Friday, October 25, 2013
KASHKA (11:00PM)
Catherine and I met up at Burrito Jax to thaw our fingers and gain sustenance in the form of a burrito before heading over to The Seahorse Tavern for the remainder of the night. The new project of Toronto’s Kat Burns, KASHKA represents a departure from the folkcentric Forest City Lovers for a dabbling in electronica. With ripples of synths and delicate dance beats as the backdrop, Burns’ voice still maintained the same trembling warble we know and love but was filled with more strength. Where she often appeared meek and shy fronting FCL, she seemed to find her footing here, owning this new version of herself entirely – she even danced at times!
What we’ve learned about Halifax: venues are highly strict when it comes to IDs, some more so than others. Apparently Burns’ keyboard player learned this lesson the hard way and was denied entry to the show. Luckily Burns stumbled across Todd McLean from English Words who graciously filled in last minute – he also unexpectedly lent his skills on the saxophone to their set!
English Words (12:00AM)
It may as well have been a hometown gig for PEI’s English Words as the crowd smothered them with love – though no hugs – and the five-piece gave it right back. Their set was delayed slightly due to difficulties during set-up and by the time they kicked off with “Go To Bed”, the audience was ready to dance. Heavy on the new wave vibes, booming drum machine effects, and reverbed synths, they saturated our thirst for sultry pop goodness. Songs like “People I Love” and “Takeover Panther” quickly turned up the heat, creating a fevered frenzy and transforming the venue into a sweaty dancefloor.
A longtime fan of their old identity Smothered In Hugs, it was great to finally catch up with them as English Words – especially getting to see them on their side of the country!
Royal Canoe (1:00AM)
It’s a bit of a spectacle just watching Winnipeg six-piece troupe Royal Canoe set up their extensive collection of gear. And that’s just the preview to their live show. Surprisingly playing for the first time in Halifax, the crowd erupted into an immediate dance party when they hit the stage. Whether it was because they were actually there for the band or because it was 1:00AM on a Friday night, I’m still not sure. With the aid of both a traditional drum kit and electronic drum kit plus twists and turns of knobs and dials, the band pushed out an electronic experimental mish mash of different sounds and stylings that all came together to create some sort of handspun magic. Less electronic and more lightly acoustic guitar-based sing-along folk, “Exodus of the Year” was a highlight of their set, especially when juxtaposed against some of their more intense material. Defying genre categorization, the band pushed boundaries and often dove headfirst into the weird – and even some funk with “Button Fumbla”. I’m not always a fan of heavy vocoder-enhanced vocals, but Matt Peters (vocals, keys, guitar) won me over, switching from a high falsetto on songs like “Hold on to the Metal” to a menacingly satanic death grip growl on “Bathtubs” and “Birthday.”
It may have proved difficult to get lost in the extensive details that make Royal Canoe truly special when those surrounding us were only concerned with getting their groove on, but they proved to be a fun way to conclude a music-filled night! | CD
buying shots for bands 
Leave a Reply