The Zolas with The Liptonians and Hannah Epperson @ St James Hall -- 10/24/11

On the heels of the release of their split 7", The Zolas and The Liptonians have brought their western Canadian tour to an end with a pair of shows here in Vancouver. St James Hall was the site of their second show -- the first happening while I was otherwise occupied -- and was all ages, which meant a lot of teenage girls there to see The Zolas.
(If you even want to feel old, just go to an all ages Zolas or Said the Whale show)

First up was Hannah Epperson, armed with only her violin, loop pedal and soft, beautiful voice. I've seen her a few times before, but I am always taken by her masterful loops, building layer upon layer with just her violin. A few of her songs were just instrumental -- and were captivating on their own -- and when she added vocals, her voice matched the mood perfectly. She had the crowd completely enthralled, with dead silence for her while she was playing, breaking into cheers only when she was done each song.

The Liptonians were up next, launching into "You Know I Did", and their fantastic contribution to the split 7", "Destroy Destroy Destroy". Right off the bat they proved why their live shows have such a great reputation, with their incredibly tight sound and solid harmonies, and the show just got better from there. "Perfect Swimmers" was one of the highlights, a soft song that fit the venue perfectly, and had everyone golf-clapping along in lieu of their forgotten shaker, and one of my favourites, "Growing Old in the City", featured a garbage can lid and a cacophony of sound that swells to an insane climax. I am fairly certain that if I ever go mad, I want that song playing at the time.
After what seemed like not nearly long enough, they drew to a close with "March Back Into the Sea", starting soft and swelling to a great ending for the set. And I already can't wait to see them live again.

setlist
Terrell's Dream; You Know I Did; Destroy, Destroy, Destroy; Lesage; The Privatest Parts; Perfect Swimmers; Float On By; Growing Old in the City; Hey! Hey! Help is on the Way!; March Back Into The Sea.

And wrapping up the night was The Zolas. Or rather, The Zoliptonias, as Zach Gray's partner in crime Tom Dobrzanski couldn't make the tour, so Grey was backed by the five members of The Liptonians. It was really interesting seeing Zach with a completely different band, especially up to six members from the usual four, since it really rounded out songs; they had a great chemistry and the sounded fantastic.
Starting off the set with the dense and moody "Guest" "Cultured Man", the other song from the split 7", before getting a nice bout of recognition applause (or, shrieks given the demographic at an all ages show) for "You're Too Cool". The set featured mostly older songs, prompting lots of clapping and singing along, but also another new song, "Strange Girl", and after a raucous ending with "Marlaina Kamikaze" Grey came back out alone for just one more song, the soft "These Days", backing off the mic a few times, really taking advantage of the quiet crowd.
I feel a little weird saying it it was a fantastic set from The Zolas, given that really only one Zola was there, but it really was a great show, and was pretty cool to see the collaboration, and I kind of with The Zolas played as a six-piece more often.

setlist
Cultured Man; You're Too Cool; The Great Collapse; Marionettes; I've Got Leeches; Body Ash; Strange Girl; Marlaina Kamikaze.
(encore) These Days.

The Liptonians w/ Rococode and Jean-Paul De Roover @ Joe's Apartment -- 04/08/11

After hearing phenomenal things about The Liptonians live show, and with the album growing on me the more I listen to it, I was ridiculously excited to see them for the first time last night. Especially with Rococode opening. And I'll get to that in a moment, but first, a bit of a rant...
This was the second time I have seen a show at Joe's Apartment, and I'm starting to form an opinion on the place. The sound is decent enough, but what really bugged me was the TVs. It was cool before the bands were playing, when Indiana Jones was on, but then they didn't turn the movie/screens off when the music starts. And then when they switch to dumb comedies after Indy? It's hard to keep focused on the bands when there is slapstick comedy and nudity and Borat happening on screens right next to the stage, right next to performers heads sometimes. It actually seems a little disrespectful to the bands.
But I digress, on to said bands.

Starting off the night was Jean-Paul De Roover. He took the stage alone but was soon joined by himself, with liberal use of looping. At first I thought it would get a bit much, but used more than just the guitar, adding elements like synth and even some vocal work as well. It's always cool to see people looping that masterful, so it was a fun set to watch, and his songs were pretty catchy. While I wasn't necessarily blown away, I wouldn't mind seeing him again next time he's through town.

Next up was Rococode, and I was a little surprised to see the full band, as I was under the impression it was an acoustic set (see above poster). But I was in no way disappointed; I've seen them a few times in the last few months, and am continually impressed. There was a bit more banter and chatting in between songs than previous sets, but they were still content to let most of their songs do the talking, including the incredibly infectious "Empire" -- which always gets stuck in my head -- the haunting "Dreams" and the first single from the upcoming album, "Weapon", which is already getting some radio play. They brought the set to an end with a song I didn't catch the name up, but came to a bombastic finish, for a great ending to the set. I am definitely looking forward to the new album with each time I see them live.

And finally, it was time for The Liptonians. The first thing I noticed was no actual horn section, but they had it covered with canned horns. The second thing was all the hype about them being a fantastic live band was completely true. They played a sort of condensed version of their album, started off with their lead single "You Know I Did" before going into two of my other favourite songs on the album, one being the raucous "Growing Old In The City", a fantastic song live, which included a garbage can lid being played. The combination of the band's great chemistry, nailing the harmonies, and stage presence, getting the crowd to clap along for "Perfect Swimmers", helped them command the stage from beginning to end.
The set came to a close with the beautiful "Lesage" and the album closer, "Let's March back Into The Sea", as they played right up to the curfew with no encore.
Which leads me to my only complaint, other than the lack of live horns, which would be that the set was way too short! They only played for about half an hour before getting cut off by the curfew so the shiny shirts could take over the place. I can only hope that sooner rather than later (and at a better venue) they will march back into Vancouver.

setlist
You Know I Did, Hey! Hey! Help Is On The Way!, Growing Old In The City, The Privatest Parts, Perfect Swimmers, Lesage, March Back Into The Sea.