“Hi, let’s see how this goes!”
So begins the first Sunset Rubdown show in 13 years. Well, technically, the second. After tonight’s show sold out in just 20 minutes, a second was added the night before… but frontman Spencer Krug is happy to clarify: “this night was supposed to be the first show in 13 years… so you guys are the f**kin’ heads!” So, those of us in the room tonight can consider ourselves the hardcore contingent!
So yes, long story short, Sunset Rubdown are back. Disbanding shortly after completion of a mammoth world tour in Fall 2009 supporting the epic Dragonslayer record, it seemed like they would be consigned to the history books. When news of their reunion broke in December of last year, it was the best Christmas present many could have hoped for, not least those of us in Montreal, for whom the band have evidently always had a special affinity. By Spencer’s own admission midway through the set, “this city is where the band started!”
Spencer also describes how “this venue has always been good to us,” so it’s poetic that their first shows back together are at the iconic Sala Rossa. Packed to the rafters by the time the band take to the stage at 9.30pm, it doesn’t take long for the place to heat up, and three songs in, Spencer is sweating profusely. Apparently, it’s a running joke within the band, as it comes up a few times during the set; at one point, keyboardist Camilla Wynne relates how Spencer actually once destroyed a keyboard from sweating all over it! By the end of the show, he declares, “I WANNA STOP SWEATING SO BADLY!” Still, any discomfort he might be feeling doesn’t impact the show in any way; from start to finish, it’s absolutely amazing.
Spencer’s voice remains one of the most distinctive in music, and it hasn’t changed a jot in the 13 years away. His harmonies with Camilla are still every bit as immaculate as they were back then, exemplified perfectly on the stirring Silver Moons. Musically, you get a real sense of just how diverse their sound became too. The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life is a bona fide dance tune by their standards, which devolves into old-school punk as the guitar squeals out midway through. Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings and Stadiums, and Shrines II elicit stomping feet around the room, while Dragon’s Lair feels like a veritable Rock Opera in places. Heck, we even head into sea shanty territory on The Men Are Called Horsemen There!
The band regularly switch instruments throughout the hour-and-three-quarter set too. Drummer and Guitarist roles are rotated between Michael Doerksen and Jordan Robson-Cramer; shout-out to whichever one was responsible for the drum barrage at the end of Idiot Heart that almost blew the roof off the place! Spencer is equally comfortable at his keyboard or on guitar; the intricacy with which he taps and reverberates the fretboard on The Empty Threats of Little Lord are mesmerizing as he hisses the venomous ”I wish you the best, you snake…” Camilla regularly chips in with a xylophone, such as on Us Ones in Between. Even tonight’s support Nicholas Merz joins the band on-stage seven songs in and never leaves, contributing bass and even drums on the amazing set closer, The Mending of the Gown.
Every note, every riff, feels like perfection tonight. During the set, Spencer states, “it’s surreal and dreamlike to be back together. I feel like soon we’re all just gonna wake up from a coma in adjacent hospital beds!”
Let’s hope they never wake up!
Setlist
- Snake’s Got a Leg
- The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life
- Silver Moons
- Us Ones in Between
- Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings
- Winged/Wicked Things
- Stadiums and Shrines II
- You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)
- Coming to at Dawn
- Idiot Heart
- The Empty Threats of Little Lord
- We’re Losing Light
- The Men Are Called Horsemen There
- The Mending of the Gown
Encore
- Dragon’s Lair
Review – Simon Williams
Photos – Dominic Blewett
