Whitehorse @ Commodore -- 04/09/15

You know the story by now: Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland were both making music on their own, occasionally touring together, both even backing up Sarah McLachlan, when at some point the married couple wondered why they were doing it separately, instead of together. They formed Whitehorse in 2011, and the rest was history.
Now on the heels of their third album, Leave No Bridge Unburned, they returned to Vancouver's legendary Commodore Ballroom.

Unfortunately I missed the supporting act, Noah Gundersen, arriving at the venue mere moments before Whitehorse took the stage.

The setup was that of a full band; drum kit, keys, a large bass drum, old phone receivers fixed up as microphones, all in front of a stylized light-up "W". But it was only Luke and Melissa on stage, as they masterfully looped their songs on their own. They would often start with Luke on the drums and Melissa on keys, building layer upon layer of the song before strapping on the guitars (they both switched off between guitar & bass) to let loose with weapons like Melissa's powerful voice and Luke's phenomenal guitar chops.

Not every song was looped, though, a few of the slower songs were just the two on guitar, their great voices intertwining into great harmonies. And it was obvious the chemistry the two of them had; a frequent question I see interviewers ask the band is, "Is it hard for a married couple to tour & be together so often", but just one look at them on stage answers that question. The way they looked at each other, even the way they shared the microphone perched at the very front of the stage, told you all you needed to know.

Songs ranged from the gnarled guitars of "Baby What's Wrong" to the sultry "Tame as the Wild Ones" to the heartbreaking "Broken", a pre-Whitehorse song from Luke's oeuvre. A couple highlights of the set included "Devil's Got a Gun", with its instantly recognisable riff as the song built to a huge finale with an outstanding drum breakdown, and an older song from Melissa's solo career, "Passenger 24", which started with McClelland at the front of the stage, her voice driving the dark song before Doucet burst in with the drums, and then tore it up on his Gretsch White Falcon. He even slipped in a little bit of the James Bond theme into the mix -- perhaps a nod to the common (and correct) opinion that the band would be perfect to record a song for a Bond movie.

The main set came to a close with their current single, a driving, anthemic song "Downtown" before coming back out for a couple more; "Jane" from their album with one of my favourite titles The Fate Of The World Depends On This Kiss and finally wrapping up with a Tom Waits cover, "Gun Street Girls", giving one last showcase of their looping.


The first time I saw Whitehorse, a little over two years ago at the Commodore, I had no idea what I was in store for. And this show blew that one away. I have said many times before on this very blog that I love watching looping artists, especially ones this good, and combined with their raw talent and clear passion they have towards each other and the music, it makes for a show that will be tough to top.


setlist
You Get Older, Baby What's Wrong, No Glamour in the Hammer, Boss Man, Broken, Emerald Isle, Tame as the Wild Ones, The One I Hurt, Sweet Disaster, Achilles' Desire, Fake Your Death (And I'll Fake Mine), Devil's Got a Gun, Passenger 24, Downtown. 
(encore) Jane, Gun Street Girl [Tom Waits cover].

3am Mixtapes: Episode Seventy: Animal Bands

Each week on the 3am Mixtapes podcast, I will share with you the Top Six Songs of a certain subject. The topics can be as general as best instrumentals, but some might be a little more... specific. Top Six Songs That Could Be a James Bond Theme.. 

This week we're taking a look at a trend of band names that seemed to reach full saturation a couple years ago, the Top Six Sibling Bands!

Get wild with:

"Nowhere To Go" by Loon Choir
"You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son" by Wolf Parade
"A Duration of Starts and Lines That Form Code" by Frog Eyes
"Freedom" by The Lion The Bear The Fox
"My Government Heart" by Said the Whale
"The Walls Have Drunken Ears" by Whitehorse

Any questions or comments or waffles or criticisms or suggestions for future themes are welcome!

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3am Mixtapes: Episode Thirty Four: Loopers

Each week on the 3am Mixtapes podcast, I will share with you the Top Six Songs of a certain subject. The topics can be as general like top six Australian bands. Some might be a little more... specific. Top Six Bands that have "Young" in their name.

This week it's all about those musicians who single-handedly build up layer upon layers to make a song, the Top Six Loopers!

Getting loopy this week is:

"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall
"The Riverbed" by Owen Pallett
"Shadowless" by Hannah Epperson
"I Just Want To" by Reggie Watts
"Jane" by Whitehorse
"Chemical Polarity" by Chersea

Any questions or comments or waffles or criticisms or suggestions for future themes are welcome!

