Date of show: December 7, 2012
Written by: Chiara DiAngelo
Beyond just a line-up of four great bands, Audio Blood’s 4th anniversary party and holiday rager also provided a photo booth, drink specials and loot bags to occupy your interest while no one was on stage. Afterwards, the Music Parlour DJ’s kept the party alive, spinning tunes to help you dance the rest of the night away. What went down was one of the most fun nights of the year, creating memories for all in attendance that are sure to last long after all of our ensuing hangovers finally dissipated.
Headliners and locals Hands & Teeth took the stage following Amos The Transparent to close out the band portion of the night. While it can be difficult to follow a band as lively as Amos, they had their own legion of fans that came up to the front as there was a distinct shift in the crowd. After kicking off their set with “Missing,” which features the spoken vocals of bassist Derek Monson, they introduced the packed house to multiple songs off their new record currently in production. The band’s newer material is an interesting meld of instruments with experimental nature that can be difficult to grasp and doesn’t necessarily translate into an ear-catching live performance. It didn’t help that the audience had never heard these songs before and it was therefore harder to really get into them.
There was one song where Natasha Pasternak’s voice seemed to emerge out of the dark cacophony of sounds as this brilliant beam of light. Next track, called “Easy,” was definitely the most accessible of their new material. Unfortunately a drunkard decided to jump up and dance on the speaker in front of the stage during this song. Jeff Pinto (guitar, vocals) amused the situation at first by joining him, but then took charge and demanded he step down so that people could actually see the band. When this proved unsuccessful, he turned to physically pushing him off. Everyone hooted and hollered at that!
It was “Race To The End” from Enjoy Your Lifestyle that finally really got people moving. They then covered The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends.” They were first joined on stage by Stephen Neville of The Balconies, before the majority of the Audio Blood family and a bunch more people from the front of the crowd were up there as well, hollering away. Their set closed out with “Hunting Season,“ the title track from their latest release.
This seven-piece from Ottawa can barely all fit on the stage. On this night, an additional friend joined them on the trumpet, ballooning their number up to eight. Lead singer Jonathon Chandler apologized for the fact that his voice was going and he could barely sing, asking the crowd to please help them out. If you’ve ever seen Amos the Transparent live, you know that the audience was more than willing to chip in some vocals. Bassist James Nicol, guitarist Mark Hyne and keyboardist Katie Sargent also stepped up their vocal contribution and while set openers “Convince the Mayor” and “A Song” obviously sounded different than normal, no one seemed to notice or care.
There is something truly special about this ensemble’s live performances. Not only are they so much fun to watch but they are also everyone’s favourite band to throw down to even though they are on the folky side of rock. The guys up front weren’t too sure what to make of the girls performing some kind of interpretive dance in front of them. So they just shouted louder. By the time third song “The Stale Scent of Old Beer” came along, the crowd had taken over fully and the floor was a-rocking. Chandler exclaimed in response, “I think this might work!”
They ended their set with the announcement that Hyne had decided to move on from the band. Hyne indicated that this might therefore be the last time “Greater Than Consequence” would be played live, since he’s the frontman for the tune, and asked if everyone could sing along as loud as possible. Hyne stepped down from the stage and his friends quickly circled around him and did exactly that – singing as a collective, joyfully and exuberantly “I was meant to go alone!” It was both heartfelt and pure magic.
Vocalist Rajiv Thavanathan prefaced this three-piece’s performance with an apology of sorts: “If this is your first time seeing a band from St. John’s, they don’t always sound like this – usually they sound like Hey Rosetta!” Formerly of Oh No Forest Fires, Thavanathan not only sported one of the fullest beards, he was also one of the most amiable frontmen I’ve seen. Their set was littered with enjoyable banter that had the audience cracking up, though some of his comments may not have been the most appropriate. Excited to drink and party and not wake up for work the next morning, Thavanathan was soon sweating right through his shirt as they steamed up the almost warm venue.
They played a ridiculously upbeat and bouncy set of power pop-rock greatness, even breaking the norm and “covering” an Oh No Forest Fires track that had everyone jumping. If you haven’t heard Secret Connection yet, check out their EP The Agony of Lhermitte on their Bandcamp – it’s free!
Victoria’s Acres of Lions got the night started. After spending much of the past year on the road, this was the final show of the year for the four-piece and they were excited to be spending it in celebration of Audio Blood. The band draws influence from Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids, but it is their high-energy and poppy live performance that sets them apart from the 90’s emo genre. Frontman Jeff Kalesnikoff attempted to get a singalong going with the early arrivers on “Kids” but crowd participation didn’t really get going until later on in their set. Kalesnikoff sent out heavier “Dance Sequence” from 2009’s Working to all of the old Acres of Lions fans in attendance. I’m not sure how many there actually were, but it put everyone in the clapping mood. They ended their short set with the aptly-named “Reaction;” with its infectious chorus it is always the song that gets the greatest reaction from the audience, finally getting the crowd really dancing and moving their feet.
buying shots for bands 
Leave a Reply