Said The Whale @ St. James Community Square
You know a gig was pretty great when the Donut Toss was not the highlight of the night.
Last night Vancouver’s own Said The Whale made a much-welcomed return home after crossing the country launching their fantastic brand new record, Islands Disappear. It was my first time seeing the band and I could not have been more impressed. I certainly enjoy the records but I was not expecting so much energy from the band and so much love from the crowd.
Seeing as it was the album launch for Islands Disappear, it was fitting that most of the record was played throughout the night. The band opened with a semi-choral version of False Creek Change before diving into “oldie” This City’s A Mess. This City’s A Mess was the first song I ever heard by the band so seeing it live, with even more energy than the recorded version, was pretty great.
My Government Heart, another song from Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia, featured some great keyboard work from Jaycelyn Brown and it was one of the night’s finer performances. But throughout the entire gig I was consistently impressed with the band’s musicianship. Drummer Spencer Schoening was in particular impressive as his playing was at times quite inventive (spinning cymbals!), something I hadn’t really realized on record; good thing too, as any drummer wearing a Velvet Underground shirt is just begging to be critically appraised at a gig.
Much of the new material came off extremely well live and most of it was greeted by the eager crowd as if they’ve been living with these songs for years. The Gift Of A Black Heart and Goodnight Moon were two examples of this, the latter’s Arcade Fire-esque finale causing the crowd to shake of the floor of the St. James Community Square enough to make me think there might have been an earthquake.
All night the band balanced their set between their more upbeat, bouncy songs (see: Camilo (The Magician), Goodnight Moon) with quieter moments. In fact, the final song of the night, Curse of The Currents, was played more or less unplugged well after curfew. Coming out to the edge of the stage, singer Ben Worcester led the crowd in a delicate singalong to cap off a memorable evening. Check it out below:
I’ve put up a few photos from the gig here.