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3am Mixtapes: Episode Thirteen: Musical Couples

Hey look, it's another episode of 3am Revelations' very own podcast!

Each week on 3am Mixtapes, I will present to you, in my dulcet tones, the Top Six Songs of a certain subject. The topics can be as general like Top Six Dancey Songs, or they can be as obscure and specific as Top Six Songs to Play at My Funeral.

This week we take a look at the age old tradition of musical couples. Those bands featuring married musicians who make sweet music together, in the Top Six Musical Couples!

Featured on this week's podcast is:

"Devil’s Got A Gun" by Whitehorse
"Beach Dream" by Jets Overhead
"#6" by AroarA
"Pretty Boy" by Young Galaxy
"I Heard I Had" by Dear Rouge
"22: The Death of All the Romance" by The Dears

Any questions or comments or waffles or criticisms or suggestions for future themes are welcome!



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Vancouver Folk Music Festival Day Two @ Jericho Beach Park -- 07/20/13

The second day of the 26th Annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival was packed, so let's just get right to it.
(See day one here)

It was a day of seeing workshops, and started off with one called Songwriters' Café featuring a score of Canadian talent. Led by Justin Rutledge, who was joined by Miranda Mulholland on the violin, it also included Hannah Georgas, joined by her guitar player Rob Tornroos; Kathleen Edwards, joined by Jim Bryson; and Del Barber, joined by... no one.
The best thing about the workshops is the collaboration that can happen, and there was a touch of that here; Kathleen and Jim joined in on Hannah's song "Robotic", helping on vocals. There were also a couple of cover songs, Hannah covering "Bye Bye Love", and oft-covered song made famous by The Everly Brothers, and Edwards with a sultry version of Nirvana's "All Apologies". I was also very impressed by Del Barber, who I had only heard a little of before the weekend. His good storytelling convinced me to check out his full set later in the afternoon.

I caught a bit of Reid Jamieson and his folky singer/songwriter fare, and later on in the day there was the Going Bi-Coastal workshop, with Charlottetown, PEI's Tim Chaisson and Mo Kenney from Waverley, Nova Scotia representing the east, and Vancouver's Hannah Georgas, and Victoria's Aidan Knight taking care of the west.
There was some nice collaborating in this workshop, Aidan and Hannah being familiar with each other at the folk fest, and Chaisson joined in a Mo Kenney song on his fiddle. Hannah also covered Sarah Harmer's "Coffee Stain" and as the workshop drew to an end, Aidan got everyone -- on stage and in the audience -- to join in to "Jasper", which was one of the highlights of the weekend, and Tim wrapped it up by pulling out his fiddle and evoking a good old fashioned east coast kitchen party.

From there it was off to Del Barber for his own set. Musically, he is a pretty good folk singer/songwriter with a bit of a country edge, but it's his charm and storytelling that put him above others. Introducing most songs with a story, and chatting with the crowd between -- and sometimes during -- songs. Even when he screwed up (something he would attribute to bad karma the next day) he covered effortlessly.
There was also a great song that was about Archie marrying Veronica (an even that happened in Archie comics a few years ago) which was my favourite of the set, and he ended with a cover of "Harvest Moon"
Del was one of my favourite "discoveries" of the festival, and I will have to make sure to catch him next time he is through Vancouver.

As the sun arced over Jericho Beach Park, I caught the first couple songs from The Wooden Sky, but they were having technical issues to start and the heat was starting to bear down, so it was off to the beer garden and catch Maria In The Shower in the background. I had heard a lot about the East Van band, but never seen them live. They put on a pretty fun set, and I'll have to catch them next time they put on a show.

Not long after that, the main stage started for the night, with Danny Michel and The Garifuna Collective. Danny recently went to Belize to record and be inspired, and he came back to Canada to do the festival circuit with them as his backing band. They traded off songs, with highlights being "Survivors Guilt" and the catchy "What Colour Are You?", and put on a very energetic and fun set.

And then, ending my day was Whitehorse. One of my most unexpectedly favourite shows of the year so far was when I saw them at the Commodore, so they were one of my most anticipated of the weekend.
Married couple Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland are excellent musicians separately, but when put together, something magic happens. With only the two of them on stage, they have an array of instruments and looping pedals at their command, crafting each song from scratch, building them up one by one. Starting with "Killing Time Is Murder", the duo wowed the crowd, especially with Melissa's voice and Luke's guitar skills.
Aside from their own songs, they did a couple covers; a little bit of George Thorogood's "Who Do You Love" slipped in to "Radiator Blues" and a JJ Cale's "Crazy Mama" in the middle of the set. They also played each other's songs as well, including Luke's deliciously bitter "Broken" and Melissa's "Passenger 49", starting soft and then exploding part way through.
After what seemed like not nearly enough time, they wrapped up with the intense "Jane". They definitely didn't disappoint.

