Pick-a-Piper Plus (at Wally's)

It was damn near impossible for J'envoie to deliver the set that I'd been told I could expect from them due to technical problems that plagued their set at Wally's Tavern on Saturday night in Guelph. Admittedly I arrived after they'd begun but from all accounts the issues had been there from the beginning. To the band's credit the 4-piece from Hull, Quebec tried to play through and joked while plugging their merch that their CD doesn't stop half way through each track. In their final song they basically abandoned the vocals, which weren't coming through anyway, and played a strong instrumental song with an element of improv that included the bashing of an old school-yard-like bell. If this was a glimpse of what they are capable of then I'm definitely interested in seeing them play a fully functioning show.

Pick-a-Piper, the double-drum-setted band featuring the drummer from Caribou, were the band who had drawn me out to this show.The percussion is the main focus of their songs, and rightly so, as the pounding from the duo in the back (sharing a high hat) carried the set along. Actually at various times it wasn't only the drummers playing, but the two guys up front would pick up sticks to emphasize the beat. Again the vocals were super low in the mix, but the sound was filled out by tambos, keys, guitar, hand drums and even a keyboard iphone app! They didn't play my fave Dené Sled, but the finale (Yellowknife I believe) was hard-hitting, high-energy goodness that saw all four members drumming along, on the same cymbal at one point, and one guy jumping up to drum the ceiling at another! Despite the curmudgeonly old man beside me at the bar who kept muttering "We want a song" I thought they'd delivered a solid set full of songs.

Up to this point the night had been primarily instrumental (in part this was by default since the PA wasn't transmitting vocals well, if at all) and Ace Kinkaid, the fully instrumental Kitchener/Waterloo band kept it this way. Again the focus was on the drummer (only one this time) who lead the four-piece. They had a bit of a prog rock feel with the guitarist manning a giant set of effect pedals. Despite the gutted speaker system they were still LOUD, even when playing the triangle. Though not exactly my thing, they still earned my respect with a set that ended with a good cut called Spanish Ghost.

For my first-ever endeavour into Wally's Tavern I'd have to say I enjoyed myself, though that was more based on the persistence of the bands to play through and not reflective of the bar itself. The bands even out-competed the stellar people-watching for my attention!