Kandle @ Biltmore -- 09/11/14

One of my favourite albums so far this year, as well as one of my favourite new discoveries, has been Kandle. So when it was time for the Victoria native, who not lives in Montreal, Kandle Osborne (yes, daughter of that musical Osborne) to hit Vancouver on her way to the Rifflandia festival, I wouldn't be missing it.


Opening the night was The Franklin Electric, the first time in Vancouver for the Montreal folk-pop band. Great harmonies and a trumpet to flesh out their sound, they put on a fun set, though I'm not sure it's anything I'd go out of my way to listen to, and it did drag on a little. They played for 45 minutes (which seems long for the first of three bands) and had a few too many of their slower songs in the latter half. They even had a big finale that grew to a grand climax, which would have been the perfect ending, but decided to play one more low energy song.


Louise Burns was up next, with her backing band dubbed The Victims, which included Jody Glenham and members of Ladyhawk. The stage was barely lit, the dark mood matching her dark pop as she opened with "Emeralds Shatter" from her latest album, The Midnight Mass. Burns had a great presence on stage -- it was clear she had been performing since a young age, as part of Lillix -- and her strong voice drove the set. Highlights including "Ruby", which manages to be both catchy and a little depressing, and the gorgeous "Heaven", which ended the set. I hadn't seen Louise play her own set in a few years, only shows with her other band Gold & Youth, so it was great to finally see her play again.


And finally, at just about midnight(!) it was time for Kandle. Her backing band, The Krooks took the stage first, playing the Bond theme as Kandle Osborne strutted out. The Krooks were pretty all-star, including ex-members of Broken Social Scene, The Dears, and even Tim Fletcher of The Stills (which made my night, as The Stills were one of my favourites), and Kandle herself oozed sultry charm and charisma on stage, occasionally chatting with the crowd, thankful that there was more than the three people they had played to in Kamloops the night before.

They opened the set with "So Bad", the first track from this year's In Flames, and the set focused mostly on that album, with a few off her self-titled, as well as a couple brand new songs. She introduced one new one called "Won't Do That Again" as her "Disney Villain song", and I didn't catch the name of another about sleeping with your boss, but both were fantastic with the latter built to a powerfully emotional ending, her incredible voice on the forefront. It's a powerful and beautiful voice that was juxtaposed with the dark, blues-rock, but the mix of the two works perfectly.

She wrapped up the set with my favourite of hers, the driving and badass "Demon", which ended set with a bang. She even invited a gentleman dressed as Satan -- waxed up hair into horns, whole head painted red, and everything -- onto stage to dance. She didn't bother with the whole "faux encore", which was great since that was the perfect ending (and it was pushing 1am on a Thursday).


setlist
So Bad, Oh Great, Not Listening, Baby, Small, Control Me, Winter, Know My Name, Won't Do That Again, Not Up To Me, [Boss], Demon.