Saturday night saw Halifax’s indie-rockers Wintersleep bring fans to the floor of the Bronson Centre. With their seventh full-length album In The Land Of due out in a matter of days, Ottawans were treated to a peek from this pressing, both live and with an early cache of copies at the merch table.
The set was a melange of music spanning the years. Their new material featured prominently early on (as the band quipped “we’re going to keep nailing you with new songs”), though their full catalogue was well represented over the evening. With songs from the upcoming introspective album and The Great Detachment making up the first half, earlier work rounded out the night. Perusing the crowd, attendees appeared thrilled to hear it all. Predictably, hands went up in the air for the JUNO winners when Welcome to the Night Sky’s Weighty Ghost was played, which carried through to head bobbing for album-mates Oblivion and Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks. The roar of applause brought them out for another 3 songs, with Laser Beams lighting the way, their earliest album offering Orca killing it mid-encore, and finishing the night on the untitled album’s thick and jarring jam Nerves Normal, Breath Normal. The heavy hitter was perfectly placed to end the eve.
The event opened up with the Montreal’s pop-fun frolickers Caveboy. The trio includes Michelle Bensimon on lead vocals, Isabelle Banos on bass/synth and Lana Cooney on drums and the eve closed their 3-show stint out and about with Wintersleep. Their high energy gained the attention of those that came out early, giving a 5-song glimpse of their own material, and ending off on a cover of a late 80’s classic I Wanna Dance with Somebody.
Wintersleep is currently out on a cross-Canada tour with dates extending into May 2019. Information on the when and where can be found here. Don’t hibernate – get out there and see them!
