The Belle Game

Having travelled four days by train for their prime-time showing on the festival's opening day, Vancouver collective the Belle Game -- perhaps buoyed by the anticipatory enthusiasm of a packed Gladstone Ballroom -- appeared fresh-faced and exuberant as they ran through their high-spirited pop compositions. Led by singer Andrea Lo's beaconing vocals (at times augmented by pedal-triggered effects), the energized troupe bounced through a set of soaring arrangements marked by their carefree and inviting melodies, mood-setting guitar touches, dramatic synth and horn swells, and infectious rhythmic underpinnings, which had the receptive audience grooving in unison with the animated six-piece. Though limited to a mere handful of nevertheless entirely fulfilling sonic gems, the band's impact was made plainly apparent by the collective smile that radiated throughout the room upon the Belle Game's final note.