The music of The Besnard Lakes doesn't shift much from album to album. Over the course of their now lengthy discography, the Montreal band has found ways to shape their droning guitar epics into new molds that never radically alter what they already do well while still keeping things interesting. When the band takes to the stage, they use this to their advantage as they craft set lists that take portions from their catalogue and meld them all into one epic surge of powering music. This was certainly the case on Wednesday night when the band played an early set at Night Club 101 as they took their sound to towering heights and let their jet engine roar engulf the room. As the temperature inside the venue seemed to sky rocket, the band matched the intensity of the heat with voluminous stretches of post-rock grandeur. Hitting us right away with the soaring "Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent" parts one and two, frontman (in a way) Jace Lasek's uncanny falsetto cut through the thick clouds of guitar like an arrow, the ebbs and flows of the song bringing balance between waves of sound as the quartet stood firm, slowly pouring out these epics with what looked like extreme ease. The snare drum was flat and dry, providing a steady, striking beat in the midst of the plumes of shoegaze guitar drones that wafted throughout the venue. Buzing keyboards added even more texture to the already scorching tunes and the radiant hums of bass locked in perfectly with the grooving rhythms. As the show hit the midpoint, the band kicked into "Albatross," a track of leveling proportions, that builds and builds as rigid guitar licks rips through the air and solid bass cracks down like thunder. Slowly the stage began to fill with fog, obscuring parts of the tiny stage and allowing the band to cut through it like a knife when they reached the rapturous climax. Forever a sweeping and all encompassing track, it washed over the crowd in full euphoria. The back-half of the show was comprised of tunes from this year's The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost Nation and the ragged, buzzsaw guitar licks remained constant. "Here's another easy listener" bassist Olga Gorea chimed in during the set. "Easy listening for hard messaging" she proclaimed, much to the delight of Lasek who then insisted it would be part of the banter for the rest of the tour. For a band that can rip into some rather heavy and dense music, their light hearted spirit on stage was a wonderful balm between tracks. After a fan called out for "Chemin de la Baie" earlier in the night, Lasek was pleased to say "and now by request" when they finally got to the moment of the night and it proved to be yet another seething tune of blown-out space rock ready to launch to the moon. The energy and overall vibes that flowed out of the performance were jubilant and maximal and while the volume was loud, the mood was always pleasing and joyful. Aside from their latest record, the band focused in a bit on songs from their album The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night and on this occasion, they really lived up to the name. Howling and majestic, they dazzled the room and sent everyone into orbit.
Set list:
01 "Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent Pt. 1: The Ocean"
02 "Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent Pt. 2: The Innocent"
03 "Devastation"
04 "Carried It All Around"
05 "Blackstrap"
06 "Albatross"
07 "People of the Sticks"
08 "In Hollywood"
09 "Chemin de la Baie"
10 "Give Us Our Dominion"
11 "She's an Icicle"
12 "And You Lied to Me"
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