The Dears
Date: July 3, 2009 Come Back From Almost Death With The Dears leaving Ottawa off of their full-scale tour in support of Missiles, I thought that I would not have the chance to see their new line-up in action after having had time to get familiar with that album. However, a three-date jaunt in early July saw the Montreal seven-piece set up in the cozy confines of the Live Lounge. While it still feels odd to experience the band's music channeled through a new set of players, frontman Murray Lightburn powered his capable troops through another excellent Dears concert. Solo act Marc Charron started the night, playing his acoustic guitar while seated at a drum kit. He sounded okay and worked the early crowd well but his songs were unremarkable beyond their one-man-band presentation. The stage seemed far less spacious when local favourites Amos the Transparent arrived. Even in the crowded setting, the six players each found the room to stand out over the set to follow. Whether it was James Nicol hanging over the stage front with his bass hovering atop the crowd, Dan Hay likewise stepping forward on guitar, Mark Hyne taking a turn on lead vocals, or Jonathan Chandler and Kate Cooke trading verses, there was never an absence of focal points for the audience. Although the group started as a collaboration between Chandler and drummer Christopher Wilson, it has evolved into a confident and dynamic collective, with no-one content to simply let the songs drift by. Of course, the songs encourage the energy, punctuated with dynamic swings, soaring peaks, rapid hand claps, and full-group shouts. The audience was fully participatory, hollering and clapping along with the songs, often without prompting from the band. Amos the Transparent has obviously built a strong following; and the audience's enthusiasm for each song that the band offered contributed to a great middle set. The Dears' last three Ottawa concerts all took place within a few yards of each other. However, the Live Lounge proved to be a much more intimate space than those previous locales, the neighbouring Capital Music Hall or the parking lot that they share. As a result, even though a portion of the crowd was clearly attending to see Amos the Transparent, it didn't take many Dears die-hards to fill the front of the floor and maintain the night's fantastic vibrancy. After a changeover time that stretched past the half-hour mark, The Dears did their part to expand that energetic mood, opening with "Money Babies" and "Demons," from their latest album, Missiles. When I saw the band in Montreal last fall, it was prior to the release of that disc, so the combination of unfamiliar band members and music made the night something of a blur. Now that the new songs have had time to settle in, I can say that they sounded typically strong live, although I felt that this lead-in saw the band come out in less than top gear. Frontman Murray Lightburn quickly brought the group up to its full potential, though. Few bands could lose four members, as The Dears did in stripping down to Lightburn and Yanchak, bring in five new players, and continue to build on their position among the best live bands in existence. With Lightburn as the group's songwriter and live kingpin, though, the new incarnation of The Dears continues to build on its impressive legacy. "There Goes My Outfit" saw Lightburn pounding his chest with his tambourine, while his impassioned vocals filled the hall on an extended closing of "You and I Are a Gang of Losers." He even turned around an early technical snag with Natalia Yanchak's keyboards, filling the downtime by bantering with the crowd about his last visit to Ottawa, seemingly still amused by the Trailer Park Boys introduction that the band received at that gig. Once The Dears hit their stride, they never let up, even as they jumped styles from their most rocking to their quietest. After the full band brought a fantastic take of "Lost in the Plot" to a bulldozing finish, they turned to the delicate "Berlin Heart," before illustrating that they can achieve the epic even in a constrained musical package, with the tight "Disclaimer." Lightburn let his vocals ring out slowly after the closing strains of that last song, dazzling a hushed crowd; but his was not the only star turn on vocals, as Yanchak came out from behind her keyboards to kick off "Crisis." The balance of the set was an exercise in classic Dears live sequencing, with the breather of "Dream Job" leading into a bouncy "Whites Only Party," which had the crowd hopping, before "Hate Then Love" blew the roof off. "Hate" captured everything that I love about The Dears, with the swelling music and soaring choruses capped by Lightburn's full-on scream of a vocal, a good portion of which was delivered from the midst of the audience, as he ventured from the stage. After having seen the previous line-up of the band so many times, I have to admit that it is strange to not see Patrick Krief stepping to the front with his guitar held skyward for the fast-strumming finish of this song; but this squad is still capable of reaching the peaks. Indeed, while the new players are not yet familiar to me, I enjoyed watching them interact on stage, sharing a number of laughs over the course of a great performance. After the crescendo of "Hate Then Love," Lightburn quieted the audience and started "Meltdown in A Major" over near-silence, offering a pause before the explosive conclusion of "Lights Off," which snaked its way through many twists, building to some stellar bluesy guitar work, another great vocal finish, and a series of false endings that was intentionally drawn out to the point of comedy but was nevertheless awesome. With the fans still buzzing over that epic knockout, the band returned for a one-two punch of proven favourites. "We Can Have It" ended with the crowd singing the final refrain before "22: The Death of All Romance" saw the group wrap up on a surprisingly playful note, extending the finish with an impromptu cover that had the players laughing. Although I have now seen The Dears fourteen times, I'm always excited when the opportunity arrives for another concert from the band. This latest visit was particularly welcome, as it provided an unexpected chance to properly hear the group present Missiles; and the results were as excellent as I have come to expect. The Dears setlist 
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