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This Invention Matters + The Zolas + We Are The City – Divan Orange – Sunday, June 20th, 2010

June 22, 2010 in Show Reviews

A serious lack of sleep led to some serious brain cramping as I was on my way to Divan Orange to check out three Canadian bands that I have been hearing really good things about. Why did I find myself standing in front of a burned down and boarded up Green Room instead of the quaint Divan Orange? I wish I knew. But after gathering my wits and some Google Mapping of a venue that I have been to countless times, I stumbled into the proper venue which was roaring with the sounds of Kelowna, BC’s We Are The City.

I was a little nervous that nobody had shown up because the front of the venue was completely empty, but I was happy to see that midway past the bar that lines the left side of the room, there was a good amount of people comfortably seated at tables enjoying the music. I knew that I had arrived at the right time when I heard We Are The City’s lead singer Cayne McKenzie singing ‘Let me clean my teeth’, the odd lyric from the catchy “There Are Very Tiny Beasts in the Ground” from the band’s debut album, In A Quiet World. I was upset that I didn’t get there in time to hear the band play the Band of Horses-esque “Astronomers“, which is arguably their best song, but I did get to hear them play “April” which was a nice treat. One thing that impressed me about We Are The City’s performance was how much more impressive they sounded in the live setting. Not to say their recorded material isn’t good, but it was like watching a completely different band live. These guys really come alive when on stage.

Up next was the band that I was most excited to see, The Zolas, who just so happen to also hail from BC. What first took me by surprise was how lead singer Zachary Gray could speak perfect French as he spoke with the sound guy while setting up. Talk about making a good first impression with the Montreal audience. They wasted no time by launching into “You’re Too Cool” and immediately had everyone tapping their toes and grooving in their seats. Besides playing a great set, these guys really connected with the audience, cracking everyone up on numerous occasions with their hilarious stage banter. “The Great Collapse” and “Marlaina Kamikaze” were definite highlights of an overall great set. I don’t think anyone would have minded if they played for a couple more minutes (or hours) but, as they say, all good things must come to an end. But hopefully it won’t be long until they are back in town.

Finally, it was time for Montreal’s own This Invention Matters to take the stage and show the two previous BC bands what us Montrealers are made of. I know I said We Are The City are better live than on record but this is even more-so the case for This Invention Matters. After seeing them live it’s hard to listen to their recorded material anymore because there is just no way to compare it with what the band gives you when playing live. They just looked like they were having the time of their lives up there and put every ounce of energy they had into their performance. When multi-instrumentalist Erin Halpin pulled out a glockenspiel and started hammering away for a second I thought I was watching Los Campesinos!. Along with their own material the band played two really nice covers of the Arcade Fire’s “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) and Peter Bjorn & John’s “Up Against The Wall”. The venue started to slowly empty out midway through the band’s set, likely due to the fact that is was after midnight on a Sunday night, but there were enough people left to give the band a nice round of applause to close out the show. – Greg Lozoff