THE YEARS HAVE BEEN MORE THAN KIND FOR THEM AND FOR US


Wolf Parade
Spencer Krug - keys, vocals
Dan Boekner - guitars, vocals
Hadji Bakara - sounds
Dante Decaro - drums
Arlen Thompson - guitars (on tour)




(picture from internet)



Two years ago I had the chance to see Wolf Parade live at The Commodore. I witnessed them at the expense of a Boys Only trip (an annual gathering of men friends that has been going strong for nearly a decade); the boys only trip went ahead, and I was only gone from the crew for a few hours, but it was in an urban setting and it was a disaster (however, that's a completely different story). That night I was very excited because I was supposed to have seen the band several months earlier (I think the year before) when they played a basement in East Vancouver. However, I completely forgot about that show and found myself in Avanti's drinking beer alone as I read in The Georgia Straight that the show was that night. If I had hustled I may have been able to make it in, but I was high and nearing being drunk so I thought it best not to make my way there, and likely turn around half way there.

Anyways, I went to the Commodore show two years ago and I was so disappointed; it may have been partly because of not being with the guys drinking, but to me the band was just going through the motions. I don't think they weren't into it. In fact, I think they were very much into it; too into it really. There was no excitement and to me it came off just like the album. They were very young men with not many high-capacity gigs in their repertoire, so I'm thinking that is what they considered a really good live show. But to me, if a band just plays the songs as they are on the album the audience may as well stay home, put on the headphones and press shuffle on the music player.

This brings me to July 12, 2008. What a difference 23 months makes. Wolf Parade has travelled the world, played many shows to many different audiences and released a new album as well. At Mount Zoomer is definitely one of the best albums of the year so far. It is very different than their first album (Apologies to Queen Mary) in that it has a much slower pace. However, the music is just as fun and beautiful.

I think the band has taken all their life experiences and put the energy into their live shows. They band witnessed two nights ago was full of confidence and energy. They played all the songs from their two albums and played them with passion. The key word there is passion. It was a true rock show. Dan Boeckner could barely contain himself to his small area of the stage and Spencer Krug looked like he might have needed reinforced stands for his keys. Nearly every song was a bit different than the recorded version. Either slightly slowed down or sped up at times, at times more sparse than on cd, and at times with added layers of sound from the albums. As with all good gigs the focus was on the music. They didn't need to banter much with audience, the music was their banter. They didn't need elaborate lighting; in fact, Hadji Bakara asked the light technician to kill the strobe light. For those who had not seen Wolf Parade live before they were party to a killer live show that they should remember for years to come. For those of us who had seen them before we left with a sense that this is a band that will continue to be worth being heard live for years to come.

Now if only the young drunk girls would stop bumping into me. Don't they know I had heart surgery recently?

Do yourselves a favour and BUY Wolf Parade's At Mount Zoomer. Artists such as this deserve to be paid for what they give us. They give us music that will help define periods in life, instances throughout summers or winters and hope that maybe some day all people will pick up an instrument and create something that will make themselves, and maybe others, happy.