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Showing posts with label we are the city. Show all posts
Showing posts with label we are the city. Show all posts
Show Review: Said The Whale - We Are The City
We're kidding about the birds, but the bands are real. On Sun., Oct. 16, Vancouver's Said The Whale and Kelowna, BC's We Are The City flew into town for their first visit to Michigan at the Crofoot's Pike Room, earning a spot on our top shows of 2011 list.
We Are The City had a fly-by last March when they played Windsor's Phog Lounge. This time the band-- Cayne McKenzie at the mic and keys, Andrew Huculiak at the kit and guitarist David Menzel-- brought their forte/piano, creative, progressive alt pop to Pontiac. We love McKenzie's agile, Broadway musical vocals and the variety of their songs . Some have jazz inflections, some are just fun, some are thoughtful; some are just bites of musical bliss like "Dark/Warm Air" (with Huculiak taking a turn at singing).
Whether Said The Whale is winning America remains to be seen, but they'd won us over even before "Emerald Lake, AB," became our NXNE 2010 theme song. In 2011, they won over Juno voters to take home the New Group of the Year award; their video for "Lines," an homage to the movie Back to the Future, was voted Best Video by CBC Radio 3 listeners in the 2011 Bucky Awards. The band is personable, engaging and earnest, on stage and off. So are their irresistible songs that frequently evoke a strong sense of place ("Mermaid sits on a tide-washed rock in the harbour..."), and robust harmonies led by heartthrob Tyler Bancroft's appealing tenor to Ben Worcester's grainier counterpoint.
As the band prepares to release Little Mountain, the much-anticipated follow-up to their debut LP Islands Disappear, in March, whale-watchers will be happy to know the band is returning in April with not one, but two dates: Apr. 16 at Windsor's Capitol Theatre, and Apr. 17 at PJ's Lager House in Detroit. No binoculars required.
Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images
Show Alert: Said The Whale w/ We Are The City @ The Crofoot
Sun., Oct. 16
The Pike Room at The Crofoot, Pontiac
Doors at 5 p.m
Sometimes getting a band to come to your city is as simple as asking. More often it involves a lot of waiting, hoping, near-misses and then, finally, when you least expect it-- Camilo the Magician steps in and suddenly there is no difference between real and a show.
"I need to see where you made that card go..."
Every Sunday the Crofoot features a lineup of Metro Detroit bands playing the Pike Room with an early door time of 5 p.m. "We got a call from Said The Whale's agent looking for a date in Detroit," said Chad Nicefield, talent buyer for The Crofoot. "We already had our local show going on in the Pike, and our Eagle Theatre and the ballroom were too big, so they agreed to combine the local acts and their tour package."
"Watch my eyes, put a coin in my hand now and squeeze real tight, I'll make both sides heads..."
The results bring the intelligent, picturesque alt pop of Juno award-winning Said The Whale (Vancouver) to the Detroit area for the first time ever, along with the spare yet expressive alt rock of We Are The City (Kelowna). Our review of We Are The City's show at Windsor's Phog Lounge in March remains our third most-viewed post; read (and hear) more about Said The Whale, the subject of CBC Radio 3's first documentary, here and here.
Local bands opening for Said The Whale and We Are They City:
Sean Earle
Trey Simon
Suitable Paradise
Kisses For Charity
Armour The Lion
The Pike Room at The Crofoot, Pontiac
Doors at 5 p.m
Sometimes getting a band to come to your city is as simple as asking. More often it involves a lot of waiting, hoping, near-misses and then, finally, when you least expect it-- Camilo the Magician steps in and suddenly there is no difference between real and a show.
"I need to see where you made that card go..." Every Sunday the Crofoot features a lineup of Metro Detroit bands playing the Pike Room with an early door time of 5 p.m. "We got a call from Said The Whale's agent looking for a date in Detroit," said Chad Nicefield, talent buyer for The Crofoot. "We already had our local show going on in the Pike, and our Eagle Theatre and the ballroom were too big, so they agreed to combine the local acts and their tour package."
"Watch my eyes, put a coin in my hand now and squeeze real tight, I'll make both sides heads..."
The results bring the intelligent, picturesque alt pop of Juno award-winning Said The Whale (Vancouver) to the Detroit area for the first time ever, along with the spare yet expressive alt rock of We Are The City (Kelowna). Our review of We Are The City's show at Windsor's Phog Lounge in March remains our third most-viewed post; read (and hear) more about Said The Whale, the subject of CBC Radio 3's first documentary, here and here.
Local bands opening for Said The Whale and We Are They City:
Sean Earle
Trey Simon
Suitable Paradise
Kisses For Charity
Armour The Lion
We Are The City release High School on March 22
PEAK Performance Project winners We Are The City are getting ready to release High School, a short but worthy collection of songs that will make your ears thank you.
In their own words: "The High School project initially began as a separate band, which we started during the summer of 2010 as another creative outlet. We tied T-shirts over our faces and adopted fictional aliases. Cayne was Lindsey Jone. Andrew was Matthew Curran. Later, Blake joined in as Bobby Reynolds. These characters gave us a chance to explore some shameful memories that we've previously avoided talking about.
This recording is the first time that we've played the High School songs as We Are The City.
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In their own words: "The High School project initially began as a separate band, which we started during the summer of 2010 as another creative outlet. We tied T-shirts over our faces and adopted fictional aliases. Cayne was Lindsey Jone. Andrew was Matthew Curran. Later, Blake joined in as Bobby Reynolds. These characters gave us a chance to explore some shameful memories that we've previously avoided talking about.
Their recent Phog Lounge live show review can be seen here.
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Show Review: We Are The City w/ Aidan Knight @ Phog Lounge
March 4. Friday night. Windsor's Phog Lounge. He walked up behind us and began setting up his merch table. "Wow," I said, "I had no idea you were so tall." A big smile and a handshake later, we were off to a great start to a great evening with Victoria, B.C. native Aidan Knight and Kelowna, B.C.'s We Are The City.
Besides being a multi-instrumentalist and having numerous credits on albums for many things, Aidan shared his thoughts on everything from B.C. arts cuts, touring, CBC Radio 3, Versicolour pre-orders to the incorrect label debacle for the translucent yellow vinyl.
While he has performed and recorded with such notables as Hannah Georgas, David Vertesi and the Zolas, Aidan Knight's vocal maturity belies his age (mid-20s) and is stunning to hear in person.
If you believe that the first time is the charm, not the third, then you may have experienced We Are The City live. Cayne McKenzie (keys and vox), Andy Huculiak (drums, knobs and vox) and sort of new guy Blake Enemark (guitar maniac) left many jaws on the floor as they played a superbly energetic set, mixing songs from 2010's In A Quiet World and the forthcoming High School, available Mar. 22.
Stage banter is an art, and those who can pull it off get an extra gold star from us. Cayne, the obvious raconteur of the group, described a recent stay-over at a house while on tour. The hairy details he shared made us see, feel and squirm at the events as they happened. Cats, allergies and squirrels do make an interesting topic.
Solid albums, solid performance, super guys. If you have not seen them, you should.
That's It, That's All.
Photos: Russ Gordon
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