Folking Good Time

Thursday night, Lee's Palace was sold out for The Barr Brothers and AroarA. Both bands started early so I was there by 9 pm to catch the opener. It was one of AroarA's best performance, and not just because I missed half their set last time. Once again, this husband-wife duo has recruited Feist to do back up vocals on a few songs. But this time round, she also brought her guitar. Even better, they had a live drummer. The combination made for much more organic and dynamic playing, bringing out the jamming rock in their music. Of course, the lyrics remained powerful, coming from poem anthology In The Pines.

When I saw the full-sized harp, banjo, steel-pedal, and old-timey light-bulbs on stage, I thought I was in for a night of Lumineers a la Montrealaise. To be honest, not my favourite trend in music. But The Barr Brothers sounded more blues/rock live: rawer, more muscular, with quite a few extended jams. I don't think I've ever seen a "harp rock solo" before, full of banging and screeching notes. Yet the complex and layered music wasn't lost thanks to excellent sound engineering. Freed from their slightly twee arrangement on the records, the lyrics felt less mannered and more authentic. It was a great show from a band on the cusp of mainstream popularity.