Live: Wolf Parade @ La Zona Rosa
photos : valerie@fremin.net
Friday night at La Zona Rosa brought two incredible Canadian bands to town. Opener Wintersleep proved their recent Juno win for New Group of the Year was no fluke. Mixing exquisite harmonies and thoughtful lyrics, the band captured the minds of the audience. Their long instrumental songs were a little too long at times, but they did provide for a stellar live show and perfect opener to get the crowd ready for the main act of the night.
Playing their “first real performance in Austin ever,” as lead singer/guitarist Dan Boeckner put it, Wolf Parade took the stage to a sold-out crowd of anxoius fans Friday night. Opening with “You Are a Runner and I Am My Father’s Son” followed quickly by “Soldier’s Grin,” the respective lead tracks off of the band’s 2005 release Apologies to the Queen Mary and their 2008 release At Mount Zoomer, the band signaled the start of a powerful set with old favorites and new jams.
Keyboardist Spencer Krug and guitarist Dan Boeckner took turns at the mike, switching back and forth after each song, much like the track order on their albums. Krug was subdued as he pounded away at his digital instruments and Boeckner ripped on his guitar all night, while fellow WP members Arlen Thompson (drums), Hadji Bakera (keyboards) and Dante DeCaro (guitar) each added their own passion to the set. Older songs like “Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts,” “Shine a Light,” and “California Dreamer,” prompted audience sing-alongs, while the newer tracks from At Mount Zoomer seemed less familiar to the audience. It was however, new songs like “An Animal in Your Care” and “Language City” that best showcased the intensity and depth of the band’s live show.
There were some dull points in the night however. The room was extremely hot, causing Krug to repeatedly sweat into his electronics, which in turn caused numerous technical breaks. Each time he apologized for the delays, but the excitement that had just been created the song before, was lost in half of audience almost instantly. The other half seemed to have almost no idea who the band was, and it could have just been the heat, but they just remained planted with their arms-crossed staring at the stage throughout most of the set, seemingly questioning whether or not Wolf Parade lived up to the hype they had heard so much about.
“Kissing the Beehive” was by far the highlight of set, as Boeckner and Krug traded off on lyrics and verses, creating an epic end to the pre-encore set. The encore itself was almost predictable in song choice (“I’ll Believe in Anything” and “Fancy Claps”), but it was the encore that brought the audience back to life and proved to all that yes, Wolf Parade does live up to the hype plus much, much more.
Wolf Parade probably won’t be making their way through town again for a long time. With this being their first real show in Austin (well, technically second–ACL ‘06), and with all of the side-projects of the band members, one must assume that another Wolf Parade visit to Austin in the next year seems impossible. But one can hope of course, and with a live show that at times out performs the records themselves, it’s only a matter of time before the band eventually returns to town.
-EmilyJ
