Wolf Parade
Date: August 4, 2006 Getting Better All the Time When Spencer Krug played Ottawa with his band Sunset Rubdown at the end of July, I felt that the concert had more flow than what I had previously seen from his more well known outfit, Wolf Parade. A mere nine days later, Krug returned with Wolf Parade and helped to deliver an equally well-paced show, that displayed all of the power of the band with none of the flaws that detracted from my first experience with them. The night started with a group making another rapid return to the capital, Holy Fuck, who were last seen at Bluesfest. On this night, Glenn Milchem was in on drums, rather than Loel Campbell; but the band repeated all of the highs of their festival appearance, getting heads bopping and people dancing with a set of tight, dense instrumentals. One of the most impressive aspects of the band is that they seem to not waste a moment on stage, locking into fantastically catchy grooves, layering a multitude of sounds over that backbone, and then cutting to the next song before anything has a chance to grow stale. The middle slot was given to Frog Eyes, which meant that Spencer Krug would end up playing two sets on the night, although the focal point of the outfit was definitely Carey Mercer. The guitarist and vocalist presents an interesting figure on stage, playing with an unhinged passion. Unfortunately, while I respected the effort, I found Frog Eyes very hit or miss. Often, the instruments did not seem to combine to anything cohesive, making for a very random effect. Mercer also leans heavily on an odd scratchy guitar style that I failed to appreciate. The group did pull things together at times, particularly on an epic closing number; but ultimately I didn't get a lot from their set. Wolf Parade, though, came out blazing and never let up, even powering through a few technical snags. With only a single full-length album to their name, they band rounded out their set with several new songs, including the opener. These definitely sounded great, although the band made sure to engage the sold-out crowd with familiar material, including early offerings "It's a Curse," "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts," and "Shine a Light." I find it odd to think that the first time that I saw the band, my biggest complaint was their uncertainty and slowness between songs. On this night, they barely let up on their pace, even when swapping instruments between songs or trading lead vocal duties between Krug and Dan Boeckner. The entire concert was a loud, swirling, yelping assault--one barrage after another. That said, I still felt that there was a definite peak, namely a staggering "You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son." It was impossible to not react to the slow but powerful drumming and the rest of the band wailed impressively over top of that beat. In fact, all of the songs felt like more energized versions of their album counterparts, which is exactly what you would expect from a band whose sound ventures into the chaotic. "Grounds for Divorce" and "Modern World" were other treats; and Krug did fine on the set closer "I'll Believe in Anything," despite having issues with his keyboard. Although the encore chopped a song from the written setlist, a pairing of "Killing Armies" and "This Heart's On Fire" left no cause for complaint. Hopefully, the strong audience reaction and capacity crowd will convince Wolf Parade to return to Ottawa in the future, as their stop at Barrymore's will stand as one of the best shows that the city has seen in recent memory. Wolf Parade setlist 
<--Prev (Sunset Rubdown) | Next (The Sadies)-->Return to Concert ListReturn to Main Page |