As those last breaths of summer clung to the night, people crammed into the Molson Amphitheatre in high anticipation for the amazing lineup of Wintersleep, Ra Ra Riot, Tegan and Sara, and City and Colour.
Ra Ra Riot, now touring to promote their new album The Orchard, opened the night and effectively set high standards for the rest of the evening. With a more mature and polished attempt, yet still sticking to their baroque pop sound, the New York band proved that they have a lot to bring to the table and are only just getting started. Wintersleep followed and did not disappoint as their post-punk melodies and catchy hooks mixed things up and built the excitement for the bands to follow.
Though the night was still young, it was already getting dark and coloured paper lanterns cascaded from the roof as Tegan and Sara took the stage. Sharing their powerful ballads of love, hurt and friendship, such as "Here I Am," the sister act shared entertaining stories of wanting to be synchronized swimmers during childhood and finding stalking (before the Internet) romantically old-fashioned. They harmonized elegantly, yet with a slight edge, such as during their rendition of "Feel It In My Bones."
And finally, City and Colour (aka Juno-winning songwriter and Alexisonfire member Dallas Green) walked on stage along with his backing band. Taking advantage of the extra players, Green added slight twists to the normal solo act, becoming more upbeat as the added instruments helped create new experiences out of old favorites. He also treated the crowd to a surprise by getting Tegan and Sara back on stage to perform a song that they had only practised once before. In classic City and Colour style, Green did play some raw acoustic solo tracks like "Save Your Scissors" and asked the crowd to fill in the chorus, all in all creating one memorable night.
Ra Ra Riot, now touring to promote their new album The Orchard, opened the night and effectively set high standards for the rest of the evening. With a more mature and polished attempt, yet still sticking to their baroque pop sound, the New York band proved that they have a lot to bring to the table and are only just getting started. Wintersleep followed and did not disappoint as their post-punk melodies and catchy hooks mixed things up and built the excitement for the bands to follow.
Though the night was still young, it was already getting dark and coloured paper lanterns cascaded from the roof as Tegan and Sara took the stage. Sharing their powerful ballads of love, hurt and friendship, such as "Here I Am," the sister act shared entertaining stories of wanting to be synchronized swimmers during childhood and finding stalking (before the Internet) romantically old-fashioned. They harmonized elegantly, yet with a slight edge, such as during their rendition of "Feel It In My Bones."
And finally, City and Colour (aka Juno-winning songwriter and Alexisonfire member Dallas Green) walked on stage along with his backing band. Taking advantage of the extra players, Green added slight twists to the normal solo act, becoming more upbeat as the added instruments helped create new experiences out of old favorites. He also treated the crowd to a surprise by getting Tegan and Sara back on stage to perform a song that they had only practised once before. In classic City and Colour style, Green did play some raw acoustic solo tracks like "Save Your Scissors" and asked the crowd to fill in the chorus, all in all creating one memorable night.
