NXNE - Said the Whale

Vancouver indie rockers Said the Whale have made a lot of stops in Toronto and it showed, as an enthusiastic crowd greeted their early Friday night gig. Neither the band nor their fans seemed to mind the spotty sound that kept getting blown around by the breeze. And that bad sound did have a benefit: the quintet were sounding particularly muscular as Ben Worcester's acoustic guitar was malfunctioning and was forced to rock an electric (a spare acoustic popped a string the minute it hit his hands). Said the Whale were genuinely appreciative of the love and what they lacked in sonic perfection (group harmonies were a little off key), they more than made up for with passion.