Sunset Rubdown give indie fans a sensual back rub

After seeing Wolf Parade play a wonderful show this past August, I was left wondering when and if former Concordia student Spencer Krug was going to take his side-project, Sunset Rubdown, on tour again. Luckily, in the wake of POP Montreal madness, they decided to saddle up, and head to Toronto, followed by a show here in their hometown of Montreal. Having just completed a small tour of select American cities last month, the band seemed refreshed on the night of our federal election.
The band kicked off their set with a new song – which was a bit of a head-scratcher at first, as people looked around the dingy La Tulipe concert hall. They warmed up the crowd with some older material from the 2006 Shut Up I Am Dreaming EP, and then Krug warned the crowd he was going to “test out” new songs for most of the night. I was anxious to hear his newest creations since I consider him the best songwriter in any Canadian indie ensemble. But I still felt a bit unsure at Krug’s offering; I had also expected to hear their older material. Luckily, Krug and company were able to offer a balance between the two, with all members shuffling around the stage, sharing instrument duties.
One interesting thing I noted during the show – the crowd was quite zany – at times disrespectful. At one point, Spencer actually said, “Okay, enough of this,” regarding the crowd’s childish banter. Later, a girl asked they play something “sensual,” to which vocalist/percussionist Camilla Ingr sarcastically replied, “All of our songs are sensual.” Aside from the weird crowd, one of the show highlights was the more upbeat “The Mending Of The Gowns,” where Jordan Robson-Cramer stepped out from the drums, and strapped on a Les Paul to deliver the opening notes, which stirred the crowd up. They finished off their lengthy set with an amazingly poignant rendition of “Us Ones In Between,” before humbly retreating backstage.