What an unusual venue for a touring gig. The teeny little Gallery bar at UBC was a full house by the time I arrived. I'd like to say that meant a massive crowd, but it really didn't - though it appears as though the crowd would have been much much larger had the room been able to accomodate such a thing. After a series of traveling mishaps (see interview forthcoming!), Pat Watson and his band were still trying to get things arranged onstage at this time. The show was effectively pushed back to some degree, but that's all right - it gave me a chance to nab a couple of drinks, even though the bar ran out of a lot of things before the opener was even through.







Said opener was none other than Dan Mangan, Vancouver's own singer-songwriter fella. he possesses a super-powerful voice, at times with a distinctive Gomez-y growl. He was on his own on the stage, singing tunes that were sometimes sweet, sometimes as loud as one guy with an acoustic guitar can get. It was fitting music for the coffee-house-esque room (even though it's definitely a bar, not a coffeehouse) and was a pleasant lead-in to Pat Watson.







Now Cord came across Pat Watson on the suggestion of putting together a contest for this very show. He was hitherto unknown to me, which really is a shame, considering what he's been through. The Montreal-dwelling Watson and his bandmates have gone through a ridiculously amazing series of accomplishments the last couple of years, not the least of which include opening for James Brown in Europe (touring, no less!), being part of the Iceland Airwaves festival, having a song on a very important Grey's Anatomy episode, and being nominated for 'Best New Artist' at the Junos, against a crop of major labellers. Why so under the radar? Well, I suspect after the Juno Awards, which happened very very shortly before this posting, Pat Watson is a name you are going to be hearing a damn lot more of.



And when that happens, you'll all be really upset you weren't at this show. You know, not to rub it in or anything.



I haven't spent so much of a show grinning like an idiot in a long long time. These guys are absolute comedians, and are so creative with their live shows. Okay, so we didn't see any 20-foot band-encompassing bubbles or intricate video overlays, but the array of things they used to create sounds on stage was staggering. And not in that expensive and privileged way that one would think when a band cracks out a harpist or a 30-piece orchestra at a show. I mean simple little things anyone can do, like deflating a balloon against the strings of an electric guitar, or chucking forks at the cymbals, or using a plastic bottle full of rice as a shaker. Watson himself sings with a fierceness that looks as though he's gone kind of insane, or sometimes more like he's just tasted a particularly unripe lemon. Sometimes it looks like his mouth is trying to parade right off the side of his face, but through all these intense and screwed-up expressions, the voice of an angel flitters through. Delicate and sweet, chiming and chirping. Drummer Robbie Kuster, even when he's not actually singing into the microphone, can be heard caterwauling away back there as he drums.





The guys relayed the story of their border woes to the audience multiple times, causing great laughter and being the first instance of showcasing their comedic talents and good-naturedness as well. And, not to mention, Watson's amusing chuckle. Sort of like a duck. Aw. Continuing on, they really really fuck with their instruments. I mean, really, smashing spoons against strings, using pedals and knobs as its own instrument through the duration of a full song, draaaaaaggggging the end of a drumstick around a cymbal (creepy!) and using unusual arrays of colourful glockenspiel-type pipes. Steel wool... something that I think was either an electric toothbrush or a drill of some sort... weird Joseph Arthuer-esque cacocophonous loops. Really, they did it all. They even caused a brief blackout! At first everything shut down and then came back on again really quickly, so it seemed almost more like someone just leaned on a light switch in the bar and turned off the stage lights for a split second. The speakers cutting out didn't even register. This may also have been because I was so close to the stage, the volume wasn't affected terribly much. But a moment later, the lights and sound cut out again, everyone woo'd, and the band, after a brief gasp but no delay in instrumentation, kept right on singing with a laugh. Way to roll with it.





At the end of the set, they capitalized on that ability to project by getting the crowd to shut up, picking up portable instruments (acoustic guitar, xylophone, and tiny drum kit), and walking around the crowd playing. Watson stood on a chair in the middle of the bar, singing and slowly spinning about so that he managed to face everyone in the room at least once. Magical.



I'm ecstatic I got a chance to see this performed so intimately - I suspect it will never be quite so again. Afterwards, everyone adjourned to the outdoors for further shenanigans and our little last-minute interview. True Montreal gents, there were cheek-kisses all around and then off I went with one last chuckle out of Watson...

Elsewhere

By Andy Scheffler
Photos : Andy Scheffler
Published : April, 2007.