FEBRUARY
20th, 2012
London
buzz band Veronica Falls returned to Vancouver, and admittedly opened up about how
excited they were to be back. “We love this city,” lead vocalist James Hoare
told the crowd. Despite probably using that line on every city on their tour,
the Media Club audience ate it up, and Veronica Falls had them in the palm of
their hand the whole show.
After
all, this is a group that every music website has been freaking out about for
the past six months; yet their cool factor seemed to be a non-issue as they hugged
their fans, autographing their vinyl at the merch table between sets.
Promoting
their 2011 self-titled debut, the UK group appears on stage in chaotically mismatched
paisleys, polka dots, and stripes, yet somehow manage to make it cool. Perhaps
it’s their live set, which is a full 360 from their album, adding unbelievable
live musicality to already favourable indie-pop songs, such as the guitar
shredding “Bad Feeling”. When it came to the slower-tempo “Stephen”, the entire
quartet was belting out the lyrics in full form, an exact personification of
their geeky-meets-cool vibe, backed by sincere musicianship.
Opener
Bleached featured former Mika Miko members (and sisters) Jennifer and Jessica Clavin.
Main vocalist Jennifer charmed the audience with her girl-next-door meets apathetic-East-Van-barista
persona that preceded each number with, “This is a new song.”
Eventually
someone in the front row called her out on it with, “So, they’re all new?” She flipped
her aptly dyed blonde hair to the side, let out a massive giggle, and
immediately sped into “Searching Through the Past”, repeating the refrain “Boy,
don’t tell me I’m crazy” on a near-endless loop.
The
Los Angeles outfit, who only have a series of 7" releases to their name,
had the packed Media Club in full form, with blog photographers elbowing each
other out of the way to snag shots of the up-and-comers. The echo-y reverb was
all the more apparent in Jennifer’s speaking banter. “Have any of y’all seen
the Lady Gaga special for Thanksgiving?” she asked. “This lighting is reminding
me of that.”
With
each brief piece of commentary, she’d spit out a massive anxious laugh before
the drummer halted the silence with a childlike thwack, attempting to cover up
her somewhat rhetorical questions to the crowd. “Where the hell do you get
poutine in this city?”
//JJ Brewis, art director
//JJ Brewis, art director
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