy voices when necessary. Behind them the three guys were no slouches either - quite literally with the drummer who didn't even have a stool to sit at for the entire show, which probably added to the intensity that he beat his set. The cello player did understandably have a seat where he could give them an interesting sound without a bass as the last member played the guitar, and he played it perched from a chair for the final song. There were more than a couple songs I found myself picking out as really solid. A great deal of promise here and I hope that they remain friends for some time.
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