I'll start off with just a quick note on the openers. Unfortunately I missed Ivan & Alyosha which is a four piece indie-folk-rock band from Seattle. They've grown in popularity quite a bit because of being recognized by National Public Radio due to their success at SXSW. They have a very beautiful folky sound with superb vocal harmonies, but considering I missed their set, I'll stop myself there. I caught most of The Jezabels who are a very dynamic four member group from Sydney, Australia. It's a bit difficult to define their music under one genre so I'll just say that they're indie which seems to work perfectly for all sorts of undefinable music that's out there today. The Jezabels are touring in support of their first full length album entitled Prisoner. They had a very full sound with lead singer Hayley Mary's unique, high-pitched vocals punching through and taking the lead. Being a drummer however, after a while I found myself fixated on Nik Kaloper whose skill on the drums was astounding. I really found it difficult to focus on any other member because of the extremely technical driving drum beats that were being played throughout their set. All in all, I definitely enjoyed what I saw, but now on to Hey Rosetta!
Hey Rosetta! took the stage and started off with Parson Brown off of their third album, Seeds. At first I thought that this was a weak song to begin a set with because of its slow beginning pace and lack of energy, but as the song went on I remembered how it transforms into a very energetic, hard hitting, driving force by the end which really sets the crowd up for what would be a show that can be described as the same. They went on to play Welcome, the lead single off of Seeds which perfectly maintained and even built upon the energy that was delivered by the end of Parson Brown. The song flows so naturally and takes full advantage of Tim Baker's infectious lyrics and vocals as well as the full layered instrumentation from the band. Yer Spring came next which was another perfect display from the whole band, with the strings adding beautiful layers on top of the driving bass lines and drum beats. There's a point in the middle of the song which seems to have a bit of a middle-eastern influence which always seems a bit out of place to me until the band explodes into the melodic second half of the song which contrasts all too well from the first half.
Overall, this set was dominated by songs from Seeds, which I won't complain about because it's a great album, but I would have liked to see some older tunes as well. Speaking of older tunes, the band played There's an Arc as their fourth song which was one of the highlights of the night for sure. The song has to be one of my favourites as it starts off slow and builds into a fully layered anthem style number. It's a perfect song for jumping up and down, singing along or clapping along, so really it's a perfect song for a concert in general and I hope that they don't stray away from this one for all of their future live shows. After playing New Sum, the band moved on to play Young Glass which I would say is my favourite song off of Seeds. The lyrics make you feel like you're exactly where the story is taking place. The bass line is very melodic and higher than most bass lines with the strings creating an orchestral feel over-top with perfectly placed runs. Ending with another great build-up which is just oh so easy to lose yourself in and start clapping along, this marks another unbelievable song to see at a live show. They played Red Song next off of their three song Red Song EP. This marked the low point of the concert for me and was the only song of the night that I would have replaced. It's just a little bit too downbeat for such an upbeat band and it definitely seemed a little bit out of place, but I guess in contrast it made the rest of the night that much better.
After playing a few more tunes off of Seeds, the end of their first set started drawing nearer as they began playing perhaps their most successful song to date, being Red Heart. Everyone in the audience was ecstatic as the solo drums kicked in and were then accompanied by the all too catchy, technical, yet melodic guitar line. Everyone was singing along and the energy just kept on building as the song advanced. With everyone singing along happily, this was perhaps the best song of the night. The only thing that could have made it any better was if the bass line had been just a little bit louder for everyone to hear the catchy solo-esque walking bass line near the end. New Goodbye came next which they often use to close a night so it had me a bit worried, but very pleased at the same time that another older song was being played. It's another great song that everyone was singing along to as it built perfectly to make way for the last song of their set being Seeds from the album of the same name. Overall, these three songs worked perfectly together to close off their main set.
Hey Rosetta!'s concert at the Phoenix was unbelievable. They were able to make a 14 song set seem like it was a 20 song set. I suppose that's because they're able to jam out and create live versions of songs which on their own are incredible, but extended just a bit, they become a perfect sum of all their parts coming together to create unbelievable, energetic live tracks. They were able to engage the crowd and have them singing, dancing and clapping along like many other bands are unable to do. It would have been nice to see a few more older songs considering the only song they played off of their first album was part of the Changes medley. They also only played three songs from Into Your Lungs which is another amazing album of theirs, although now that I think of it, all three of their albums are amazing. This concert solidified my belief that Hey Rosetta! is one of the best Canadian bands around today. Their live performances are unbelievably energetic and their music has a fully layered sound, with perfect build-ups and anthem style songs which are incredibly catchy and infectious. I could fully see this band playing stadium performances in the future and I guarantee that I will be there singing and dancing along when that day comes.
