Rich Aucoin @ Fox Cabaret -- October 03, 2024
This too shall pass, all good thing must come to an end, and other such clichés.
I say this because Rich Aucoin is now on the last tour of his legendary parachute show. A few years ago, Rich announced he would be winding down this version of his live show, now its finally happening. And anyone who’s seen a Rich Aucoin post on this blog before will know how fun they are, so of course there was no way I was going to miss it.
With no opening act, the night started with Rich announcing the plan; first a Synthetic Set, comprised of songs off his latest series of albums of the same name, followed by an intermission, and then the Classic Set.
So it began with Rich behind his synth, trippy patterns flashing on screen behind him, as he started off with “Release”, and then wound through tracks from his Synthetic albums. The instrumentals zipped from dizzying highs to glitchy breakdowns, Rich rarely breaking between songs as they lead seamlessly into each other, whipping the crowd into a dancing storm.
During the break, a photo montage filled the screen, reminiscing of the last decade-plus of shows, accompanied by songs like “Good Riddance”, before a ten minute countdown hit to hype everyone up.
As the timer ticked down to zero, the show began with the usual “trailers”, a series of fun clips, memes, viral videos, and old school Canadiana (House Hippo, anyone?) before the audience summoned the narrator — David Attenborough this year, although past narrators Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Caine made cameos. With all that excitement building, it was time for the Feature Presentation, as the opening credits hit, shouting out people in the room with fun facts attached, staring off with Rich telling us we need a “New Nostalgia”.
From there, Rich — joined by phenomenal drummer Tony Dallas — blasted through a set of his high energy, incredibly fun, and often thought provoking tunes, spanning his entire career, from “At War With the Cynics (An Opening)” to “Kayfabe” and everything in-between. He squeezed in as many songs as possible, even doing mashups and medleys, pairing songs with thematic similarities, like “How it Breaks” & “Watching, Wishing, Waiting” or “Four More Years” & “Want to Believe”. Throughout the whole show, the crowd sang with no reservations, as he conducted everyone to shout along with “Undead” and “Brian Wilson is A.L.i.V.E.”, the big screen almost always including lyrics.
Along with those lyrics, the screen behind Rich also featured a selection of visuals, from static images to his music videos, to thematically appropriate clips. He even harkened back to some of his early shows while showing parts of How the Grinch Stole Christmas syncing up to songs like “10,342 Cuts for the US (An Exploding)” from his Personal Publication EP, written to sync up with the animated classic.
As usual, Rich was teeming with energy. When not behind the synth he was bounding across the stage, and often into the crowd to sing with everyone (it’s no wonder he’s retiring the show, I was exhausted just watching!) And the crowd was very much reciprocating that energy, no more evident than during “Are You Experiencing?” as the parachute came out for everyone to dance under, while screaming along “When you give it all up, you get it back”.
The set came to a close with perennial (and personal) favourite “It” but Rich had one last surprise, leaving everyone with a singalong to another fun mashup. But this time not any of his own songs; the tune of “Stand by Me”, accompanied by the lyrics to “All Star”.
And so the set came to a close, with Rich in the middle of the crowd, promising that even though this era is coming to an end, he would definitely be back in a new form, be it his synth show or a brand new experience.
And I can’t wait to see whatever it is.
PHOTOS: Rich Aucoin @ Fox Cabaret - June 01, 2023
Rich Aucoin, with Petra Glynt
at Fox Cabaret
June 01, 2023
Rich Aucoin @ Fox Cabaret -- June 01, 2023
Regular readers of this blog will probably be aware of Rich Aucoin’s legendary live shows, and/or how I feel about them. It’s one of the most unique, uplifting, and engaging live shows going, and your time is running our to see it. Aucoin has previously announced that after a couple more tours, he will be retiring this version of his performance. So I hope you were at the Fox Cabaret last night, or plan to be at an upcoming one throughout his Is This The Real Life? tour (or when he returns for the next one).
Arriving a little late to the venue, I missed Devours, getting there just before Petra Glynt started. With an entire table of musical gadgets stretched out in front of her, she performed what she called a “machine set”, playing and looping everything live -- except when running into a bit of tech troubles. The experimental pop sound was bolstered by her vocal prowess, going from a breathy to a harsh to fragile throughout her set, a few times letting a loop play so she could stalk the front of the stage.
Not long after, the curtains parted and a timer started counting down to the “preshow” for Rich Aucoin. After a word from our sponsor & coming attractions -- built off memes, movie clips, and mashups -- an AI introduced the show and the crowd was tasked with summoning the narrator for the night: Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governator pumped the crowd up, getting everyone used to the frequent instructions & lyrics that would be appearing on screen, interspersed with more movie clips, viral videos, and more all perfectly synced to the songs throughout the set.
At this point Rich hit the stage, joined by drummer Tony Dallas and Pete MacDonald on bass, starting with “Space Western” to build the tension as the ‘opening credits’ flashed on the screen, giving shoutouts to people in the crowd. From there Rich burst into “Meaning in Life”, leading the first sing (yell) along, as he smoothly transitioned into synth pop bangers like “The Other” and “Brian Wilson is A.L.i.V.E.” leading the crowd from the front of the stage, shooting off confetti, and even jumping into the mass of people to dance.
Part way through the set, ‘Chapter 2’ started, where Rich transitioned into songs from Synthetic, a four-part album (the first two Seasons are out now, the other two coming within the next year). The instrumentals kept up the same energy, accompanied by psychedelic imagery on screen, while everyone continued to move, especially those on stage. Even behind his synth, Rich could barely be still for a moment, radiating energy, and Tony Dallas more than kept pace as he clattered the drums.
After a few instrumentals, Rich went into “Undead” for more crowd participation, reminded us that “We are not dead yet, we are undead”, and one my favourite of his “Want to Believe”, which was mashed up with “4 More Years” — a song that was released nearly 10 years ago but feels incredibly timely after a global pandemic with line “What good are friends you cannot touch?”.
Then it was time for the centerpiece of Rich’s set, as Tony Dallas started to unfurl the parachute. The big rainbow canvas made its way across the Fox as the entire room huddled under (or grabbed the edges) for a cathartic dance party to “Are You Experiencing?”, Rich in the middle of it all letting everyone know “When you give it all up, you get it back”
All too soon, the set drew to a close with another one of my faves, “It”, backed by the song’s music video full of recreated movie scenes. For the final goodbye, Rich waded into the crowd for one last communal experience, a big singalong to “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Or, it started that way before Rich made sure everyone was looking at the lyrics on the screen and switching up to the smash hit “All Star”... but still to the tune of the Queen classic.
Since the first time I saw Rich Aucoin perform live, back in 2011, I’ve probably seem him a dozen or so times. And somehow I am no less enthralled by his show. The way he brings everyone in the room together is almost unparalleled; I’ve probably only seen one band do it better, and that’s The Flaming Lips. I hope everyone gets the chance to experience it before the show is retired.
PHOTOS: Rich Aucoin @ Red Truck Brewing - August 13, 2022
Rich Aucoin
Red Truck Beer - Concert Series
August 13, 2022
Christine McAvoy Photography