The Dears - Live At The West End Cultural Centre

Last night I attended The Dears, my debut show at the revamped West End Cultural Centre, and I was impressed with both the band and the renovated venue.

Now the first time I saw The Dears live was back in December, and their set was cold and robotic, mirroring the outside -30 degree weather. Plus, they were the second of four acts on the bill, so the crowd was pretty threadbare at that point and I assume most were there for Metric (they were the headliners after all).

Last night, The Dears seemed more comfortable, more relaxed and were noticeably tighter playing at the smaller venue (side note: The weather was December-like yesterday, making that a controlled variable).

Their set started in a most unusual manner – band leader Murray’s disembodied, plaintive vocals originating from, um, below? Backstage? Neptune? Where was he? It took a minute or so to realize that Murray was deeply submerged in the sea of people toward the front of the stage and singing through a microphone with a brightly lit tail. Once finished, he clamored back on stage, the rest of the septet materialized, and they broke into a lengthy set that drew heavily from last year's Missiles, with some No Cities Left and Orchestra sprinkled in for good measure. It was moody, intense, and pretty arresting, but at 2+ hours, just a little too long for my liking (could've trimmed 20 or so).

Situated near the front, I couldn’t resist exiting briefly and reemerging on the newly constructed and magnificent Mezzanine to watch/hear a few tunes. It was pretty magical up there. I also appreciated how the merch table/alcohol sales/washrooms are now outside the core stage area and how bathroom goers were no longer in the sight line. Significant, much-needed improvements.


Jets Overhead opened and what I heard - the three songs or so - I liked. Unhurried and lulling indie-rock.

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Jenn Grant is at the Lo Pub on June 26th w/Dan Magan.

Vancouver's Breach of Trust stop by the Pyramid on July 18th.

Mykael's Infinite Playlist: Sigur Ros - Ágætis Byrjun