Shred Kelly @ Electric Owl -- 03/14/15

Celebrating the release of their third album, everyone's favourite ski bum band returned to Vancouver this weekend, bringing their "stoke folk" sound to the Electric Owl.
Opening the night was fellow Peak Performance Project '014 alumni The Wild Romantics.
I had only ever seen them as a duo, the couple Aleisha Kalina and Evan Miller crafting fine folk tunes, but this time they were armed with a full band. And with the full band was a much more rock 'n' roll sound. Their voices came together harmonizing on songs like "A Monday In May", and my favourite of the set, a bit of a sassy song with a bite, "Who You Fooling".
Aleisha and Evan also had a good stage presence, especially as the set went on. They seemed comfortable enough at the beginning, but by the end they were getting more and more playful, leaning on each other and sharing a microphone, and both of them even getting right into the faces of the crowd (literally).
I think they are still a relatively young band, only a couple years old, but they're already off to a pretty good start.


Shred Kelly hit the stage not long after, the five-piece Fernie band started off with a song that encapsulates the band perfectly; Tim Newton slowly plucking his banjo until he picked up the pace to a blurry hand, joined by Sage McBride's lovely voice, the song building to raucous ending. It is a trait shared by many Shred Kelly songs as both the songs and the band exploded off stage with ridiculous amounts of energy. And the Saturday night crowd was more than happy to reciprocate; people dancing and stomping and clapping, even a little crowd surfing, and no less than two rounds of shots and a round of beers was sent up to the stage.

Pulling songs from all three of their albums, highlights included the softer and haunting "Ghost Inside My Head", the frantic "Cabin Fever", and my favourite off of  Sing to the Night, "Stuck Between", a bit of a darker song with Sage's powerful voice filling the room. And somehow the band managed to top the energy of the night with the last three songs. The tumultuous "Tornado Alley" lived up to its title; the ridiculously catchy "The Bear", with an impressive run on the keys from Sage and an even more impressive drumming from Ian Page-Shiner; and the huge "Sing to the Night", the voices of Tim and Sage blending together better than ever.

For the encore, they first warmed up everyone's vocal chords with the soft and beautiful "Jewel of the North" before one of the most cathartic singalong songs, "I Hate Work". And as everyone chanted along to the title, the band segued nicely into Loverboy's "Working For The Weekend", during which they split the room for the singalong: one half of the crowd singing along with Sage "Everybody's working for the weekend" and the other half with Tim, chanting "I Hate Work". 


When I first saw Shred Kelly, on a train car in Melville, Saskatchewan, I was suitable impressed. And in the few years since, they've barely slowed down -- touring, recording, taking part in the Peak Performance Project -- and have just gotten better and better.


setlist
Let It Go, Cabin Fever, Start Again, New Black, Leaving Town, Ghost Inside My Head, White River, Rowed Away, Time Is Passing, Stuck Between, Family Oh Family, Tornado Alley, The Bear, Sing to the Night.
(encore) Jewel of the North, I Hate Work (mashup with Working for the Weekend [Loverboy cover])

Peak Performance Project Showcase #3 @ Fortune -- 10/09/14

Can you believe it's already the sixth year of the Peak Performance Project? This year they've changed the project up a little. 102.7 The Peak and Music BC have pared it down from a Top 20 to a Top 12, but that was only to make room for a Top 12 of Alberta bands through the newly launched 95.3 The Peak, and Alberta Music.
Part one of the project was a "rock & roll boot camp" where the musicians went on a week long retreat to get lectures and advice from industry pros, to help them refine their craft, and team up with an Albertan band for a collaboration song. Phase two is a series of shows at Fortune Sound Club; three artists a night for four weeks, showing off what they learned to not only an audience, but a panel of judges. They've also been assigned to learn a "Classic Canadian Cover" to play during their set. I always love hearing bands play cover songs, and it's always interesting to see who each act chooses, if it's someone obvious to their style, or something way outside the box. (And yes, I do have a running tally of bands that chose Neil Young)

