Every once in a while, a couple bands tours together that you would never have expected, but end up working quite well together. That was the case with the pan-Canadian pairing of Vancouver's Yukon Blonde opening for Hey Rosetta! from St John's, who I never would have thought to see together. They had been touring down through the states, and came up through The Vogue Theatre for the first Canadian date of the tour.

The five members of Yukon Blonde spread out across the front of the stage, kicking off with the first few songs from the new album On Blonde, "Confused" showing off their stellar harmonies (well, when Brandon Scott's microphone was working). There were a bit more mic issues in the second song, this time Jeff Innes' mic going in and out, but they were quick to fix it between songs, as Jeff didn't need it to chat with the crowd, yelling from the edge of the stage.
After the high energy opening, they chilled out for a moment with an older beauty "Wind Blows", and an ode to Hannah Georgas in "Hannah", perhaps the lyrics unintentionally bittersweet now that she's moved to Toronto. But they quickly got the energy right back up, and the crowd moving, with a string of favourites; the undeniably catchy "Radio" from Tiger Talk, and from the new album, the glammed out "Saturday Night" and "I Wanna Be Your Man", a sexy jam if there ever was one.
Aside from the minor troubles at the beginning, the band was firing on all cylinders, and wrapped up their first (but surely not last) show at the Vogue with the crowd singing along to "Stairway".

setlist
Confused, Make You Mine, Como, Wind Blows, Hannah, Radio, Saturday Night, I Wanna Be Your Man, Favourite People, Stairway.

Not long after that, in front of a gold foil background (a nod to kintsukuroi , perhaps) and a couple dozen light bulbs on stage, Hey Rosetta! came out in darkness, the bulbs slowly lighting up for the opening song "Promise", before bursting with brightness.
The bulbs were actually a really nice touch of lighting, as they were independent from each other, occasionally only on near the members playing in the song, or shining full when the current song hit a crescendo. A nice touch to give atmosphere to the show.
As for the set itself, the band weaved through their three albums, focusing mostly on the new Second Sight, with songs like the explosive "Soft Offering (For The Oft Suffering)" and "Trish's Song", which brought the band in for a bit of intimacy, as they attempted to hush the room for the soft and beautiful song.
Other highlights included the gorgeous "Red Heart" -- Tim taking a second to remember the words at the beginning -- which flawlessly segued into a little bit of "Black Heart", the breathtaking "Bandages" with the crowd perfectly singing along, and an oft-requested song, bringing some early holiday cheer with one of the the few Christmas songs that works year-round, "Carry Me Home".
They ended the set with another burst of intensity, with "Welcome", before coming back out with Yukon Blonde for their political protest song, released right before the last election, called "Land You Love". They then wrapped up with one of my absolute favourites, "New Goodbye" which on a night full of chill-inducing songs, gave me the most chills. From the slow and soft intro, bursting into a wall of sound, I couldn't think of a better way to end the night.

Ever since the first time I heard Hey Rosetta!, I was hooked. Grand, swelling songs with strings and horns, songs that build to epic climaxes, and poignant lyrics. And everything about that comes out tenfold in their live show. Just about every member of the seven-piece band is a multi-instrumentalist, switching out between songs, and frontman Tim Baker's effortless charisma, going between keys and guitar, his heartfelt vocals drive the songs home. All that together makes them one of my favourite bands to see live.

setlist
Promise, Young Glass, Harriet, Kid Gloves, Handshake the Gangster, Alcatraz, Trish's Song, Soft Offering (For The Oft Suffering), Gold Teeth, Red Heart / Black Heart, Bandages, Carry Me Home, Welcome.
(encore) Land You Love (w/ Yukon Blonde), New Goodbye.