Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Veronica Falls w/ support acts Hands & Teeth, and Brilliant Colours
The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St West, Toronto, Canada, 11 pm
The opposite of love is indifference
This is probably my most neutral gig review to date. Would that be worse than a negative review? Introduced to London/Scottish indie pop band, Veronica Falls, mid-last year, they didn’t strike me as potential partner on my regular playlist. Sure, we enjoyed a spin or two of “Found Love in a Graveyard” and ”Beachy Head” with a bottle of wine or two on those lonely nights. But I forgot to call, even though I said I would, and the recall/repeat button was never pressed.
Veronica Falls warmed up well with good intentions. Through their whole set, they manifested typical London stage grace, fashion and weather. The girls (co-guitarist/vox Roxanne Clifford, and bassist Marion Herbain) in their dark skirts and leggings combo, and the boys (drummer Patrick Doyle, and co-guitarist/vox James Hoare) in their modestly-coloured trousers politely thanked the crowd in a constant 5 degree, foggy tone of voice. If London’s weather wanted a synonym for grey to describe itself on a dating website, it could easily substitute the words ‘beige’ or ‘Veronica Falls’ quite easily.
VF on VD
Veronica Falls didn’t excite their set enough to gain any new followers or to rouse their existing ones. Basically, my protest placard would blazon: “VF for studio recorded tracks! Probably no to live acts!” Or perhaps I should keep the placards as blank as their expressions. If it wasn’t for their neutral facials, I would be saying they were sitting hard on that pointy fence on whether they are a band about whom to be excited. I was a semi-fan of their recorded tracks, but their live act didn’t make me fall in love with them.
One can see the irony of a band boxed as “goth-pop”, whose almost anti-romance songs Graveyard, “Misery“, and “Bad Feeling” headline a Valentine’s Day gig, all the while giving shout-outs to those on dates. But that didn’t mean they didn’t put in the effort. They just couldn’t quite execute their game.
Matchy matchy
Say you love me like you mean it
‘Twas Valentine’s Day night, and the band was dressed to impress [though not to kill - in more ways than just fashion] in matching candy-striped shirts. Except for Herbain, showing only a hint of candy-stripe under the lapels of her brown cardigan. She was all about being different, being the only one without a mic and presumably the only one without any singing ability.
Perhaps she got it right, as vox were not Veronica Falls’ strong point in the intimate venue that is the Garrison. Most likely a sound engineering hiccup, one fan asking for more vox after the first song, and Clifford gradually sounding better throughout their extremely short 50 min set. But the lost sound meant lost lyrics.
VF has short sample of 12 very short songs, each lasting about 2.5 mins. Even their encore was short and sweet. Enough time for them to walk off stage and back on again. [Did they want this date over and done with as well?] Short songs and poor vox might complement the lyrically-challenged criticisms found in reviews such as The Needle Drop, which constructively reviews their self-titled LP.
Heart beats
To be lucky in love, one has to play to their strengths. Veronica Falls’ strength is def their rhythm. And I must say, without a hint of bias as my reviews normally possess, drummers of Great Britain stand out. [Think Matt Helders of the Arctic Monkeys, Mince Fratelli, The Who's Keith Moon.] Doyle’s crack of the snare and beat of the bass rose well above the well-tuned guitar strums of Hoare. And the cutest kit I ever did see! I enjoyed the instrumental sound of VF very much. The hipsters in the crowd couldn’t help but bop their heads and sway their shoulders to Verona Falls’ catchy tunes. And probably recognising their own in this band that look ever so alike.
Side rant -
What’s with the multitude of people sporting identical enormously huge black-rimmed spectacles, and an assortment of cardigans? Do they even have any prescription lenses in those glasses? Probably not because they obviously can’t see that they look like everybody else. These are the ones who give hipsters a worse bad name. If they were wearing prescription lenses would they see their fashion as how they see “commercial” music?
“You wouldn’t have heard of these glasses before.” [Um, you mean the same ones everyone is wearing?]
“What? You mean you’ve never heard of these glasses before?” [Um, you mean the same ones everyone is wearing?]
“These glasses were cool before they went mainstream.” [I guess that's how you heard of them then?]
If being a lemming wasn’t so mainstream they’d be all on this like ironic stickers on their fixie bike.
Sorry, this vid just really speaks to me, as does this website.
Anyways….I digress.
Long-term relationship material?
VF is a talented band with catchy songs. Would I recommend seeing them? Yes. But good to note that I paid $10.50 to see them.
