Ever since first hearing Wolf Parade’s Sub-Pop Records debut, Apologies To The Queen Mary, I’ve been anxiously awaiting a chance to catch this band live. Inexplicably I’ve missed two previous opportunities. I was determined not to miss another.
So to say my expectations were high is a bit of an understatement. Luckily, the Montreal quartet did not disappoint. In fact, quite the contrary.
Judging by the crowd packed into the House of Blues on Monday, I was not the only one with high expectations. The crowd was buzzing with excitement by the time I found a spot on the floor and before I knew it the band had taken the stage while the house lights were still on. Spencer Krug greeted the crowd with an apology: “Sorry for the wait, we’ll try to make it up to you.”
When the band launched into "What Did My Lover Say" off their recently released Expo 86 LP, they set the tone for a night filled with their latest material and a few notable exceptions. Sometimes this is as a total misfire, but based on the strength of the band's new album I could hardly wait to see what would come next.
Some bands are blessed with a talented songwriter, Wolf Parade have two in Spencer Krug and Dan Boekner. The two of them seamlessly traded tunes throughout the set which made for a varied and satisfying performance, most notably when Boekner turned in a stirring version of "Yulia."
One thing you notice when witnessing a Wolf Parade show is how dynamic their live sound is. A lot of credit goes to multi-instrumentalist Dante DeCaro and drummer Arlen Thomson. While Krug and Boekner were delivering keyboard flourishes and big riffs, their bandmates filled out their sound with additional guitar, keyboard and thunderous drumming.
Maybe it was the vitamin water and vodka that they were sipping in between songs, but the band seemed genuinely touched by the ravenous response that they received from the House of Blues crowd throughout the night. I looked around the room a few times to find all eyes glued on the band and the crowd hanging on and singing along to every word.
The night came to a chaotic high when the band delivered a stunning version of "Kissing The Beehive" to end the regular set, whipping the House of Blues crowd into an all out frenzy.
My night was briefly interrupted when the guy next to dumped half a beer on me while jumping up and down. He was having too much fun to notice and I was too focused on the bands impressive performance to care.
Wolf Parade capped the night off with a three song encore that sent the masses out into the warm night with weary voices and ear to ear grins.
