The Dears

No strangers to playing unconventional venues, the Dears booked three nights in the basement of the Plateau's Mission Santa Cruz to perform songs from their upcoming album. The sextet took the stage for their hometown crowd practically gleaning confidence in their repertoire of brilliant new tunes. Pushing the limits of past material, the new songs delivered more of everything there is to love about the band: the "rock" songs rocked harder, the storytelling was more cinematic and singer Murray Lightburn's voice drifted even more skillfully from beauty to a bark in harmony with one of Canada's most dynamic and versatile bands. Between songs, Lightburn confidently exclaimed, "Stick with me motherfuckers!" We will Murray, we will.