04.02-03.09 Wintersleep / An Horse / Johnny and the Moon

photo credit: Adrian Burden


It's been a wild couple of days following Wintersleep around the northwest. These last two Vancouver Commodore Ballroom shows marked the end of this leg of the tour, but also as I eventually found out the probably the last North American show before they head back to recording a new album Welcome to the Night Sky. In some ways, the last little run of shows really summed up the progression that the band has made in the past number of years; from small intimate gigs to sold out Commodore shows.

Night 1
Unfortunately got to the venue late and was unable to catch An Horse's set. I was told by my friend that their set was really good and that they really endeared themselves, as they have been all tour, to the Vancouver crowd. I was able to catch Johnny and the Moon's set. Featuring Dante de Caro of Wolf Parade, and formerly of Hot Hot Heat, they played what I can only describe as something in the folk/indie/bluegrass range. They garnered little interest from the crowd and really didn't do it for me. I guess I was hoping for something more along the lines of what Wolf Parade does.

Wintersleep was up soon enough and once again they were in fine form. The show was actually pretty similar to the last time they played the Commodore, and yet, there were still plenty of surprises to keep people interested. The entire latest album was played, but some older tracks, "Jaws of Life" and "Caliber" were still also inserted in. I should also mention that the new songs, tentatively named "Baltic" and "Encyclopedia" are really starting to grow on me. "Encyclopedia" in particular could probably make it as a single with it's slight hook and chorus. After a quick encore break, the band returned for a 3 song encore that included the semi-rarely played "Assembly Lines" from their first album. Closing the show was a relatively shorter version of "Danse Macabre". Unfortunately there was no extended jam. The crowd seemed pretty happy however nonetheless.



Night 2
I should mention, that I've actually been lucky enough to be at some of the shows early enough to take in some of the sound checks. Most of them consist of the usual... well sound checking, but also working on songs new or otherwise. Interestingly, "Faithful Guide" was played during the soundcheck (and floated around the first night's setlist), but unfortunately not during the main set :(

An Horse played a little longer than last night. Despite the longer set, they seemed to rush through their set, dispensing with their usual cheerful banter.

Night 2 for Wintersleep was pretty similar to the night before. There were a couple of differences. Night 1 seemed to have little more (for lack of better words) flow to it. Don't get me wrong, both were great sets, but the first night was probably the better of the two. In terms of song selection, the encores were mixed up a little bit. Most notably, "Assembly Lines" and "Danse Macabre" on night 1 with Neil Young's "Words" and Nerves for night two. Their cover of "Words" really brought chills down my spine. "Nerves Normal, Breathe Normal" was pretty standard Wintersleep with the usual killer drumming by Loel. Afterwards hung out with the band (who are very down to earth I might add) a little bit and enjoyed some very nice scotch. Finally big thanks to the band, Chris (their tour manager), Adrian and Mark for all the good times.