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The Besnard Lakes + SUUNS + VALLEYS – Cabaret du Mile End – 01.15.11

January 18, 2011 in Show Reviews

Cabaret du Mile End filled in quickly last snowy Saturday night for the Besnard Lakes show, which was to be one of their last – for a while, at least. Our friends VALLEYS – who we’ve reviewed a couple times before – were first to the stage.

VALLEYS began their set in total darkness as they opened with a build-up of ambient noise leading into “Killer Legs” off of their 2009 full-length debut, Sometimes Water Kills People. Then, as keyboardist and singer Tillie Perks queued up the drum loop, they transitioned into “The Heavy Dreamer”, also off their 2009 debut. Having only seen them in smaller, narrow rooms in the past, their sound was really able to open up in the wide-open Cabaret – it was like experiencing their resonant sound in a whole new way. The drum loops sounded notably more rich and heavy than usual, certainly making up for the lack of an actual drummer in the band. After thanking the audience they started into “Tan Lines”, another track from their debut, played in a heavier-sounding interpretation than the studio version. Next, they transitioned into “Ten Thousand Hours”, a climactic track off their 2010 Stoner EP, where singer and guitarist Marc St. Louis and guitarist Pascal Oliver hammer on drums and cymbals in an intense build-up to Marc’s distant scream-singing. VALLEYS then finished up their set with “Ordinary Dream”, a personal favorite off the EP, during which Marc hit his cymbal with the neck of his guitar while he played. A solid performance for Valleys, as always.

SUUNS introduced themselves to the increasingly crowded room with feedback and noise. They played “Arena”, a seriously groovy song with disco-rhythm, ambient whisper-singing and very Muse-sounding guitar and keyboard effects. Transitioning into a more mellow, paced-out sound, the band transitioned into “Up Past The Nursery”, the band cooing oh-oo-oh-oos in the background throughout along with a guitar riff that sounded, oddly enough, like the melody from the Macarena. From there they broke suddenly into a loud, heavy, instrumental track, changing up the mood of the whole room in an instant. Later on came “Pie IX”, an atmospheric, heavily-synthy song with low chanting vocals. SUUNS closed their set with the dramatic “Sweet Nothing”, full of noise, steady beats and siren-sounding synths. Their lively set got the crowd moving and prepped for the main event.

The room was packed and getting hot while everyone awaited The Besnard Lakes, and they definitely kept us waiting. Eventually, with the stage still empty, a clip started playing of what sounded like Carl Sagan talking about the nature of the cosmos, disintegrating into synthy noise, perfectly appropriate for the band’s space-rock aesthetic. Their set was well-balanced between their older material: they played crowd favorite “Devastation” as well as “Disaster” from 2007’s …Are The Dark Horse, as well as “Albatross” and “Chicago Train” from 2010’s …Are The Roaring Night. Jace Lasek’s ambient falsetto, along with his rose-covered Mariachi-looking shirt, as well as singer and bassist Olga Goreas’ sweet vocals and fiesty moves, all helped make the night extra-special. The whole band joked with each other and with the audience throughout; they were all able to totally let go while playing and still managed to play like a well-oiled machine. This is what true pros look like.

After thanking the audience profusely for being here for one of their “last shows”, they started playing “And you lied to me” off Are the Dark Horse. At both break-down points in the song the band stopped as Jace joked with the audience, “what, there’s more song?! How does it go?!” The suspense leading up to he and Olga’s a cappella duet – singing, “You’re not even who you said you are…” – was as thick as the lingering smoke from the smoke machine that had been running throughout the show.

Much to the crowd’s delight, Jace and co. came back on stage for an extended encore, playing “Because Tonight” from Are the Dark Horse as well as a song from their very first album, Volume 1. They also jokingly started playing the beginning to the recently-controversial Dire Straits song, “Money for Nothing”, upon one fan’s request, dragging their encore out as long as possible before calling it a night before a well-satisfied crowd. It was overall a very memorable show, for both the quality of their performance and the strong rapport between the band and the audience.

–Natasha Young