It was a re-living of highschool angst all over again!
Now, Now
Recently making their debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, this trio from Minneapolis has been around and kicking since 2003, forming in high school. Now, now recently signed with Chris Walla from Death Cab’s record label have toured with the Naked and Famous and now with Motion City. These girls and guy play heavy classic indie rock, the soft lilting voice a nice contrast to the sometimes strangling guitar sounds. Cacie Dalager’s voice stands out above the sounds clear and concise. The music is reminiscent of early 00’s indie, think Death Cab, Rainer Maria, etc. I can see them soon heading out on their own headlining tour.
Jukebox The Ghost
Where do I start with these guys? They stole the show completely. Extreme dance power pop with extremely talented musicians. Stage presence that suggests a band comfortable in their skin that has been touring for years. these guys are embarking on their first Canadian headlining tour in February and March. I highly suggest seeing them. A seemingly classically trained pianist, a drummer with a penchant for tossing his right handed stick in the air as his parlor trick between his fast beats and a guitarist that can shred in the middle of a dance song. These guys were so much fun the crowd was screaming and cheering as if they were the headliners. Near the end of their set they declared “we’re kind of known for performing bad covers, if you don’t know this one, go back in time and learn it” (I’m paraphrasing of course, because who remembers quotes that aren’t from Arrested Development from more than two days ago?) They then proceeded to enter into Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” and I sang along with the fellow old timers. Jukebox The Ghost‘s newest album is called Safe Travels, and I wish them just that, because they’re going to be gone for a quite a while I suspect.
Motion City Soundtrack
Nine years ago I saw these guys in Toronto at the Phoenix It was my own smack in the face of “woah, you’ve aged.” Justin Pierre, the lead vocalist of Motion City, may be nine years older, however his voice is as strong as ever. This guy has serious range. They’ve just released their fifth studio album and were finishing their tour in Toronto. Extremely nice these guys hang around after every show meeting their fans. I’ve been told the singer to preserve his voice doesn’t speak to his fans but just karate chops, mimes and takes pictures, which almost seems more interesting than conversing. Their fans are so loyal – it’s refreshing to see Torontonians finally reacting at a concert rather than standing around like they’re all Daria. Crowd surfing, collective jumping, moshing, singing the words to every song, it was a breath of fresh air. Their encore consisted of a Ben Folds Five song (which my friend went insane for as it combined his two favorite bands) and their best known song, the always truthful ‘The Future Freaks Me Out‘ in which a giant collective sing-a-long erupted and at the line “what’s up with Will and Grace,” I wondered if the young’uns in the audience understood the line or just dug the song.. The future really does freak me out.