The evening started off with power pop band Team Spirit belting out an energetic set to a mostly sparse room. By the time Surfer Blood took the stage just after 10:30pm it was still only about half-full which was slightly disappointing. It was a Wednesday night though. They started their set by playing the instrumental “Neighbour Riffs” followed by frontman John Paul Pitts asking the crowd sarcastically “Are you guys having the time of your lives?”
Surfer Blood have had a rough time as of late mostly in dealing with Pitts’ highly publicized arrest for domestic battery last year. They’ve since bounced back with their latest album Pythons which was produced by Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters, Dashboard Confessional) and has received mostly favourable reviews. As well, Pitts spoke openly in an interview with Pitchfork earlier this year that attempted to set the record straight about his arrest and his issues with alcohol. It’s hard to have an opinion one way or another on Pitts but I will say his attempt at playing a rockstar on this night fell short. Despite being able to write catchy music fit to play on modern rock music stations and a strong voice, his live show was lacking. He was stone-faced with pursed lips the entire show including both times he left the stage and came down to the floor to awkwardly sing and pose for camera pictures. It made me uncomfortable.
The highlight for me was following their 50-minute set they returned to play a cover of Pavement’s “Box Elder” and the song that put them on the map “Swim”. A short and sometimes sweet University student-friendly rock show.