That was all for day two (there were other performers after Whitehorse, but I had to leave early). Day three would feature a couple more workshops and solo shows, and another one of my favourite festival discoveries.

Whitehorse w/ Daniel Romano @ Commodore -- 1/26/13

About five or six years ago, I first saw Melissa McClelland as an opening act, and part way through her set she invited her husband up on stage to play a song with her. Turns out the husband was Luke Doucet, and it wouldn't be the last time the couple shared the stage. Sadly, I hadn't had the chance to see either of them live since then, either in their own solo shows or as Whitehorse, so I was very excited to hear they were starting their latest tour in Vancouver.
Add to that the opener of the night -- a gentleman I saw in Toronto at the NXNE festival, but was too tired to fully appreciate the set -- and it was sure to be a good show.

Leigh Eldridge Photography

And that gentleman was Daniel Romano. The former Attack in Black frontman has gone a much more country route in his solo material, which was evident before Romano played a single note. He took the stage dressed in a full on Cowboy Suit, covered head to toe in rhinestones, topped off with a cowboy hat.
With his only backup being Aaron Goldstein on pedal steel, the duo was at the edge of the stage, in front of the certain, and started off the set with "Time forgot (to change my heart)", with a very old school, traditional country sound. A lot of the set consisted of slow tempo, sad songs, but there were a couple upbeat numbers, like the upbeat "Chicken Bill"

As Romano brought the set to an end, he decided to have a little bit of fun with the last couple songs, first a cover of a Roger Miller song, and then their version of the oft-covered "When I Stop Dreaming" originally by The Louvin Brothers. Romano said the duo had only practiced it a couple times in their four-day van drive from Ontario to BC, and Goldstein stepped off the pedal steel to take over vocals.

While it was, overall, a little too Country for my personal tastes, I could still appreciate their talent. Both Romano and Goldstein were excellent performers, and it was apparent that a good portion of the crowd was there as much to see Romano as they were for Whitehorse.

Leigh Eldridge Photography

It wasn't too long after that the curtains parted and we caught a glimpse of the set, a few banners with a painted version of what I assume was Whitehorse (the city), before Whitehorse (the band) took the stage. Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland first roused the crowd into singing the beginning of "Killing Time is Murder" before grabbing their instruments and kicking off the set.

It was only the two of them -- no backing band of anything -- and while they mostly stuck to guitar, or sometimes bass, there was also a keyboard, a kick drum & a floor tom, and an array of percussive instruments from a steel drum to maracas and even some pans to bang on. The couple used these to their full advantage, creating rich loops to continue on as they played, more often than not coming right to the front of the stage to share a microphone (when not using the telephone receivers on their individual mics for vocal effects).

The chemistry between the two was as amazing as you would hope, with the couple playing off each other perfectly-- both musically and with their banter. They went for over an hour, covering nearly their entire catalogue, which consists of songs written as a duo as well as some of their individual, older songs reworked. Highlights included Doucet's "Broken", about an ex-girlfriend (which brought on some joking and teasing) and McClelland's "Passenger 24", which started soft and slow before exploding with energy; as well as the dirty and badass "Achilles' Desire" and the beautiful "Mismatched Eyes" with the back-and-forth vocals, both off the latest album The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss.
Wrapping up the main set with "Jane", they came back with the soft and sweet "Night Owls" and capped off the night with their cover of Springsteen's "I'm On Fire", getting a large chunk of the crowd to sing along, and even continue the chorus after they had put down their instruments, taken a bow and left the stage.

Going into the show, I already knew that Melissa has a gorgeous voice and Luke is a fantastic guitar player, but I figured they would also have a backing band playing with them. I was not expecting it to be just the two of them, effortlessly building each song before the crowds eyes, with the help of their looping pedals. It was a fantastic show, and I wouldn't hesitate to see them next time they're in town.

setlist
Killing Time is Murder, No Glamour in the Hammer, Radiator Blues, Wisconsin, Emerald Isle, Mismatched Eyes (Boat Song), Broken, Devil's Got a Gun, Annie Lu, Out Like A Lion, Achilles' Desre, Passenger 24, Jane.
(encore) Night Owls, I'm on Fire [Bruce Springsteen cover].

Photos courtesy of Leigh Eldridge Photography