The Lovely Feathers
Date: May 3, 2006 Not Coming Down The Lovely Feathers used Mavericks Bar in Ottawa as the launching point of their latest tour, following the release of their first official CD, Hind Hind Legs. While the venue was certainly scaled down from the two times that I have seen the band as openers, their enthusiasm and stage presence was equally strong. A spirited, fast-paced set offered evidence that the buzz that the band is receiving for their album will only be magnified as more people are exposed to their live show. A late arrival on my part meant that I missed all but the very end of the opening set from Jetplanes of Abraham. What I heard from the amalgam of For the Mathematics, Turning Into Salt, and Kingston Fog sounded interesting, though. Duchess Says handled the middle portion of the night, delivering a wild, noisy, bizarre performance. The group opened as a musical three-piece, with Annie-Claude Deschênes leaping around the floor in front of the stage, her sharp hand gestures mirroring the keyboard-focused attack. I wasn't even sure that she was in the band until she grabbed a mic, adding her shrieks to the cacophony. A-Claude would continue to dominate the set, whether with her voice, her guitar and keytar playing, or a physical presence that saw her frequently venture off the stage, sometimes delivering her vocals while rolling around on the floor. It took me a few songs to warm up to Duchess Says, likely because it took that long to distinguish any words in the mess of noise. By the time that they wrapped up, though, with A-Claude walking to the bar to order a drink while the rest of the band finished playing, I had definitely been won over. As entertaining as Duchess Says proved to be, their set was hampered by a somewhat muddled sound that seemed to be striving to be too loud for the room. Fortunately, The Lovely Feathers came across very clear throughout their performance, enabling them to craft precise sonics at odds with their chaotic presence. Although Hind Hind Legs contains new recordings of many of the songs from the earlier demo, My Best Friend Daniel, the band opened with a song that was left off the newer release, "Force Fire Force." With a small number of songs on which to draw, The Lovely Feathers proceeded to cover the majority of their catalogue in a brisk set. A song like "Frantic" was representative of the night. The playing certainly lived up to that adjective, while the tempo changes and shared lead vocals typify the Feathers' sound. Guitarists/vocalists Richard Yanofsky and Mark Kupfert covered the stage well, sometimes yelling their choruses at each other and always engaging the lively crowd. Yanofsky was particularly active, playing guitar while crouched behind Kupfert, losing his tambourine, and jumping into the audience. The two also earned laughs between songs, at one point noting, "Last time we were in Ottawa we played with Metric . . . so this fucking blows!" Of course, even if the crowd failed to match one-tenth of the size of that previous concert, the set was every bit as fun. From "In the Valley," which had people hopping, to the slow burn of "Wrong Choice" to the pounding "The Only Appalachian," the band sounded great. Even the newer songs, which hadn't had long to sink in with me, were thoroughly enjoyable. By the time that an encore of "Pope John Paul" closed proceedings, this tour opener had to be considered another excellent live showcase from The Lovely Feathers. <--Prev (Blackalicious) | Next (Alice Cooper)-->Return to Concert ListReturn to Main Page |