Music

Review: Said The Whale deliver smiles and broken strings

by Melody Lau

There is no other band more fitting on a summery Friday evening outdoors than Vancouver’s Said the Whale. Their brand of bright and fun indie rock melodies were just the thing folks need as a pre-show-hopping soundtrack to build up energy and excitement for the rest of the evening.

Playing to a fairly full crowd of onlookers – most probably waiting for headliners Sloan and k-os who followed with the exception of a couple of Said the Whale fans who enthusiatically welcomed every song with cheering and sang along to almost every song. But regardless, everyone happily complied by clapping along and it was evident that the band had won over various people unaware of them before they began playing. There was even one avid watcher who yelled “I don’t know you but I love you!” in between songs.

Said the Whale’s catchy sing along harmonies sounded beautiful outdoors as it reverberated through the entire Yonge-Dundas Square area. Songs like “Camillo” served as great indie rock anthems that would catch the attention of passers by and have them start nodding their head to their memorable riffs and fun lyrics.

The band appeared to have a comfort on a stage of that size, smiling and definitely not holding back on their performance or personalities as at one point guitarists/vocalists Ben Worchester and Tyler Bancroft joked that the band doubled as a comedy troop trying to entertain audiences while breaking their acoustic guitar strings. “It’s hard to make a string break on demand, you know,” said Worcester.

This bouncy quintet have definitely proven that playing large festival stages are no feat so with any luck, we will see more of this in the near future.

Photo by: Chris Mejaski