They took a week off showcases last week, so everyone could celebrate Break Out West and the Western Canadian Music Awards in Winnipeg, but they were back last night for showcase number three.
Jodi Pederson: The Vernon BC native started the night off with a few small sound issues; in fact, the sound the whole night wasn't the greatest, but Jodi's set seemed hit hardest with a muddy mix. But that aside, a good stage presence and great voice drove her set, with a smokey and soulful pop sound. But while she was a great performer, I don't think her songwriting was quite on the same level. From what I could tell, a lot of her songs were about the same thing -- love -- and certainly none of the songs were really bad, few stuck out. One that did, though, was a darker song called "Boys" that really let her voice soar.
She brought things down in the middle of the set for a couple slower jams, including her classic Canadian cover, "Born To Be Wild" (as I found out, while Steppenwolf is still American, the song was written by a Canadian Mars Bonfire) which was a really interesting, almost jazzy, take on the song.
Jodi wrapped up her set with the single, "City Lights", with what I thought was a slightly out-of-place drum breakdown in the middle, and ended with a number of her fans in the crowd holding up and spinning glowsticks.
She's definitely got the performance aspect down, and I think given a little more experience writing, she'll take off.


The Tourist Company: No stranger to radio competitions, the self described experimental folk-rock band was the Vancouver finalist in this year's CBC Music Searchlight contest. The took the stage joined on & off by some familiar faces, Michelle Faehrmann and Stephanie Chatman from Four on the Floor String Quartet (every year it seems at least one band makes use of members of the talented Quartet, and this year it was The Tourist Company).
I've said a few times before on this blog there's a certain type of prevalent folk sound that I just no longer care about, and while they are not the worst offender, they fit in to that category. Which isn't to say they are not objectively good, with solid harmonies, and tight, catchy songs, all greater than what you would expect from just four members. Stand-out songs were the driving drums and jangling glockenspiel on "Irrepressible Future", and "One Giant Leap" with Jillian Levey on lead vocals, instead of main singer Taylor Swindells.
Their set hit a lot of the expected beats of a folk-rock set, including breaking out the floor toms, and their cover was, a little predictably, a soaring folksy version of "Wake Up", closer to the acoustic version Arcade Fire did recently. They ended off with a big, high energy song that I didn't catch the name of, leaving a good chunk of the crowd cheering for more.
While I can not deny they are very good at what they do, what they do is just not for me.


Shred Kelly: On the other side of the "folk coin" is the Fernie BC stoke folk band. They were the one of three bands I was rooting for going into the project, having been a fan of them for a couple years now.
The five-piece started off with a newer song that encapsulates the band perfectly; Tim Newton starting the song slowly plucking his banjo until he picked up the pace to a blurry hand, joined by Sage McBride's lovely voice, the song building to an explosive crescendo. From there they kept up the energy, getting the crowd clapping and stomping along, before it came to a head with another new song, a bit of a darker song for them and my favourite of the set, and "Tornado Alley", culminating in a frantic storm of instruments worthy of the title.
They brought the set down for a moment, for a couple of their (relatively) softer songs, and then wrapped up with the perennial singalong, "I Hate Work", letting the Thursday night crowd blow off steam. That then segued nicely into their Canadian cover, Loverboy's "Working For The Weekend", during which they not only got a surprising number of people to "get low" and crouch down, but also split the room for the singalong: one side singing along with Sage "Everybody's working for the weekend" and the other with Tim, chanting "I Hate Work", to wrap up a set that reinforced my desire to see them in the top three.


And with that, there was only one more showcase to go, spotlighting the last three of the Top Twelve. Next week will be The Wild Romantic, Dearrival, and Damn Fools.

Shred Kelly @ Electric Owl -- 01/31/14

As I've said more than a couple times before, one of my favourite newly-discovered bands from the last few years is Fernie's Shred Kelly. They kicked off a short BC tour the other night in Revelstoke, before hitting the Electric Owl in Vancouver.

Opening the early show was Vancouver's this is The Shoes. Usually a two piece, the duo was joined by a drummer and bass player to fill out the band. They opened with a softer song before launching into a set full of dirty and fiery blues songs, with singer Sabrina Robson's strong voice perfectly fitting for their sound.
I always have a soft spot for blues rock -- which they did very well -- but while Sabrina & guitarist Jereme Collette were definitely talented, I felt like they needed to put their own stamp on the sound, like I wasn't listening to anything new. They're only a couple years old as a band, though, so I am interested to see what's next for the band.

