Ah, how I've waited for this! The chance to see a proper club-ish Stars of Track and Field show. Any of you folks who've kept up with Cord over recent months will know we've become rather fond of this live-bass-free, aura-laden trio from the wunder-city of Portland. As is so often the case, third time's a charm, and after one nearly-missed set during New Music West and one glitchy and weather-miserable mini-set at VirginFest, I finally had an opportunity to watch a full set. I was a bit mistaken in somehow thinking this was their own show - in fact, they are opening a tour with the Cary Brothers, sandwiched between that act and opener-openers Mother Mother (yikes, is there an echo in here?). However, since I approached this night as a SOTAF show, I'm going to bend the review as such as well. Deal with it.









I arrive to local Vancouverites Mother Mother's waning few songs. I'd had a lot of people swearing up and down that this band is absolutely the bees' knees. I'm not entirely sure myself after this small introduction, but I'm certainly not discounting them either. I think my only issue with them is that it seems like they might have a bit of an expiry date on them. They play the sort of music that is probably accompanied by artwork that involves woodcut-like images of deer, owls or wolves (note : actually, it's a chicken. Close enough!). There's two girls who make up the band's centerpiece (despite there literally being a guy at the centre of the stage), dressed up in a casual-chic vintage store manner. Musically, it's got a light country lilt that's overshadowed by choppy trendiness - almost barky vocals at times, the sort of music that's just jarring enough to be almost awkward to move to. But the voice coming out of petite Debra-Jean Creelman is, in a word, sensational. Rispy-raspy and so so very commanding, she is without a doubt the one defining factor that gives this band the most staying power beyond their possible stylistic shelf life. Maybe I'm just not enough of a music snob for this. I like to think though that I'll continue to enjoy a band's current music a decade from now though, and not just lose their CD amongst piles of forgottens from eras past.









A mostly-shared drum kit allowed for pleasantly-short set changes tonight. While waiting for Stars of Track and Field to hit the stage, I had a chance to get chatty with another local photographer, as well as notice the complete front-of-stage fan changeover. All the hip Mother Mother fans (and friends, no doubt) backed off, being replaced by a selection of uppity and excited and significantly-younger seeming folks. Part of me is wondering if this is perhaps partially an audience from VirginFest reeled in by SOTAF's energy (rain and buzzing guitars be damned). Maybe they just all read Cord!









You always know when SOTAF is around by the two tall skinny guys wandering about, wearing a lot of stylish brown duds and scarves wrapped tightly around their necks (why drummer Daniel Orvik seems to not wander about aimlessly with them quite as much is something only he knows the answer to, but as far as I can tell, he owns some pretty swank scarves himself. Ahhh, a good scarf makes the man!). There's likely some sunglasses involved as well. I remember they were the first sight I had when I walked into the VirginFest grounds and made my way to the media tent. You pretty much can't order a more startlingly-certain 'we're so in a band' vibe. Just to note, yes, I do think that's awesome. What I didn't realize about this band before, or at least mostly about guitarist/backing vocalist/tambourine maestro Jason Bell, is what a cut-up he is. I'd definitely witnessed a bit of their on-stage explosive energy by managing to see the last half-song of their set during New Music West, which involved huge amounts of fabulous guitar-wankery and flinging limbs, but Bell on his own is sort of in another world. A world where he is the life of the party, a world where he is Simon in a club-wide game of Simon Says. Arms in the air? Sure. Clap your hands? Of course! Shake your air tambourine like there's no tomorrow? Gladly, says the audience. To be sure, by just a few songs in, the trio was a sweaty mess (honestly, check out the sweat dripping down the guitar straps in some of the photos), which is just what we like to see at any good rock show. And, this has soooo nothing to do with anything, but I'm pretty enraptured by Kevin Calaba's Blueburst (I think I've got that name correct) Rickenbacker, an instrument that seems to most frequently show up in Fireglo colours. Way to break the mold!









Okay, this is a music gig though, so of course, these guys play music. And what music it is! I still find it neat that they forewent a bass guitar in favour of doubling up the guitar attack. I think this makes for a far richer sound, never you mind that they maybe could use an extra set of hands for the occasional keyboards and tambourines (not that Calaba doesn't do an adequate job at the former and Bell doesn't do an adequate job at the latter themselves) and maybe even for the fun blips and bloops that Orvik currently is in charge of from behind his drum kit (this guy's got some serious drummer forearm too, folks. You don't wanna mess with him, trust me). Basically though, with so many different aspects rolling out of their songs, this is a band that often sounds like a far bigger collective than they actually are. Also to note about Bell, his guitars all seem to be decorated in some amusing and personal manner, using CDs, money, and jiffy markers in his guitart (oh wow, I can't believe I just said that). And his guitar faces? Oh my. All right, back to music. This band is marvelous! What can I say? Imperfect? Perhaps, but who can tell when they do everything with such conviction! Musically uncommon for the times, which either makes it timeless or completely irrelevant, depending on how you look at it. I choose the former. Unique, you know, but not relying too heavily on instrumentation or sounds that can piegon-hole it into a specific time frame. A lot of the tunes from their Centuries Before Love And War album were showcased in this surprisingly-long set, and we got a preview of a few new ones to boot. New stuff sounds good so far. Set highlights include the single "Movies of Antarctica" and the soaring "With You" that always leaves me a bit tingly, even moreso live. Just how it goes from being a chippy quick tune, to this swell of mournful voices and instruments. Something in those waning breakdowns of this song remind me of a decade-plus old French tune from a fellow named Pascal Obispo, "Personne" (Youtube it, really. See? Timeless sounds... some things just don't go out of style, even if this example might be slightly adult contemporary... but you probably still can't peg it as being from 1996. I was a geek in grade 10, hush.). The lively "Arithmatik" was another super solid point here. Vocals are prominent within the band, sometimes even coming in triptych. More of that endless layering thing. What it boils down to is just thoughtful, interesting tunes. Add in the boundless, leaping, shaking energy, and you easily have the stand-out band of the evening.











After another reasonable set change, out came the Cary Brothers. I missed their opening-opening moments while having a brief sidestage chat with SOTAF, but as soon as I placed myself squarely at the foot of the stage, the music that, from a distance, is syrupy and lulling, became quite vibrant. A band that is far different in stage presence and music from either band that came before it, this fairly-large group stays quite still, letting the tunes speak for themselves. Someone in the room pointed out that, aside from the actual sound of the lead vocals, they aren't unlike very early Radiohead. I think that's a relatively apt comparison, even though this observation came from someone who would soon prove himself to be a bit on the insane side of things. Okay, a lot on the insane side. This is why randomly meeting new people in bars is a crapshoot. You never know what sort of drugs someone might be fucked up on. But I digress...









So the Cary Brothers set was lengthy, as any good headlining set should be. It was an intimate and gentle spell they cast over the audience. Somehow, this is appropriate for a Monday night - not the kind of show that ramps people up for a big huge afterparty. Instead, it was somewhat akin to our responsible, worknight lullabye. The crowd was pretty lame even for a Monday - I assume everyone's just on vacation or something - so that's a bit of a shame. But it was a pleasant way to wind the evening down. End it I did not, heading post-show to a nearby bar to watch Def Leppard DVDs and drink mysterious pink guava liqueurs. Home by 6am? Hello Tuesday! Don't ever let anyone tell you Cord isn't a rock star.









Want to see more SOTAF photos? Head to the show gallery here.

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