Rural Alberta Advantage, Yukon Blonde - Castle & Falcon - March 16, '18

Yukon Blonde

Entering the Castle and Falcon I was surprised to hear live music emanating from the back room ahead of the venue’s own set times. Sure enough, Yukon Blonde must have gone on early and were playing to a surprisingly well-filled room. Surprising only because I’d never seen any advertising for anything at this pub before this show and only noticed this gig because I knew the bands. The five of them, with a sideways, side stage drum kit and a female tucked in back were jamming out their throwback guitar rock. Besides the vocals being occasionally flat, whether due to singing or sound system I couldn’t quite tell, they were pretty tight. Playing a lot of new tunes from their last release, .. On Blonde (get it), I didn’t recognise as much as I expected, with Saturday Night being a highlight. The new single Crazy came across well and they excelled when jamming out loudly. Heads were bopping and toes tapping throughout.

Rural Alberta Advantage
I forget just how good The RAA are. Despite having seen them umpteen times it has been awhile; this the first time since the release of The Wild and it all came flooding back when they hit the stage. As an additional bonus I was stoked to see Barefoot Amy back in the fold after a departure for the recording and original tour of The Wild. The crowd were obviously here for this and rocked out right along with us up front, some more determined than others to get individual band members attention (in the form of fist bumps.) I don’t blame them too much as Paul Banwatt is still one of the best in the biz, as exhibited right in front of me, also with a sideways kit. I can’t even keep track of the rhythms and changes and he’s the one playing them. Nils brought his signature nasal to the table, slightly toned down perhaps due to sickness or maybe just evolution. While Amy was her regular geeky self, trying to impress with awkward yet endearing banter about slimy feet and all age shows. The music drew on the entire catalogue, with love throughout, though earlier tunes seemed to get a bigger reaction (perhaps that’s a personal bias though.) Don’t Haunt this Place got things revving a couple tracks in while mid set In the Summertime was beautiful as ever. For the much deserved encore Nils returned alone and rather than his old go-to of Eye of the Tiger he played an acoustic rendition of North Star that definitely mixed things up a little. He introduced it as being written about an encounter with a crush while watching a Stars gig at an Ontario festival. Finally they all came out for Deathbridge in Lethbridge for us to leave it all on the floor. I’d have liked Four Night Rider but besides that I was thoroughly pleased!

Yukon Blonde - Hillside 2013 (Sat Night)

Yukon Blonde had a tougher task ahead of them being the band responsible for bringing it all home on notoriously the biggest evening and stage of the festival. The MC warned that Hillside would not be responsible for any melting of faces from the guitar solos about to occur, and although these went down, a shred fest does not necessarily a party make. Those in the recently revamped front of stage (no more picnic benches! Yeah!) didn't seem to mind and bounced and shook and surfed their way through the entire thing under the assortment of floating prophylactics. The set began well with favourites such as Radio and Six Dead Tigers but I felt it waned down the stretch. They did bring it home with another stronger tune, My Girl but it wasn't quite enough to send me bounding off into the night. The surprise downpour that came up just as the show let us out into the night (and the hour long bus lineup) definitely affected this feeling as well.

Stars, Yukon Blonde - Danforth (Mar 20/13)

Yukon Blonde

Unfortunately for those who hadn't yet arrived to fill the spacious Danforth Music Hall, Yukon Blonde came bursting out of the gate with three strong tunes. In front of a mosaic of a tiger's face they ripped My Girl, Radio and Six Dead Tigers on their guitars. They've certainly got the rock'n'roll look down with the shock of hair on all heads and most faces, the gaunt guitar-arms (minus the avocado tats) and the tight, is-it-ironic?-retro Wallflowers tee and the sound to go with it. Brides Song ended with some sweet guitar  and Loyal Man featured shaker percussion off the top which fit the laid back crowd who didn't really give much of a response until Stairway dropped. Could have been a set closer but instead they went with a longer, slow jam to ease off the stage and make room for the main even.

Stars

A night of sex with Stars. It was the first of two darn-near sold out nights in what they were lovingly referring to as their hometown all of the evening (where they grew up, despite starting the band in Montreal) and they were dressed for it. Glasses abounded as Torq went for a hip professor look, and Chris Seligman (keys), Evan Cranley (bass/keys) and Pat McGee (drums) all glammed out in sunglasses, while the relatively recent guitarist was the most subdued of all. Amy attracted attention in her black dress to complement her sultry voice. That voice that was eventually uncovered once they worked out vocal sound issues on opener Theory of Relativity (though as is becoming apparent, the Danforth is never perfect when it comes to sound). With their massive back catalogue it was interesting to note the song choices to fit the theme, though 2012's The North was still well-represented as this is their first solo tour following its release (having opened for Metric's stadium tour late last year). Fixed followed and then string wizard Nick Zubeck unostentatiously joined them for A Song is A Weapon.

To this point the few songs had all come from the previous two releases but the next was to please many more in the now-filled room as Amy played guitar and wonderfully sang Ageless Beauty from their breakout release from way back in 2004. Following a very minor rant from Torq, one of surprisingly few, about the winter weather they sang The North as a duet while 'snow' fluttered down upon us but it ceased for the still-should-have-been-a-hit We Don't Want Your Body. The song oozes with sensuality and the enduring chemistry between these stars allows it to be continually believable live. Amy's enthusiasm was notable for Backlines and then the mood changed.

Everything stops when they sing this song as it is so emotional and utterly devastating in its simple delivery. That is why it is understandable that I've only seen it performed once before, immediately following its release, but given the right circumstances it is a punch to the stomach. The crowd went silent and sucked in the beautiful, heartbreaking Personal.

Following Personal is surely a challenge and they went with a rare song that I didn't recognize, introduced by Amy saying it was about losing your virginity in a park - which Torq claimed he didn't know until that point. It was an upbeat number sang by Amy. They brought it back with a familiar number following this - Soft Revolution - but then reached way back for another treat for long-time fans. In fact Torq thanked those in the audience who'd come back to see them "two, three, four.." and proceeded to count to "15 times. Thank you!" [This was only my eleventh] and then played a song from the very early Stars days that had fallen out of rotation (if it had ever even been in it). Krush was the song, the opening number from The Comeback EP released in 2001, and it still played very well twelve years later (as Amy softly sings "Fuck you Hollywood, I'm the glory.") From a throwback they merged directly into last year's Loose Ends Will Make Knows seamlessly.

Sure they'd had to build up steam but it seemed around here that the momentum took hold and they bustled along with the audience fully on board. Burning through the acoustic guitar featuring Life Effect, Midnight Coward, and The First Five Times they had us by the heartstrings. Torq was also feeling the moment and demanded the house and stage lights dim - and I paraphrase "Screw the movie, we can't sing a song about fucking someone until death with the lights on" and then played that exact song - One More Night. This also allowed the swooping lights to be cast on the walls for North highlight Hold On When You Get Love.. which saw Torq embracing his tech with a beaming smile while the tech frantically tried to fix some gear.

Now Take Me to the Riot had the crescendo of a showstopper; it really soared and crashed and had hearts and heads and voices high but it would not close the show. No, they went with Walls - a gorgeous new song  that allowed the members to leave the stage, drifting away in the falling snow as if in the dream they sing of.

If they thought they'd leave after a set like that, they were mistaken. (I'm sure they didn't think that at all). Amy returned with the touring electric guitarist (no slouch either) and she sang My Favourite Book - a lovely rendition of the song that finally allowed the song to win me over. She even had us sing the echo which was a nice touch. That served as a vocal warm-up for us as we couldn't help but take over Your Ex-Lover Is Dead in a union of voices and good cheer. To close the night out right the band meandered around the stage and eventually found themselves all sitting on the front edge of the raised drum platform, enjoying each other and the crowd as they used The 400 to send us off right. It was a noteworthy moment to cap a night that reminded me just why I have seen them as many times as I have, and why I will be happy to see them again.

Yukon Blonde (Great Hall, Mar. 10, CMW)

From the rhyming triplet introduction for Buck 65 (Neutron bomb/Yukon Blonde?) right through to the ripping guitars of the final encore song this was a set to please. This four piece blasts ahead with guitar rock that has enough pop sensibility to have you shouting along all night. Along with the familiar cuts from their self titled, post name change, they mixed in a handful of new tracks that were completely up to snuff. Collectively they've got as much talent as they've got hair and that shone as they ripped guitars all over Bride's Song. In fact the dude with the short hair, relatively speaking, could be seen noodling incessantly as well as providing the ooooos on Wind Blows.
Other highlights were when they pulled enough friends up on stage to double the Yukon population, as well as their incendiary encore closer that smoldered until it finally caught flames and roared.