In-Flight Safety + Said The Whale – Green Room – Thursday, March 25th, 2010
Walking into Green Room, Graham Wright was already up on stage with his “Good Times Band”. I think Green Room is one of the only venues that when they say a show is going to start at 9 it actually does, but that’s besides the point. This was actually Graham Wright’s first ever solo show, which was kind of exciting, but as we all know, he is no stranger to the stage having performed many a show with his band Tokyo Police Club. If anyone was expecting something that sounded anything like TPC they would be very disappointed because Wright’s solo stuff was completely different than anything even remotely TPC. That didn’t, however, make his performance any less enjoyable. Wright played mostly songs from his forthcoming debut LP, entitled Shirts Vs Skins and was shocked to find out that people in attendance were familiar with songs from his 2008 debut solo EP, The Lakes of Alberta.
By the time Said The Whale took the stage the venue was packed with people. Unfortunately, the tables that had been set up near the stage sort of divided the room, forcing the people who wanted to stand to stand behind the row of tables. When the band started to play their first song, “Emerald Lake, AB” on which they rapturously sing “what a fine life we are living!” it was clear who the majority of the audience were here to see as everyone joined in with the chorus. That was only the beginning of a phenomenal set that would last for the good part of an hour. They played a good amount of songs from their latest LP, Islands Disappear, but perhaps sensing that there were a good amount of devoted fans in the audience, they played some old favourites like “The Light is You” from their debut LP, Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia. Another classic and fan favourite was the melancholy “Curse of the Currents” which they dedicated to a Montreal fan who had recorded her own cover version of the song on Youtube. We managed to track down that cover so scroll down to listen (it’s pretty great!). Closing out the show with power-pop rocker “Camillo (The Magician)”, followed by “Goodnight Moon”, I think it’s safe to say everyone was satisfied with the performance. Judging by the girls swooning in the front row, the many fans singing along and the ones who just couldn’t help but get off their feet to dance their hearts out, I suspect these guys won’t be playing shows of this size for too much longer.
It was sort of strange to come down off the high that was Said The Whale’s performance and settle into In-Flight Safety‘s more subdued and emotional brand of rock. Not that their performance wasn’t good, it’s just that Said The Whale had so much energy and really whipped the audience into a frenzy, while In-Flight Safety sort of had people sitting back in their seats looking relaxed. These guys really do have some great emotion driven rock songs, I want to say reminiscent of Coldplay, but not as cheesy. At times they even had this sort of cool 80s vibe going on with Daniel Ledwell’s soaring synths. Lead singer and guitarist John Mullane kept things interesting with his good stage banter but in the end I think the night belonged to Said The Whale, as the audience never fully got into In-Flight Safety’s performance.
All in all it was a great show and what a way to kick off a tour. For those of you reading this in other cities in Canada you should definitely buy tickets for this show when it comes through your town, you won’t be disappointed. My only real complaint of the night was with Green Room itself. Come on guys, one or two more lights and maybe we would actually be able to see the bands on stage. – Greg Lozoff
In-Flight Safety
Said The Whale
Graham Wright & The Good Times Band
Photography by Greg Lozoff
