The Slice got a rocking a little late, July 9, but it was worth the wait. Because it meant the return of two popular draws- Calgary drum and bass duo HighKicks and Vancouver progressive rock band Bend Sinister.
HighKicks’ bassist/ vocalist Dan Vacon and drummer Matt Doherty proved not only that rock and roll is far from dead, but that you don’t need a guitar to rock and roll, just a lot of extra bass. They added two large lighted letters H K to the stage which hid Doherty.
As always they had a lot of energy, though maybe not as much as last time they visited.
Vacon was a personable frontman as always, singing with a lot of soul and power. They had a wicked groove which drew a good cluster of dancers from among the enthusiastic, sweaty crowd.
They borrowed Bend Sinister bassist Matt Rhode for more bone crushing rhythms for the first few songs. He fit in like a natural, providing driving rhythm while Vacon played lead bass.
Rhode returned for the last song as well.
But in between, Vacon took centre stage and performed his unique take on the Kate Bush ’80s hit “Power of Love,” which sounded especially tormented sung in his ragged voice.
Vancouver progressive rock band Bend Sinister aka Daniel Moxon - vocals/piano; Nick Petro - drums/percussion; Matt Rhode - bass; Joseph Blood - guitar/vocals and new trumpeter/ background vocalist/ percussionist and keyboardist Kristy Lee Audette, have been spending most of the last year writing new material, so they took the opportunity to show the fruits of their labour.
They started strong with crowd favourite “I Got Love,” which showed off the talents of the manic Kristy Lee Audette, who added trumpet and pounded her tambourine.
They kept up the energy with “Fancy Pants,” one of many songs which tip their hat to ’70s rock like Supertramp, David Bowie and Deep Purple.
Then it was time to introduce the new material.
They began with “Move a Little Slower” which started off slowly as Moxon dedicated it to HighKicks ‘Who don’t know how to slow down’ and then picked up the tempo.
Blood played absolutely beautiful guitar leads and riffs that complemented the music.
One of my favourite new songs was the impassioned rocker “ We Just Don’t Get Along.”
Some of the new songs were a workout for the sprightly Kristy Lee Audette, who alternated between pounding her tambourine, playing trumpet, leaping across the stage over a monitor to play Blood’s synth, then back over the monitor for more tambourine and background vocals.
They took a break from new material to play crowd favourite “ Teacher.”
And it was back for more new material.
A song called “ Every Single Day” had a supremely catchy vocal melody and showed how mush of an influence Supertramp is to the band.
On the other end of the ’70s spectrum was the apt “I’m Tired, which had more of a heavy, dark, Deep Purple vibe to it and was my cue to cut the night short, though I couldn’t resist hearing a few more songs from the street.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
