First up at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg (QRO venue review) on Friday,
December 9th was Rah Rah from Saskatchewan, Canada (a fact that it seems they
particularly wanted the audience to be aware of), and they definitely had a
charm to them. The band featured a
plaid-cladding frontman whose mumbled voice and very calm demeanor seemed to
purposely contrast with the fun energetic performance of his bandmates, who
played almost no songs utilizing the same instruments. Every piece marked a changeover: the drummer
would pick up the bass, the keyboardist moved over to the guitar, the violin
player now holding an accordion, etc. But
the mixture of their sunny, poppy indie-folk, energetic live performance, and
clever songwriting really kept the audience's attention throughout the set. And for the finale, the set culminated in six
large silver balloons being thrown out into the crowd spelling out the words "Rah
Rah" with a very climactic plume of confetti.
Which tied a nice bow on a really solid set.
The Weakerthans were on next. There's something so charming and haphazard
and simple about their music, but there's also something so precise and so
perfect in it. The same goes for their
live shows. On the one hand you have a
straightforward performance, the Reconstruction
Site night. So you knew what they
were going to play: the whole album front to back, and some of what they
called, "fan favorites" (which any Weakerthans fan could have probably guessed
with a near perfect accuracy). But on
the other hand, you had a really amazing show that was again, equal parts
emotional, inspired, and full of little human moments of the band talking to
each other and the crowd and looking like after all of this time it was still
the most fun they could have, as it was picture perfect, really technically
proficient and professional. Even
knowing the set list in entirety walking into the show didn't change a moment
of a great live show.
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Fueled with Voodoo Doughnuts, Alcoholic Faith Mission
delivered to a rockin' crowd in Portland.
Those lucky enough to
enter the House of Blues Boston took a spacey journey
that felt like one long dream starting with opening act I Break Horses.
The student-filled O2 Academy in Manchester started heaving
forward the instant the visual art showed "The Cribs" on the backdrop.
