Date of show: November 30, 2013
Written by: Chiara DiAngelo
On a cold November night, Montreal’s Half Moon Run took the stage in front of a sold-out crowd and instantly the chill in our bones was melted away by their spectacularly atmospheric synth-pop. From the simple yet heavy harmonica-laden ballad “Unofferable” to the swelling entire crowd singalong on “Call Me In the Afternoon”, the seriously sexy “Need It” and percussion-heavy “Full Circle,” it was the kinetic energy of the band that captivated the audience’s attention and possessed their hearts. While Half Moon Run don’t call Toronto home, tonight the city offered them a warm and fuzzy welcome back to the country after they were overseas in the UK.
Returning for an encore, all four band members huddled together at stage edge to perform an acoustic rendition of Pink Mountaintop’s “Vampire”, and as if with a wave of a magic wand, they brought about an intimate and enchanted hush to the audience – It was truly nothing short of breathtaking.
We spent much of 2012 watching the band capture unfamiliar audience’s unsuspecting hearts for the first time; 2013 saw them sell out – weeks in advance – first the Horseshoe and then The Phoenix. Packed to capacity with elated fans who knew what to expect, the hold they gripped the visibly younger crowd with was no less compelling this time around and their performance perhaps even more grandiose. Set to open for City and Colour on dates across Canada in 2014, it’s only a matter of time before these men are household names. And deservedly so!
A Swedish-Canadian band from Montreal, Thus:Owls represents the pairing of true marvel of a frontwoman Erika Angell and her husband – and Patrick Watson guitarist – Simon Angell. With an icy depth to her voice and an evocative reverberation to their sound, theirs was a set of heavily layered experimental hippie folk – complete with autoharp. The younger crowd didn’t seem to be immediately enamoured with the band, perhaps not quite sure what to make of the experimentalism entwined within their lushly cinematic set. The band did however win them over by the end, offering up an explosive last song.
If you are intrigued and haven’t yet checked out Thus:Owls, a few songs from both of their albums are available to stream over on Bandcamp. We’d highly suggest that you give them a listen!
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