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Sometimes concerts are kinda like mystery comic books!

No, seriously. I’ll show you.

Let me set the scene for you. The date: Friday night. The city is dark, and it was probably gloomy, too. The scene: Yonge Street. The bucket-drummer dude is camping at his usual spot on the corner, probably up to some un-nameable trickery. Meanwhile! Two-dozen eager concert goers (and me) are hovering like mysterious indie-fog in front of the Edge radio studio, waiting for the doors to open. Inside, Vancouver’s Said the Whale are tuning their instruments in an openly suspicious manner. Something was definitely about to go down.

I’d been previously acquainted with the band from their 2007 album Taking Abalonia, where I had loved (and lost) the track “Curse of the Currents”. Of course, all was not as I expected. Between that album and this week’s release of Islands Disappear, the evidence makes it seem like Whale have gotten a lot happier, at least if you consider that one track.

The band started the set with a five-voiced acapella opening to “False Creek Change”, which set a strangely woodsy-slash-old-timey vibe for a gig at a radio station surrounded by the flashing neon of Yonge & Dundas Square. This vibe was soon reinforced by “B.C. Orienteering” and “Out on the Shield”, to which many listener’s heads bobbed and toes tapped (in a menacing fashion).

Even though the crowd was pretty small for a free show on Friday night in downtown Toronto, Whale looked genuinely excited to be there, and slid through their set like a shadowy figure in the night. Like every mystery comic that has a good twist, instead of creepy footsteps, there was a song about juice that you may know, and one about a magician, which was definitely a highlight for me. And instead of being menacing, Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft were pretty good at harmonizing with each other, chatting with the audience, and being secret agents during “My Government Heart”. The rhythm section and keys, courtesy of Spencer Schoening, Peter Carruthers, and Jaycelyn Brown, provided stellar support throughout the set. It could have been much a more mysterious set had they been wearing suspicious moustaches, but it was still a good time nonetheless.

Now, most mystery comic books end with the criminal confessing something. So I’ll confess! I liked Said the Whale’s set so much I stole their set list! And here it is, so you can share in the spoils:

False Creek Change
This City’s a Mess
Love is Art/ Sleep Through Fire
B.C. Orienteering
Emerald Lake, AB
The Gift of a Black Heart
Out on the Shield
The Light is You
Camilo (the Magician)
My Government Heart
Goodnight Moon

Said the Whale will be playing gigs through Ontario this week, before they hit Maritimes, turn around, and swing back west. You can (and should) check out their MySpace page for tour dates and more!

Tags: concert reviews, concerts, said the whale

Posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 11:32 am by Jessica M and is filed under Concert Reviews.

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