Near the beginning of Chairlift’s set, Caroline Polachek commented on how it had been awhile since the band had been to Toronto. It’s a thing that bands often say, but it’s also true – to the best of my recollection, the band was last in town in July of 2013 playing a show at Harbourfront. They seemed in a bit of a transitional phase then – it was after the touring cycle for their sophomore album Something and they seemed to be experimenting with some different sounds and textures. Really though, the band has always been about switching up their sound a bit from album to album, so when their latest album Moth took a more overtly “pop” approach, it wasn’t all that much of a surprise. It’s also a great album, so I was looking forward to hearing the songs live. Chairlift didn’t disappoint.
While Polachek announced to the crowd that the show would mostly feature new stuff, they did also play all of the big singles off of Something, as well as “Bruises,” their breakthrough single off of their debut album Does You Inspire You, though frankly, I could take or leave that song. The band sounded great, and the saxophone was a welcome addition, with a few of the older songs taking on a slightly different arrangement.
I do have one bone to pick with the band though, and that was that they started their set a good 45 minutes after opener Starchild and the New Romantic ended his set. That delay in their start time is likely the reason why I saw a few people leave roughly halfway into the band’s set (and probably not coincidentally, after they’d played most of the old stuff). Sure, maybe they realized they left the stove on at home, or they had to get up early for a serious medical procedure, but more likely they were looking to catch the last GO train home and didn’t mind missing out on “Ch-Ching” – their loss, I suppose. Though it really wasn’t that long, that 45 minute break was a tiny bit longer than I’d care to wait between sets, especially when the band already had all of their gear set up before Starchild even took to the stage. Did they decide to go out for sushi or something in between? We may never know.