Toronto – Early shows are both a blessing and a curse. On one hand you have the benefit of having the rest of the night to go out and cause trouble after the show, but on the other, if say, you have to go on stage half an hour before you are suppose to be on, you play to practically nobody. New York’s Hooray For Earth, riding a tidal wave of momentum following the positive reviews of their latest release True Loves had the pleasure of playing to a small crowd when they took the stage at 7:30 pm, at least twenty minutes before they were supposed to go on. I unfortunately arrived at 7:45 pm and therefore missed a good chunk of their set, as did most people. As Architecture in Helsinki lead singer Cameron Bird would later say, “No band should have to play that early”. It really is a shame that more people did not catch the Hooray For Earth set. Employing dual synths, the four piece band played tracks off their latest release. Creating a large, mostly synth driven wall of sound, the band sounded much better than the last time I saw them. I did not get to hear the singles off their EP Momo but I will assume those were played early. You can always tell how good an opening act is by how many people go closer to the stage as the band plays and there was a decent amount of people had moved up by the time Hooray For Earth ended their short set with the single True Loves. While the band might not have had the large crowd that they wanted, they did impress the people who were there. Quality, not quantity, I say.

Hooray for Earth – True Loves by Dovecote Records
(For a Free track from Hooray For Earth, click here)

Around one entire hour later, Australia’s Architecture in Helsinki took the stage to a rather large crowd. The group’s most recent release Moment Bends had been on my rotation for awhile and I was also excited to hear their old material but was still a bit miffed that the opener didn’t get some of that empty time in between sets. Anyways, the band took the stage shortly before nine and instantly launched into one of the many radio friendly feel good tracks off the album –Desert Island. Playing primarily songs from their new album, Architecture in Helsinki charmed the crowd to a feverish pitch. The band’s music to me, exists in a place that is between happy and really really happy. You can’t possibly not have a good time at a show when the band members do goofy choreographed dances to their own songs. It wasn’t before long before the majority of the crowd was moving and dancing to each song. Singer Kellie Sutherland has one of the sweetest voices you can encounter and the vocal interplay between the singers provided a nice balanced for the bands saccharine infused eighties prom style. As expected, the two classic Architecture in Helsinki tracks – Do The Whirlwind and Heart It Races generated the most excitement with two girls jumping up on stage to dance to the latter. An encore featuring current single Contact High rounded off the happyfest, leaving everyone energized and enthused as they descended into the night.

Contact High by Architecture In Helsinki

You can also download a Bjorn remix of Contact High Here