You always leave a Bend Sinister show with a smile on your face, even on a weeknight.
A surprisingly good Wednesday night crowd danced the night away to the Vancouver based progressive rock band at the Slice, June 22.
As always their sound is anchored by frontman Dan Moxon’s keyboards. Their sound is supplemented by recent addition Kristy Lee Audette’s extra keyboards , trumpet and harmony vocals.
In addition to the outstanding playing of guitarist Joseph Blood, bassist Matt Rhode (this time dressed in red spandex pants), and drummer Dickey Neptune, all five of th
em sing vocal harmonies to die for.
They started off strong right of the gate with, I think, a new song that showcased their spine-tingling vocal harmonies
Moxon sang vocal hooks you could hang your hat on and everybody played their parts just beautifully. After that “Feeling Fine” had the floor filled and everybody was just that — feeling fine.
“Feeling Fine” featured a catchy little trumpet riff which the other instruments echoed.
Another crowd favourite “I Got Love” had the floor filled again. It was one of many songs that had the feel of vintage Deep Purple. Audette’s harmony vocals gave them the air of Ian Blurton and Caitlin Dacey’s Toronto rock band Public Animal.
They added a few new songs including “Walk The Other Way” which resonated with the crowd, starting off slow and building to a slow burn. It featured a beautiful vocal melody that would do Burton Cummings proud.
Moxon grinned as he lead the band into another older song “ Things Will Get Better” which exemplified Bend Sinister’s optimistic, hopeful sound reflecting the happi
est days of the ’70s.
“Teacher” pretty much brought the house down after that as the floor filled yet again.
After that came another new song called “Lies To Me” which was one of several songs that had a Supertramp sound complemented by extra keyboards and Audette’s trumpet.
They brought back the heavy again with some more Deep Purple inspired songs also reminiscent of Public Animal.
Moxon asked the audience if they’d ever been to South Country Fair, which drew a chorus of cheers. He reminisced about the band playing the Fair a few years ago and staying up until 10 in the morning and then played a slower song inspired by the experience called “ Going to Get High,” of which the easy-going feel reminded me of Calgary’s the Dudes.
They earned about a billion cool points
by winding things down around 1 a.m. with an awesome, almost note perfect cover of Van Halen’s ’80s hit “Jump,” and called it a night with their latest single “ Long Live Rock and Roll,” but a chorus of Awwwwwwweeees” brought them back for one last song — a solid cover of Supertramp’s “Logical Song.”
I wasn’t expecting to hear an opening band for the show, but Nanaimo, Vancouver Island based Gold and Shadow opened up with a set of originals and covers that drew heavily from the well of Pink Floyd, Radiohead, U2 and countless Vancouver area indie rock bands who love waves of ambient guitar.
Gold and Shadow had plenty of that and waves of keyboards. Both the bassist and guitarist had a bank of effects units placed at their feet, which they knelt down to adjust. An additional keyboardist joined them mid set as their frontman had some fun with effects.
They played a Radiohead cover and their lead guitarist took centre stage to sing a Dan Mangan cover.
They played “Life Giver” from their new EP “Birdhaus.”
