The Dears have been making headlines lately. The band managed to secure an 
opening slot for Matt Good on his most recent tour. This has increased 
exposure for the band and as a result, many of the people I know have already 
seen them live. From their feedback, it sounded like you either loved this 
band or didn't. It was as if there were rivaling factions as the die-hards 
argued against the ignorant. I had yet to see them live to form my own 
opinion. This band was of particular interest to me because one of their 
members (Natalia Yanchak) was in my band back in my last year of high-school 
in Toronto. I hadn't kept in touch with her but I was eager to go, say hi and 
see what all the hype was about. There were 5 of us in the band at the time 
and only the two of us moved on in the music industry.

We arrived just in time to see the opening band "Brundlefly" who stepped on 
the stage at around 9:15pm. I've seen their name all over the place and 
recently got to see them perform a couple songs at Tonic for New Music West. 
Unfortunately, I was scheduled to be elsewhere at the time and had to leave. 
So this was a good opportunity to see what they were like... We found a spot 
on the balcony at The Sonar and got ready for the show. The sound was 
excellent. All instruments were clear and crisp. Their vocals were on and I 
noticed some really cool bass lines but something was missing. All of their 
songs seemed decent but nothing really stuck out. I enjoyed the show but 
didn't feel that I took anything away from it. Maybe it's because I don't 
really know their material. Perhaps I should defer my opinion until I see 
another full set by them. As it stood, I left thinking that they were pretty 
good but not mind-blowingly good.

I made my way downstairs at this point to get more beer. I spotted Nat and 
waited my turn to step in and talk. I was sure she wouldn't recognize me but 
would remember me. It's really too bad we didn't have more time as there was 
a lot that I wanted to talk about. Unfortunately, everything that I wanted to 
talk about came to mind after we had talked and parted ways. Thus the 
interaction was short and quick, wishing her a good show at the end of it. I 
then got a good spot in front of the stage to see what all the hype was about.

It was clear that everyone in the audience was a die-hard fan. Everyone there 
appeared to really be into the show. It is really quite difficult to describe 
their style of music as it is quite original. 

The lead singer (Murray A. Lightburn) has a very theatrical voice that is 
quite unusual for a rock music act. The two female voices complimented the 
male lead voice very well. Both girls played keyboards too. One of the girls 
(Valerie Jodoin-Keaton) took turns playing the keyboards and flute in between 
bouts of staring blankly at the audience. The other girl (Natalia Yanchak) 
looked like she was going to cry everytime she sang. The two girls didn't do 
much and didn't look all that in to it although I think that is just their 
thing. The rest of the band seemed to move around and make the performance 
part of the set enjoyable to watch. The rhythm section was tight and laid 
down some good grooves. There were a number of songs that caught my attention 
including one where the lead singer and one of the girls (Natalia) traded 
vocal lines. This was by far my favourite song of the night. There were a few 
others like "Lost In The Plot" that stuck out and grabbed my attention. 

Most of the set was excellent and quite melodic but every once in awhile, 
they would play something and repeat it over and over and over again. With 
every repetition, the guitars would swell and it would get louder and busier. 
Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with this but I found that it went on for 
way too long and I found myself looking at my watch, hoping the endless 
repetition would end. The lead singer's voice was at its best when hitting 
high notes. The female harmonies seemed a little off at times but this didn't 
really affect my opinion of the show.

The audience managed to get The Dears to return for an encore. By the time it 
was all over, the band had played for around 2 hours. We headed out with a 
good opinion of the band. I'm not sure if I would buy their music but it was 
definitely worth seeing live. I would describe their music as theatrical 
European art rock. 


Websites:

Brundlefly - http://www.brundlefly.com
The Dears - http://www.thedears.org