Young Galaxy (Final set with bassist) - Riverfest Elora (Sat Aug 23)

Young Galaxy
This was the set that I have been waiting for from Young Galaxy. Since I've known them they have made beautiful synthy records and then cranked their live shows to drum-blowing 11's and attempted to overpower with noise. What gives? Well this Saturday afternoon, as the weather attempted a turn to the sun, I finally got what I was after. And it was just in time too, as they would reveal, but not until prior to the last song, that this would be their parting show with their bassist, Stephen Kemp, after some eight years of faithful allegiance. If I hadn't seen this I would have thought he was the one to pin the loudness on!

Beginning with Peripheral Visionaries their visibly pregnant front lady, Catharine McCandless, sang it out with her emotive posturing and alongside her lead male counterpart, Stephen Ramsay, they carried into other favourites Cover Your Tracks and Pretty Boy. Without knowing what was on the go I noticed that Kemp was rather charismatic and flashing smiles with bandmates. Exchanging broad grins with their female drummer, Andrea Silver, he also had a bit of a showdown with Ramsay and was flashing smiles all around. Not only did they all seem to be playing for the moment but the setlist was also great such as In Fire, New Summer and a certain set highlight, the clapalong on Fall for You. When they did make the announcement the emotions got the best of a few of them as a couple of tears were shed, extending the intro until Catharine could compose herself to sing the lyrics. During the appropriately-titled closer We Have Everything Stephen and Stephen got together again and in the process displaced the guitarist's sunglasses which he promptly tossed to the stage. That was nothing though, as visibly overwhelmed while the last note hung in the amp he lightly tossed his guitar and turned to exit the stage before crashed. The feedback hung, as did the instant nostalgia, in this expectation-defying lovely summer set and fitting goodbye.

Young Galaxy - Lee's (May 31/13)

A homecoming of sorts occurred last night at Lee's Palace as Young Galaxy played their first show of the Ultramarine tour on home turf. Although the internet says they hail from Montreal and formed in Vancouver, a few times last night Stephen remarked that Toronto was where they got their start and hence how great it was to be playing here. Dressed purely in white, excepting Catherine's blue trousers and suspenders, their persons served as projection screen for the interesting light projections that bathed the entire stage (although it did force an awkward squint from Catherine for much of the night). The first song offered a low-key, atmospheric introduction but as the set progressed they touched on their poppier moments. This was a nice return to the form I'd always imagined their live show taking, rather than the loud, rocking version I'd seen last time, a few years ago. The best moments were when the electro was turned up and the band jammed away, especially when filled out by the electronic drums that accompanied the true drum set. Shapeshifting was a breakthrough for the band in my opinion and the latest offering continues on this beautiful trajectory, so numbers from these were definite highlights. Pretty Boy, Fall For You and New Summer were (and are) all excellent new tracks, while Peripheral Visionaries and We Have Everything hit too, plus single and set closer, Youth is Wasted on the Young. Stephen claimed that they thought encores were a little cheesy but in this case they would do one - and they did, just one song, but almost a requirement in a great rendition of Cover Your Tracks. An excellent way to be welcomed home.

Booting up a beat the leading lady would sing overtop of it while pressing away at some keys or effects. Alongside her another girl had a similar set-up with less singing, and on the other side a dude strummed a guitar, but due to it being mixed so low he could almost have been miming. The electronic stuff was alright, though not breaking much new sound, but the lack of flair from the accompaniment led to a rather boring show from this band, Kashka. (I always feel like I'm saying Cash Cab.)