Not long after, Shred Kelly took the stage, immediately launching into a more-or-less instrumental song, followed by the explosive "Cabin Fever". Since they first time I saw them, the self-described "stoke-folk" band always been strong and energetic, and they were in top form that night. Especially the shared lead vocals between banjo/guitarist Tim Newton and Sage McBride on keyboard.
Part way through the set they tested out a couple new songs; the first was a comparatively dark song with Sage's powerful voice filling the room, and was possibly my favourite of the set. The other had Tim on vocals, with his ukulele, for a majestic, soaring song. It sounded like it could have easily been in a commercial for Tourism Fernie (which I mean in the best possibly way).
Other highlights were the back-to-back "Tornado Alley" and "The Bear", the former building up to a cacophonous and frantic ending, fitting its name, and the latter featuring some of the fastest hands on the banjo.
They wrapped up the main set with "New Black", but of course they were back for one more, joined by Eric Larocque for the ultimate song to blow off steam, "I Hate Work". Not only did they get people stomping, clapping, and yelling along, but when they "brought it down", everyone on the dance floor took a knee. Most of the time when I've seen bands try that, there are still a few "I'm too cool for this" people still standing, but not this time.
I think that was a major factor to why this was Shred Kelly's best Vancouver show to date; the crowd was fantastic, and each member of the band fed off that energy, leaving everything on stage.

setlist
[Intro], Cabin Fever, White River, Rowed Away, Time is Passing, [New Sage Song], [New Tim Song], Fossils & Tin, Tornado Alley, The Bear, New Black.
(encore) I Hate Work.


Shred Kelly w/ Loon Choir @ Biltmore -- 08/06/13

Shred Kelly and Loon Choir are two up and coming Canadian bands that you'll no doubt be hearing a lot more from in the future. They're no strangers to playing shows together, and their latest joint tour took them across the country with Vancouver being their last show together, at the Biltmore.

 First up, though, was Vancouver's Jer Breaks. One half of Redgy Blackout (who are currently on a hiatus) Jer was performing his own solo material, just him with his guitar on stage.
His songs had a bit of a folky-country bent, that seemed personal and heartfelt -- including one he prefaced as about his first (and last) acid trip. There was also a medley of covers, including some Ryan Adams and Hank Williams, showing off some of his influences.
The set was fine, but there wasn't much variation between the songs. I'd like to see him with a full band, to see how they flesh out.

Up next was Loon Choir. It was the first time in Vancouver for Ottawa band, and they packed the stage with seven members, including keys, synth, and violin.
High energy, dance-inducing synth-rock, with a ton of passion in all the members. But especially lead singer Derek Atkinson who had a fiery spirit; running around the stage, into the crowd, miming actions during songs, there was hardly a minute when he was standing still.
Atkinson was joined occasionally on vocals by Nikki Yates on keys, whose smooth voice balanced out his uniquely imperfect vocals.
The set was full of big, grandiose songs like "Nowhere To Go" and "All Boats Don't Rise", a catchy song with an intense breakdown.
They put on a really strong set, though there were a few times where they could have been a bit tighter, more cohesive -- but they are still a relatively young band, so I have no doubt they'll soon be a force to be reckoned with.

And finally, the five members of Shred Kelly took the stage, the stoke-folk band from Fernie launching right into it with "New Black", the first song of their newest album, In The Hills. The had a huge energy that didn't relent through the set, and their obvious enthusiasm was infectious as the Tuesday night crowd was dancing along.
"Rowed Away" was a great example of their sound, starting soft with keyboardist Sage McBride's gorgeous voice, then exploding into Tim Newton's blurry-handed banjo playing. Sage's strong vocals are a nice counterbalance to Tim's rougher voice -- a lot of bands hardly have one charismatic lead singer, Shred Kelly has two.
Other highlights of the set were the explosive "Cabin Fever" and "Fossils and Tin", a waltz-y song that had the crowd stomping and clapping along. They ended the set with "Tornado Alley", which lives up to its name perfectly, building to a frantic cacophony of sound, as if you're in the storm.
But a vocal section of the crowd was adamant about one more song, a specific one, so they obliged by calling Loon Choir up on stage to help out with the anthemic "I Hate Work", which culminated in the crowd clapping along and shouting their own dissatisfaction with their employment.

setlist
New Black, Cabin Fever, Leaving Town, Ghost Inside My Head, Time is Passing, Rowed Away, White River, Fossils and Tin, The Bear. Tornado Alley.
(encore) I Hate Work.