CMW Critical Conclusions for…Rah Rah (Canadian Music Week 2013 concert review)

The PeteHatesMusic crew TTC’ed it from the Rivoli up to Lee’s Palace with not a minute to spare, moving from BC act The Zolas to Saskatchewan act Rah Rah (who we also previously interviewed – give it a read and educate yourself). If we planned our Canadian Music Week properly, maybe we could’ve seen an act from every province. We now have a goal for next year (in addition to ‘eating my body weight in gummi bears’).

Rah Rah @ Lee’s Palace (Copyright: PeteHatesMartin / Martin Bazyl Photography)

Venue: Lee’s Palace

First Impressions: The band were short a member, as Leif Thorseth is temporarily not with the band. That observation aside, the band are high energy – everyone in the band were immediately engaged in the show. What the hell was with that white animal on the amp?! I tweeted it was a dog, but closer inspection reveals it is a cat. I guess they have mechanical cats in the prairies because the real ones die of boredom. Yup, I went there.

Stage Presence: 9 / 10 – jamming, dancing, jumping – everything you want from performers.

Rah Rah @ Lee’s Palace (Copyright: PeteHatesMartin / Martin Bazyl Photography)

Crowd Reaction: 8.5 / 10 – Lee’s Palace crowds often know their stuff and they gave Rah Rah some love.

Banter: 7 /10 – A few phrases here and there, such as “You’re just a good looking crowd, a sea of lovely faces. Thanks for being here.” The banter didn’t match their stage presence (but does anyone really care?)

Number of times they said their band name: Twice, and they said location (Saskatchewan), which always helps.

Number of people from Saskatchewan in the crowd: 10, which is 50% of the population, right?

Rah Rah @ Lee’s Palace (Copyright: PeteHatesMartin / Martin Bazyl Photography)

The Last Word: 8 / 10 – Rah Rah started strong, opening with Art and a Wife. The band were constantly switching up instruments, drummers, and stage positions. Whether they meant it or not, they seemed to emulate Arcade Fire, by standing on their amps, using walls and other objects as percussion instruments, and so on, to some success. The band started promising, with the middle of the set creating a bit of a lull, before rescuing it at the end with closer First Kiss.

If you plan to eat your weight in gummi bears next year, you should be smart and a) “follow PeteHatesMusic on Twitter” and b) “Like PeteHatesMusic on Facebook“, and we can talk about our progress. We’re not really doing this, are we?