Fans brushed off the first snow of the season when they arrived at Cabaret Mile End on Oct. 30 and were kept warm by the guitar-driven songs of The Besnard Lakes and Rah Rah, openers for Wintersleep.
Rah Rah’s peppy indie rock entertained those who got there early while The Besnard Lakes put on a show that rivaled the headliner’s performance. Dressed in a Don King costume, Richard White created thick, textural guitar riffs. The whole band benefited from his superb effects-laden tone. Dressed as Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander, frontman Jace Lasek held the attention of the audience with his haunting falsetto. The band’s vibrant energy and psychedelic indie tunes more than warmed up their hometown crowd.
Wintersleep filled the majority of their set with driving rock numbers and this made the quiet contrast of their few ballads all the more effective. A definite highlight was “Dead Letter & the Infinite Yes,” a song that created an intimate experience under soft-coloured light. While the upbeat “Oblivion” and “Archaeologist” had the crowd bouncing along, it was the dynamic change created by the softer moments of their set that made the show.
About six songs into the set the Halifax quintet played arguably their biggest radio single “Weighty Ghost.” At the strum of the song’s first chord, Wintersleep had the whole crowd’s attention. Placing the recent single “Black Camera” immediately after made for a double shot of the Wintersleep the whole crowd knew, which is just what the band needed to pick up on the momentum created by The Besnard Lakes.
Singer/guitarist Paul Murphy didn’t have much to say to the crowd besides “thanks” until a wigged punter drunkenly climbed onstage. Murphy asked if he was dressed as Captain Morgan, to which the man replied: “We’re all pirates!” Needless to say, security removed him pretty quickly.
The band’s stage presence was great, but at times it was hard to hear Murphy’s voice. Whenever they played aggressively his vocals were drowned out by the instruments, and though the sound technician had plenty of time to fix this problem, it was never resolved. Luckily the group vocals of their latest single “Preservation” were able to shine through in full force.
In an impressively long set, the group performed the majority of the songs from their last two records. While Wintersleep played a show that displayed both quality and quantity, the 90-minute set would have benefited from more variety. The slower-paced feel of the group’s first two records was notably lacking in the show. Older fans may have been expecting to hear “Jaws of Life” during the encore, but it never came.
In the last few years, the band has developed a more radio-friendly sound, perhaps due to lineup changes, new goals, or changing tastes. A lot of their recent songs seem to follow the same pattern, as if their upbeat tracks were all derived from the same ideas. Although the songs are well-written, it’s doubtful that the group will be able to use this same formula for much longer. Their dynamic range has been shrinking since 2005’s Untitled, made evident by the band’s selection of songs for their set.
That being said, Wintersleep played a great concert overall. “Miasmal Smoke & the Yellow Bellied Freaks” was one of the last songs of the night, where drummer Loel Campbell had the space to bang out a variety of beats while Tim D’Eon rocked the hell out of the keyboard with a simple, but essential line.
While not the side of Wintersleep that jams with the likes of Buck 65 or Holy Fuck, everyone in the crowd seemed to get what they were expecting with all three bands playing solid sets.
