islands are forever, their set is not
A few highlights of tonight's Islands show: in typical Montreal band fashion, the members of the band are dressed almost entirely in white (See also Bell Orchestre at the Paradiso). Lead singer "Nick Diamonds" wears a plastic bone necklace, steals an American flag themed hat from an audience member, and snaps digital pictures onstage. One of the violin players borrows an elastic band from an ecstatic fan to manage his bangs.
Their music is vaguely like that of the Unicorns, but more inspired by surf rock or sea shanties. Their official line on this is "calypso", which also sounds awfully nautical, though I don't know the correct definition of that term. In addition to the usual instruments, there are violins, keyboards, a recorder, and a bass clarinet [!]. There is also a short rap break in which guests (from Th' Corn Gangg collaborators?) join them. All in all, the set is quality quirkrock with a fair bit of danceability strewn throughout.
Contrary to the screams of the awesome dude behind me, they do not play "Love Jams". They do, however, have an encore in which the audience is invited to join them on the stage for a dance party. It's hard to tell whether the request was sincere, but the fans oblige. Their enthusiasm for busting moves along apparently busts up some mission critical equipment, which causes the band to abort the rest of the encore. The fans yelling for "Swans" will have to wait until next time.
Their music is vaguely like that of the Unicorns, but more inspired by surf rock or sea shanties. Their official line on this is "calypso", which also sounds awfully nautical, though I don't know the correct definition of that term. In addition to the usual instruments, there are violins, keyboards, a recorder, and a bass clarinet [!]. There is also a short rap break in which guests (from Th' Corn Gangg collaborators?) join them. All in all, the set is quality quirkrock with a fair bit of danceability strewn throughout.
Contrary to the screams of the awesome dude behind me, they do not play "Love Jams". They do, however, have an encore in which the audience is invited to join them on the stage for a dance party. It's hard to tell whether the request was sincere, but the fans oblige. Their enthusiasm for busting moves along apparently busts up some mission critical equipment, which causes the band to abort the rest of the encore. The fans yelling for "Swans" will have to wait until next time.
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