. : : June 24th, 2011 : : .
Leaning heavily on piano-and-guitar pop/rock and phenomenal vocal harmonies that blended so well they might as well have been pre-recorded samples, it was clear within the first 90-seconds of Paper Lions‘ set at the Horseshoe Tavern that the band could have been checking off items on my “Things I Loves About Music” checklist.
It’s no surprise that The Horseshoe had finally filled up in time to catch this little band of brothers and friends from Prince Edward Island on the cusp of making it big. Indeed, they’ve been featured on MTV Live! and ABC’s GREEK, were selected to be one of the bands performing at both the 2010 Olympic Winter and Paralympic Games in British Columbia, and have been nominated for East Coast Music Awards and a CBC Radio 3 Bucky.
I can’t help but wonder how it’s possible that a celebrated band so perfectly fitting into my indie rock leanings could have stayed off my radar for so long, but I’m glad I didn’t completely miss out. Their latest album, an EP titled Trophies, is near pop-perfection.
The entire disc was performed live, but there were also a handful of all-new songs — a sneak preview at an LP yet to be finalized but full of apparent promise.
Following The Rest on a bill could be no small task — a stage full of almost twice as many musicians literally bursting with energy is a hard act to follow — but Paper Lions seemed to be well up to the challenge. Hitting all the right notes, including a fun throwback cover of Peter Gabriel‘s Solsbury Hill, Paper Lions’ forty-minute set probably could have been twice as long without tiring the enthusiastic fans, many of whom were unabashedly dancing their hearts out up front, but as it stands, was a perfect taste that left the audience wanting more.
Hopefully, Paper Lions will be back in town soon to deliver just that.
As with the other recordings from the evening, due to an absence of spare batteries, this set was recorded at 16bit/44.1khz, and sounds a little bit “flatter” than what fans of the blog might be used to. Still, a fine sounding recording of a great, emerging group of Canadian talent.
01. Ghostwriter
02. Hands
03. I’m On Fire
04. Sweat It Out
05. Stay Here For A While
06. Trouble
07. [banter]
08. Sandcastles
09. [banter]
10. Philidelphia
11. Don’t Touch That Dial
12. [banter]
13. Solsbury Hill [Peter Gabriel]
14. [banter]
15. Lost The War
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Thanks to Paper Lions, Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy, The Rest, Dark Mean, and The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern.
