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This January has been filled with bands playing multiple
shows in a row, like Denmark's The Joy Formidable's earlier this month (QRO
review), or multiple weeks in a row at a
particular venue, like Toronto's Still Life Still have at Mercury Lounge (QRO
venue review). Venues are unusually open, as no bands tour
December-to-January, and most tours don't start up until February or
 March. No one wants to lug their
gear up and down the East Coast in winter for a full tour, even if you hail
from colder climes. But if you're
heading all the way to the Big Apple, especially from a foreign country, you
want to make the trip worth it. So
multiple shows are a great way to get your name out there, maybe even fit in a
little recording, which is what Still Life Still have been doing.
Playing on the 20th, their third Wednesday in a row at
Mercury, the band may not have had their biggest crowd, because, unlike other
nights where they headline, this night saw blowin' up buzz-band Freelance
Whales (QRO photos) at the top of the bill, with their underwhelming tour mate Animal
Tropical (QRO photos) second, leaving Still Life Still second of four that sold-out night,
and most people didn't arrive until well into Animal Tropical. And between the sold-out nature &
the fact that all press people interested in catching Still in New York
probably asked for that night, their guest list was seriously cut down, keeping
out friends they might have ‘south of the border’ - though there was still one
pretty drunk super-fan who knew all their songs, shouting requests between kind
of odd, kind of funny "Whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop"...
 Still Life Still had originally been planning on playing
more in New York, but more than the five they are (including an earlier date at
Death by Audio - QRO venue review) was
always tempting fate. Luckily, the
band brought down their recording gear, and in-between gigs have been working
on a new EP. That new material got
a showing, early in the set, after pressing opener "Danse Cave" (also the
opener to the band debut LP, Girls Come Too - QRO review - and it's a strong opener). "Keep You" was a little more rockin',
while "You Can" brought the higher power & press the band did so well on Girls. The band hit up one more new song, the
higher beauty of "Notes To You", after more Girls high press in "Flowers and a Wreath".
 The rest of the set list (QRO photo) was devoted to Girls, including an
expansive "Lite-Bright Lawns" and a touching "Scissors Losing Weight", as well
as pressing single/stand out "Pastel".
Unfortunately, they didn't play the oh-so-sweet "Kids", which might be
expected, as slow songs can be tough if you're not the headliner. But they did add in the mock-sexy
"T-Shirts" in the middle, maybe thanks to  the super-fan's drunken
matter-of-fact reciting of the lyrics, "I was just saying, ‘I don't mind your
blood on my dick’..." Instead, they
ended with "Neon Blue" and "Knives In Cartoons" - both strong tracks in the
band's high press, but didn't show off their width of sound (though it did let
multi-instrumentalist Josh Romaniuk join his brother/drummer Aaron to rock out
on percussion).
Still Life Still still have one more Mercury show, not this
Wednesday but Friday, January 29th (QRO concert listing), before they trek up north for the even colder
climes of Canada, with some new music and some new fans.
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