Pretty Girls Make Greaves / Moon Rats / Night Canopy

Following many weeks away from the road, Pretty Girls Make Graves forcefully blasted away the cobwebs when their recent tour visited Winnipeg. Openers Night Canopy, who include PGMG’s drummer Nick Dewitt on guitar, played a short set of restrained alt-country before Moon Rats followed and turned up the volume. The trio, fronted by former PGMG guitarist Nathan Thelen, put on a solid show with tunes that occasionally recalled the art pop sounds of Blonde Redhead. Starting off their performance with a hyperactive version of "Blue Lights” from The New Romance, Pretty Girls Make Graves came on next and established a charged pace for their entire hour-long performance. Guitarist J. Clark threaded together intricate notes and strode back and forth from the edge of the stage as vocalist Andrea Zollo sang vigorously and gestured with her fist raised in the air. Songs from the band’s last two albums, Élan Vital and The New Romance, were featured prominently in the set. During "Parade,” Clark temporarily put aside his guitar and picked up some sticks to join Dewitt as they both pounded away on his drum kit while playing the exuberant proletariat pop tune. The band’s high level of energy continued through all of the songs. On "Pictures of a Night Scene,” bassist Derek Fudesco leapt off stage and into the crowd to raise hands and get people to clap along, which they willingly did. Proving their skills at also incorporating unconventional instrumentation, keyboardist Leona Marrs switched over to accordion during a spirited version of "Selling the Wind.” Later, PGMG acknowledged fan requests and tore through fast-paced versions of "Speakers Push the Air” and "Ghosts in the Radio” from Good Health before ending the night with "All Medicated Geniuses,” which had the crowd dancing and howling in approval.