Wolf Parade returns with brain-rattling show

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This article was published 23/06/2017 (2495 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been six years since Montreal indie rockers Wolf Parade went on hiatus and even longer since they’ve played a show in Winnipeg.

The band, fronted by both vocalist and guitar player Dan Boeckner and vocalist and keyboardist Spencer Krug, held one of the top spots in Montreal’s indie hierarchy in the mid-2000s, amongst other equally prolific groups such as Arcade Fire and the Unicorns. Their debut record, Apologies to the Queen Mary, was widely regarded as a near-perfect album, and the momentum from that success carried them through the production of two more excellent LPs before they ultimately went on hiatus.

Needless to say, their appearance at the Burton Cummings Theatre Friday night has been long-awaited, and even though it was looking a bit sparse with an audience of just under 600 people, when the fans all stood up and pushed toward the stage, things started to feel as they should.

“That already feels better,” chuckled Boeckner before the quartet launched into the first of many familiar opening riffs, this one for the track Soldier’s Grin, from their sophomore release, At Mount Zoomer.

Wolf Parade’s often frenetic approach to music can be a completely overwhelming listening experience — between the onslaught of gritty guitar lines, the panicked, yet repetitive, keys and the urgency of the drum lines, it gives the appearance of chaos. All those moving parts create something aggressive, yes, but also beautiful in the way the many layers and sometimes seemingly opposing melodic lines meld together to make something cohesive and, more importantly, challenging and interesting to digest.

If any song was to be synonymous with the early days of Wolf Parade, it would be Shine a Light, which they knocked out fairly early on in the show. The track marched along, driven by strong and confident vocals by Boeckner, and had more than one head banging to the pulsing beat.

The band also threw a couple new songs into their set; the first was a more traditional indie-rock song — well, as traditional as Wolf Parade gets — but still contained the density and intensity Wolf Parade are known for. The second, lead by Krug on vocals, was a more minimalist affair (again, relative to their other work); that’s not a bad thing, though – the songs suited the band and slid nicely into a setlist full of past hits.

Some of those past hits included an incredible rendition of the anthemic This Heart’s On Fire, Fine Young Cannibals — with Boeckner’s twitching body revving up to high gear as he crooned his way through one of the sexier songs of their catalogue — and I’ll Believe in Anything, which was a highlight for Krug on vocals, his unmistakable quiver ringing loud about the extremely amped up crowd as he perched on his stool like a stork guarding a nest (a position he took for much of the night).

The only thing that slowed the otherwise good pacing down was the sometimes excessive amount of dead air between songs — the band tuned and fiddled with gear but didn’t break the silence by speaking to the crowd. And, at times, the sound was very muddled with the vocals almost getting completely lost, perhaps because of the sheer amount sound there was to manage. This was one of the loudest shows in recent memory, no question.

The crowd, too, kept up their end of the racket —”You guys are making a lot of noise, it’s appreciated,” said Krug, after one of the many ‘thank you’s the band passed along to the audience. They seemed genuinely surprised and thankful for Winnipeg’s enthusiasm, which was a sweet addition to an otherwise brain-rattling show.

The group closed out the main set with 10-minute epic Kissing the Beehive, and returned for a two song encore which ended with yet another multi-layered barn burner, Dinner Bells, from their debut record. It was a lot of listening to jam into 90 minutes, and — if it’s even possible — this reviewers ears were tired by the end, but it was nice to see Wolf Parade back and in such fine form. Here’s hoping it won’t be another six-plus years until they play Winnipeg again.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel