Starting with the start of the night, the opening band, to my surprise, was a group I'd never heard of, 'Moon vs. Sun'. Once they came out on stage, though, I was pleasantly surprised. Moon vs. Sun is composed of Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida, her husband and front man from Our Lady Peace. They opened with 'Clumsy', one of my personal favourite OLP songs and this acoustic version was just awesome. This was the highlight of the set for me.
The couple alternated singing songs that featured piano with Chantal and then acoustic guitar with Raine singing which gave a disjointed feel to the performance, as if it were two acts competing for stage time but accompanied by the same back-up cello. The pair had written songs together, they said two in two years and since this was their first official gig as Moon vs. Sun (Pronounced Moon verse Sun, not versus apparently) they were going to share them. A few songs in they worked their way into one of their compositions and immediately had a train wreck. It left the audience wondering what had gotten into Maida as he just jumped in and started singing the wrong words, which a confused Kerviazuk trying to back him up. Then they stopped, had a laugh and started again. The chart was sound enough once they were into it.
They worked their way though a few more covers with banter back and forth that left the audience wondering if we were witnessing an inside joke or the crumbling of their marriage on stage. Finally, they got to their second new team-composed song only to have another total disaster as the song started. They wound their way though the long intro Kreviazuk started a one-sided discussion with the audience and then left Maida to try and make his entrance. He got a little ways in before Kreviazuk stopped and demanded, 'What are you doing?' toward her husband. He stammered a non answer about her talking to people and they started again only her to say that she was wrong, he had been right to start with.
That part of the show was somewhat overshadowed by what appeared to be a display of the exact reason that artists tend to not marry other artists.
After an amazingly short break we were on to the big show, BNL.
They came out, as expected, to Limits. They used some recorded backgrounds in this and a few other tracks during the show. It's a necessary evil since they use so many effects in their music but it always gives me a little bit of a sour taste since I feel like I'm always in search of authenticity on stage but here the use was minimal and made the show better.
Ed Robertson is still Ed Robertson after all these years of singing the same songs, he still makes them feel fresh and exciting for the audience. Jim Creeggan is a show-stealer, bouncing around and taking up the whole stage, switching between string bass with and without a bow as well as electric bass. Watching him, a thought occurred to me. I wonder how many miles are on that string bass? Lots I assume.
Light Up My Room has always been a BNL favorite of mine and I was elated when it was in the set list. Not long after that they brought out a guitarist from backstage, introducing him simply as 'Arvid' who played with Kevin Hearn in the past with Lou Reed's band. They laughed about how crappy of an intro that was and joked asking, "Who are you?" to him. The jokes quit, though, when during Keeping It Real Arvid laid down an epic, bluesy, less is more, guitar melting solo while trading licks with Kevin Hearn. Ed Robertson appeared to be enjoying himself to the nth degree while the audience was shocked and appreciative. Wow.
Somewhat disappointingly, the mysterious 'Arvid' disappeared after the one song, I for one, hoped he'd return. The Ladies went to their acoustic set with the boys crowded around one mic and Hearn playing guitar and wandering the stage. Always comedic, they had a great time with Sound of your Voice, at one point the background vocals becoming progressively more insistent until they were yelling, but then calming right back down. Great showmanship but maybe affected some of their harmonies. A worthwhile tradeoff in my opinion.
During this acoustic portion they also each did solos on various instruments, finally ending with a triangle solo by Tyler Stewart, after which Robertson commented on the bravery of doing a solo on an instrument with one note.
They did a great job of interacting with the crowd and working the entire stage while keeping the energy level up. Creeggan seems to really enjoy being a rock star and has all the poses down. Musically it was a sound performance with only Easy in the first set feeling a little unusual. I wasn't sure if they took it down in key or what, but it just felt a little off vocally.
The end of the set pulled a variety of hits into the ever popular Barenked Rap incorporating songs like Royals, and really pulling off the meshing like arrangement experts.
They left the stage to rabid applause and the roles had been switched when they came back on with Robertson sitting down comfortably at the drum set and Stewart moving to center stage to lead the band through the entire finale.
It started with Alcohol but the version was vastly different and felt much less musical than the album version. They didn't seem to add too much substance to the live version. Whatever Alcohol lost, though, their cover of 'Blister In The Sun' regained. After jokes about the ferocity of a night when Stewart wears a teal shirt, they went out strong. Finishing with a somewhat surprising Led Zeppelin cover of 'A Whole Lotta Love' was a strength and after they bowed and Robertson threw his drumsticks in a very particular fashion they left the stage. Roberson had joked that his favouite thing to do to unwind after a show in Vancouver was to take a red-eye to Montreal leaving those of us thinking about autographs knowing that he wouldn't be sticking around to meet fans.
Highlights: Clumsy, Raine Maida, Arvid, beautiful scenery, triangle solo, string bass, bongos.
Lowlights: Marital strife, introductory screw ups, no additional guests (apparently Sarah McLachlan was backstage), no DSLR's in the venue, Alcohol (song, not beverage)
Setlist:
- Limits
- Grade 9
- Pinch Me
- Lovers in a Dangerous Time (Bruce Cockburn cover)
- Gonna Walk
- Light Up My Room
- Keepin' It Real
- Sound of Your Voice (Acoustic)
- I Can Sing (Acoustic)
- Blame It on Me (Acoustic)
- Brian Wilson
- Did I Say That Out Loud?
- Easy
- Odds Are
- Big Bang Theory Theme
- One Week
- If I Had $1,000,000
- Barenaked Rap
Encore: - Alcohol
- Blister in the Sun (Violent Femmes cover)
- Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin cover)
Created with flickr slideshow.
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