On paper, a Deep Dark Woods show at the Ness Creek Music Festival sounds like the ideal Saskatchewan music experience. In reality, it's a bit different: despite having a picturesque boreal forest setting as their backdrop, the Saskatoon five-piece's rich melodies and lead singer Ryan Boldt's gravely rumble struggled to compete with a crowd that wanted to wave glow sticks and crowd-surf like it was 1996.
Which is not to say the Deep Dark Woods put on a bad show. That's probably impossible: the band's nothing if not solid, and from the opening strains of Jubilee standout "18th of December" to a Hammond organ-laden 12-minute jam on older track "Mary's Gone" — a jam as sonically expansive as the province they call home — the Woods gave those who worked to pay rapt attention a rewarding hour. Still, with the stars out and the Saskatchewan air crisp and cold, it's tempting to imagine what could have been.
Which is not to say the Deep Dark Woods put on a bad show. That's probably impossible: the band's nothing if not solid, and from the opening strains of Jubilee standout "18th of December" to a Hammond organ-laden 12-minute jam on older track "Mary's Gone" — a jam as sonically expansive as the province they call home — the Woods gave those who worked to pay rapt attention a rewarding hour. Still, with the stars out and the Saskatchewan air crisp and cold, it's tempting to imagine what could have been.
