Concert Review
Band: City and Colour
Date: May 21, 2008
Place: The Orpheum, Vancouver, British Columbia   

Reviewed By: Lauren Eldridge (Vancouver Correspondent - Canada)

Dallas Green came highly recommended. The first concert of his I attended was 17 September 2007. It's original location was the Orpheum, but due to the strike the venue was changed to the Malkin Bowl at Stanley Park. The atmosphere of an outdoor concert is often relaxing, but the wet ground ensured our focus remained on keeping our bums dry than the performance itself. I had never heard anything of City and Colour before, and I found attending a concert without knowing any of the songs very isolating. I felt quite removed; the music was good, I had a great time, but I could not participate and I didn't have that glow of recognition that makes music so much more enjoyable. 

When the latest City and Colour album was released on 12 February 2008, my best friend (who has been my concert attendance coordinator these past few years) told me to listen to the single, raving about how good it was. I downloaded "Waiting...", then decided to download the full album a few days later. I knew he was good, so what's $9.99 on iTunes when it's a great artist? Finding myself fully addicted, I could not believe how many times I could listen to the album without growing weary of it. Each track was filled with music and lyrics to make your heart melt and your hips sway, and the occasional harmonies that so tug at my heartstrings. Needless to say, when my best friend's sister declared her claim on seven tickets for City and Colour in May, I was in. 

The worst part about buying tickets to a concert is the wait. We bought tickets at the beginning of March, so it was virtually three months before the show came around. I find that I forget about an event that has been this long upcoming about a week before the show, and so imagine my pleasure when I realized I would be seeing Dallas Green live in only two sleeps!

The tickets claimed the show would start at 7.30, and shortly after that time the opening band came out. Called the Black Lungs, this meat-and-potatoes band consists of only two men. One sings and plays guitar, the other plays the keyboard or organ (this is the crudest of descriptions). While their music was interesting, I had trouble hearing any of the lyrics. I felt that the band needed more oomph, be it another band member or more volume on the keyboard. I'll definitely be perusing their MySpace, since they appear to have potential though. 

After about half an hour, the Black Lungs finished and took their leave. There was a fifteen-minute intermission as the stage was reorganized, and I was highly anticipating City and Colour to come out very soon indeed. At 8:15 though, five guys appeared on stage and began picking up instruments. They looked at least one too many for City and Colour, and in fact they were another opening band. Sleepercar comes from Texas, with one lead guitarist on vocals, a bass player, and two other men alternating between guitar and keyboard. These three men also sang back-up vocals. My favourite, however, was the drummer. All of the songs were upbeat, but the drumming for each of them was so uplifting and energetic. This was aided by volume so loud you could feel the drums in your chest. Another half an hour of that and Sleepercar left the stage. I'm glad their debut album is available on iTunes. 

After more faceless men reorganized the stage, City and Colour finally appeared at 9:05. The crowd went wild, yelling and screaming in appreciation. Dallas Green had to shush us in order for us to hear him. After thanking us so much for coming and supporting them, he said he was glad to finally play in the Orpheum after the outdoor version last year. The concert experience is much enhanced by an artist that engages the crowd by speaking to and laughing with them. Once the band members are introduced, City and Colour opens with "Forgive Me," track one on the new album Bring Me Your Love. It is immediately clear that the band sounds just as good live as they do recorded. While slight variations in style are understandable, the quality was great. When some of the older tracks were played (the ones I didn't know) I could hear all of the words and was able to fully enjoy every minute of the show.

Some of the songs were performed as a band, while Dallas sometimes remained on stage alone to play some solo songs on his guitar. The guy who helped Dallas with the guitar changes was introduced to us as Harris, and he came out to play the tambourine for a song that requires clapping because the crowd proved inadequate at maintaining a rhythm. Dallas Green was very good-natured about it. While some of the more obnoxious attendees thought that screaming things would be a great way to show appreciation, Dallas was able to express his wish for us to refrain from screaming without making us feel admonished. Of course, after a request to be quiet and only scream something truly "wicked," many people felt they had important things to scream within the next minute. The best call was "take your clothes off!" Dallas looked at the other band members, pondering the command, then said "No". The screaming quietened down respectfully during songs, and the whole audience sang along to most, especially the solo acoustic ones.

As for the other band members, the drummer was also excellent, never missing a beat or a cymbal, everything timed perfectly. The base player I'm sure was called Dave, but Dallas introduced him as Rampage when the crowd acted up. Nothing is nicer than being told Rampage will come after you if you keep watching the whole performance through a digital camera. My only issue was with the other guitarist. While he played one of the small guitar solos (I can't remember which song), I could not hear him at all. My real concern was his lack of self-esteem, or his very present stage fright. If you're playing in a band with Dallas Green, then you must be really good. If you're that good, you should at least be confident enough to lift your head while you're on stage. The only thing I knew for sure about this guy was that he was definitely not balding, since all I could see of him was the top of his head as he stared at his feet all night. 

All in all, it was a great performance, especially since it was the first time for four of them had played together in the same place. They were very tight, perfectly timed, and coordinated. Even the harmonies were admirable. My favourite way to enjoy was to listen to Dallas and watch the drummer, as both kept time to the beating of my heart.