On February 15, 2013, Quest For Fire played their last ever show. The individual members are moving on to other things as is to be expected with most musical projects. Everything has to end at some point. Except nowadays, I’m not entirely sure what “last ever” means.
Bands I thought I’d never see and even bands I’d never have thought I’d need to see have reunited. It doesn’t even faze me anymore. It seems particularly noticeable these days, with even the most obscure of bands reuniting to play to their fanbases, but it’s not necessarily a new thing – The Who have done who knows how many “farewell” tours and even The Band, who famously called it quits with The Last Waltz, got together a few years later (sans Robbie Robertson) and by the ’90s, they were releasing new material.
None of which suggests that Quest For Fire will ever play a show again; I’m just noting that “last ever” means a little less than it used to these days. However, if they do end up staying true to their word and never playing a show together again, I would be satisfied with this being the band’s final show. They certainly went out on a high note (stoner rock inspired pun possibly intended), impressing the diehards in the crowd with their heavy psychedelic sounds.
Also on the bill this night (and also on a psychedelic tip) were The Highest Order, who while by no means a reunion, are certainly a continuation of the collaboration between Simone Schmidt and Paul Mortimer which began with One Hundred Dollars and has continued on into Fiver. The Highest Order takes a bit more of a dark, psychedelic approach to the folk and country oriented sounds of those bands, though Schmidt’s strong voice shines through as always.
For their final performance, Quest For Fire played a number of songs from throughout their career, including one which I believe they said they had either never played live before or perhaps just one they hadn’t played in a long time. The songs ranged from those which locked into a nice mid paced groove to those of a more hazy, slow nature. The crowd was appreciative throughout and the band in turn seemed quite happy at the turnout with frontman Chad Ross thanking the crowd several times. His last words at the end of their main set were appropriate of the vibe that night: “Thank you so much everybody. Let’s party.”