Midway through their set, Royal Canoe may have been feeling a bit of regret about being a gear-heavy band. "If you have a laptop, you just press play," band member Matt Peters said from the stage. On a such bright sunny day at noon, while so much of the good-sized audience had taken cover in the shade of a nearby building, everything on Sunlit Stage 3 had to be hot to the touch.
Even if the Winnipeg, MB doesn't make music for the blistering heat –– and the outsized pile of gear the six-person brings with them probably makes performing in such heat a chore –– they equipped themselves well. Simmering weather was matched with simmering songs. At first listen, the clear R&B influence at work, along with Peters natural falsetto, might label them as Midnite Vultures, the band. As great as that would be, they've got their own elements to bring to the table, bits of indie rock structures and judiciously electronic wizardry and sterling harmonies. There are a lot of elements to corral, it seems, in a Royal Canoe song, but they do it well, no matter how hot it is outside.
Even if the Winnipeg, MB doesn't make music for the blistering heat –– and the outsized pile of gear the six-person brings with them probably makes performing in such heat a chore –– they equipped themselves well. Simmering weather was matched with simmering songs. At first listen, the clear R&B influence at work, along with Peters natural falsetto, might label them as Midnite Vultures, the band. As great as that would be, they've got their own elements to bring to the table, bits of indie rock structures and judiciously electronic wizardry and sterling harmonies. There are a lot of elements to corral, it seems, in a Royal Canoe song, but they do it well, no matter how hot it is outside.
