[Note: Rich Aucoin is likely the only musician to notice the cost of a shot and insisted on paying for half, which I stubbornly refused. I thought it was worth noting what a nice guy he is, though.]
Date of show: October 9, 2010
Shot of choice: tequila
I had heard a little about technical difficulties the night before, but this set at The Mod Club seemed to go flawlessly for Rich Aucoin. He started off by announcing that he syncs up his music with 3D video (in this case it was The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, if I’m not mistaken) and then proceeded to personally give out 3D glasses. He then had the crowd scream with a goat and yell out a “New Years” countdown to kick off his first song, ‘At War With the Cynics.’ The antics didn’t stop there, as Aucoin had the crowd chant lyrics such as “Yet you lay down, yet you lay,” “We are not dead yet, we are undead,” “This heart is all that keeps us up, this heart is beating,” “When you give it all up, you get it up.” He invited everyone to participate, as he said it was like we were getting our “own private dance party,” and people graciously did participate. He even managed to get the crowd to get down on one knee with hands on the shoulder of the person in front.
He played a high-energy 6-song set of danceable electro-pop, packed with visuals and audience participation. Watching this Rich Aucoin set, I think it may be impossible to find someone with more energy and more desire to make sure the crowd has a good time. He is never still, always bouncing around, including on the bar. The highlight has to be when he busted out the parachute, tossed the glowsticks he taped to his arms onto it, and had the crowd shake it, followed by everyone holding it up and Aucoin and members of the crowd danced under it.
Aucoin had some help on this night to keep the crowd enthused, not that it was needed at all. Taylor Knox (The Golden Dogs) was his drummer for the evening. Adam Hogan, guitarist from Hey Rosetta!, was in the audience singing and dancing along and Josh Ward (bass) and Phil Maloney (drums), both also from Hey Rosetta!, actually got up on stage for Aucoin’s last song.
It was a highly entertaining set and a great way to kick off the night (more on the sets by Hey Rosetta! and Hot Hot Heat here). I highly recommend catching Rich Aucoin live. I had actually caught parts of his multiple sets at Osheaga and I was so glad to finally see a whole set. He is totally worth your time. Seriously.
buying shots for bands 
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