Thursday, April 9, 2009

White Lies and Friendly Fires at Richards on Richards

I've been paying more attention to the Richards on Richards web site since the reality set in that it will be torn down to make way for condos in September. From the two tiered intimate layout, to the lived and loved in graffiti smothered back stage rooms, bands and fans are facing a great loss in Vancouver.


Lamentations aside, I noticed that NME was presenting a double Brit bill, darlings White Lies and Frienly Fires at Richards on Richards on April 8, 2009. I was intrigued. Once I began to dig, I was blasted by a media blitz of excitement surrounding both bands, White Lies in particular. From Rolling Stone to SXSW to David Letterman all of North America was lifting their ears and sniffing the breeze from across the pond where White Lies debut album charted at #1 in the UK in January 2009. References like Joy Division and Ian Curtis, Interpole and Echo & The Bunnymen (to name a few) flew past me as I raced towards the realization that this could be what I have been looking for.



White Lies and Friendly Fires had been trading headlining throughout their North American jaunt. On this occasion, White Lies would take the stage first. Opening their set with Farewell To The Fairground, my expectations were demolished as Jack Lawrence-Brown's pulsing, if stripped drum line took control of my feet and held a firm grasp until the last note. The crescendo of this song, culminating with a building of repeated lyrics "Keep on running, there's no place like home" written by Charles Cave (bass, backing vocals) and sung with all Harry McVeigh's (vocals, guitar) force, demonstrated their understanding of tension, taking us for our first ride down the rabbit hole of white lies. From that moment on I was only partially aware of track names, or how long they had been playing for, the intensity was overwhelming. The lighting design mirrored the moody post- punk aesthetic with bold white lights pulsing, pushing the bigger moments. It was the perfect pairing.





McVeigh's reputed likeness to Ian Curtis in his vocal stylings, well justified; this is a difficult thing for me to write, let alone believe... to label me a Joy Division fan is a gross understatement. Other set highlights include the deliciously atmospheric To Lose My Life, the dark tale and deep organ synths of Unfinished Business, and the pop gallop From The Stars. There was a brief delay half way though due to Jack's ferocious stomping. He explained after that he has a nasty habit of blowing out the kick drum mic. I think it's a barometer of his passion and prowess; or perhaps he needs a more sophisticated mic. Closing with Death, they left the stage with no encore. This might've been due to McVeigh's sore through he'd battled earlier in the tour. The truth is, my appetite for them had become insatiable and no amount of encores would've sufficed.




The white lies are the result of an evolution from the former band "Fear of Flying". Playing together since youth, the band was a developmental project, influenced heavily by brit pop and lacking substance which they began to explore in the fall of 2007 with Unfinished Business. In October of 2007 they posted on their myspace "Fear of Flying is DEAD... White Lies is alive!" and with that they re-routed towards the matured dark sound that rock has been waiting for. I can not put it any better than this, "White Lies are the glowering, glistening, moody, magnificent, cheekbones-of-granite, stone cold future of Rock."


White Lies Set List


  1. Farewell to the Fairground

  2. To Lose My Life

  3. E.S.T

  4. From The Stars

  5. A Place To Hide

  6. Unfinished Business

  7. Fiftey On Our Foreheads

  8. The Price of Love

  9. Nothing To Give

  10. Death



After the frenzied stage re-organization, Friendly Fires came charging out of the gates when they took the stage. Only acutely familiar with them prior to the show, I was delighted to find myself enrolled in experimental pop 101, instructed by Friendly Fires in the art of spontaneous combustion. Lead singer Ed Macfarlane travelled the stage in a spirited dance, inviting the audience to shed a few layers... of pretenses AND clothing. With at least 4 simultaneous cow bells, instrument swapping and Macfarlane descending into the thick of the crowd sporadically throughout their performance, Friendly Fires topped off a phenomenal evening of music.


Macfarlane's command of the stage resembled no one that I have ever seen. The combination of his care free dance moves and vocal conviction encouraged each person in attendance to dance like no one is watching...and we did! He wore black slippers with a gold fox's head emrbiodered on the top. They are one of two pairs of slippers he reserves for performance, he later told me. We mused over the significance of the fox's head, I thought it was an homage to Peter Gabrielle's beginnings in stage theatrics when he came out in a red dress and fox's head. Macfarlane was reminded of a good old chap sitting in front of the fire with his pipe. I suppose he wins, given that they are his slippers.


I thought it was curious that they opted to put the drum set on the main stage area with all theur gear tightly organized. The richards stage isn't large to begin with, why cute your pace by a third? As the set went on members began trading places and instruments in a seamless dance where the music did not stop. Insert "ah ha" moment pertaining to my earlier observation. A hiensight observation: I would have rather had Friendly Fires open and White Lies close. After the intensity of white lies, I felt that Friendly Fires lacked substance, of no fault of their own. These bands have two very different sounds, White Lies hit me like a tranquelizer dart full of all my musical buttons instead of poison. Hats off to Friendly Fires, I danced non-stop and enjoyed chatting with them afterwards. Lovely people.

Friendly Fires Set List
  1. Lovesick

  2. Jump In The Pool

  3. Skeleton Boy

  4. In The Hospital

  5. White Diamonds

  6. Strobe

  7. Photobooth

  8. On Board

  9. Paris

  10. Ex Lover
A special shout out to Malcolm and Sealed With A Kiss, who presented this show in conjunction with NME and consistently bring amazing music to Vancouver AND got me into the sold out show that has claimed many, irretrievable. Find them at http://sealedwithakisspresents.com/

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