The Drums

This week I have more concerts than I usually go to in a few months: two!

Tonight, Nicky treated me to see The Drums at Venue on Granville Street. She was on one of her concert-photography gigs and it was cool to see her in action. You can see her photos from the show here. They are, in one word, glorious.

There were two opening acts: Io Echo and Veronica Falls. The first act started at 9:00pm and featured an all-guy band with a female lead. She had approached us in the front row a few minutes before their set to ask if we were okay with strobe lights. Being the ever-pacifist and not-thinker that I can be in social situations, I quickly said yes...and regretted it as soon as their first song. Nicky and I had to move so that the speakers partially blocked the strobe lights' effects from our eyes, and I had to close mine occasionally to prevent unnecessary things from happening to my brain/body.

Notwithstanding the occasional quasi-seizures, I quite enjoyed Io Echo for their music, the singer's dramatic stage presence, and the bassist's hands. The last point I probably should have left to myself, but I am an admirer of nicely sculpted hands and (fore)arms on men and this guy had, as I kept yelling to Nicky, my dream ones. Which also meant that I only got a few looks at them since I didn't want him to catch me staring--even though he was directly in front of me.

Judging by the crowd's reaction, Veronica Falls (at 9:45pm) seemed to be more famous than Io Echo, but in terms of stage presence and connection I thought they were forgettable. The lead singer had a cool style and look to her and I really liked some of the instrumental bits--but the bassist seemed bored and the band didn't really try to win anyone's attention.

The Drums finally came on at 10:45pm, which perhaps qualifies for my latest show ever if you don't count the Italian reggae (yes, it does exist!). They immediately won me over. I had first heard about them from a coworker who lent me their CD before I went to Italy. I only really listened to their hit "Let's Go Surfing" a few times and didn't give the band much thought until Nicky told me about the show a few days ago. Before heading out after work today, my coworker (who had been to their last show here) set me up for what I was to expect: a hipster lead singer with a shock of blond hair and a very fun show ahead of me. She was so right! I don't think I have ever felt like dancing to a show as much as I did that night. I even closed my eyes a couple of times...and it wasn't because of strobe lights because there were none.

In the end we were slightly disappointed that they didn't perform "Let's Go Surfing", but they were so fun to watch that it really didn't matter. And if we're keeping track of other things I like on men, I did not mind the keyboardist's build and general good looks!

After the show we had to wait in line awhile for coat check (my first time ever using it at a concert) and I ended up missing my bus by five minutes, which meant that I had to wait another 25 minutes for my next bus at 12:39am. The lesson I take away from this is to not use coat check if I can help it and to drive to downtown the next time I have a concert to go to...which will be tomorrow.