Concert Review: Wolf Parade at the Kool Haus
Wolf Parade. "I’ll Believe in Anything" Apologies to the Queen Mary 2005.
I’ll start off by apologizing for the lack of pictures and video from the show, I don’t usually drag my camera along to venues, so I’ll try to convey the concert experience with mere superlatives. In short, Wolf Parade’s live show puts their already excellent recordings to shame - the energy and speed of their set was simply electrifying. Spencer Krug’s spacey keyboards dueled marvelously with Dan Boeckner’s high-strung guitar work, keeping up with each other as they burned through their dancable anthems. All the nuanced vocals, with the harmonized yelps, falsettos and ‘la-la-las" were pulled off perfectly as the duo traded roles as the band’s front man.
Arlen Thompson’s drumming was also impressively frantic and gave their songs a crackling urgency. Hadji Bakara’s sound manipulations were produced with precision, giving the band that oddball, regal quality that hearkens back to the glory days of 70s prog-rock. Dante DeCaro’s bass thundered along without overpowering the others, and gave their whole performance a strong, powerful backbone.
While the band was in top form, the audience wanted to make their voices heard as well - which was both a good and a bad thing. The fist-pumping, chanting and singing along certainly added to the epic and raw quality of Wolf Parade’s set, especially the barn-burner encore of "I’ll Believe in Anything’ with its life-affirming refrain, "Because nobody knows ya, and nobody gives a damn". The crowd was in full agreement. That being said, there was plenty of jackassery to go around, with all the drunken shoving, pushing and falling taking place. I guess indie rock brings out some of the worst in hipster crowds, specifically those who are just there to get plastered and look ‘cool’. Fuck them. And did anyone else notice that water was dripping from the ceiling? Whatever maintenance problem the Kool Haus was having was distracting to say the least.
Despite the annoyances, which were far beyond the band’s control, Wolf Parade put on an incredible show, running through every song off At Mount Zoomer and the most notable fan favorites from their groundbreaking debut. All the bases were covered (see set list below). With their latest tour ending stint in Toronto, Wolf Parade showed that they possess both stellar musicianship and the ability to get people’s hands in the air. It’s just too bad that those hands were spilling Budweiser down my back.
Set List
You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son
Soldier’s Grin
Call It A Ritual
The Grey Estates
Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts
Language City
An Animal In Your Care
Shine A Light
Bang Your Drum
Fancy Claps
Fine Young Cannibals
California Dreamer
This Heart’s On Fire
Kissing The Beehive
Encore:
Grounds For Divorce
It’s A Curse
I’ll Believe In Anything
August 10th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Awsome show! too many drunken girls….because now we can….
August 11th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Agreed! What a great show. Hung back towards the rear of the Kool Haus and from that vantage, the crowd was nice and gentle. Plus the roof wasn’t leaking! It’d been a while since I had been there — not a bad venue for a band that size, at all!
August 11th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I was blown away by their performances! What energy and talent coming from the stage.
My experience with the crowd was quite the opposite, however. The energy from the crowd really enhanced the experience for me, which is not generally the case in my experience. I’m way past my mosh pit days. Perhaps the venue allowed a little more elbow room. Sure, there were hyper little girls bumping into me, but it didn’t seem to bother. I actually ended up spontaneously dancing with one of them for the amazing closer, “I’ll believe in anything”… really brought the words of the chorus to life.
Overall, best show of the summer for me, so far. However, there’s still MBV is Sept!!!!
August 13th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Could not have asked for a better setlist - they played everything worth playing including some stuff you never get to hear live (i.e. ground for divorce). The band sounded better, and more polished than ever. They really gave this show every ounce of strength. Fancy Claps and Kissing the Beehive were my faves - huge sounds, frantic energy - enough to make you want to burst. Didn’t have issues with the crowd for the most part. All the moshers were concentrated upfront and my section (front centre, 10 feet back of mosh pit) have a great energy to it with everyone dancing and singing along. A 2008 moment in rock without a doubt.
With the success of Sunset Rubdown and sustainability of Handsome Furs, pundits will claim this may have been the last Wolf Parade show not only of this tour, but perhaps ever. Let’s hope not, or at least that they’ll play Toronto more often.