For the better part of the last year, Aidan Knight has called Berlin home, but on a warm evening in late April, he returned to his hometown to play an amazing sold out show at Lucky Bar.
It’s kind of befuddling how Aidan Knight isn’t more famous in Canada. Toiling away at his craft, to only really garner the support of the indie crowd and fans of CBC Radio. There is obviously a place for him and commercial success. It seems more of a when vs how game at this point. I’d put his songwriting and musicianship up there with Dan Mangan, Dallas Green, and so many more who have become driving forces in the Canadian singer/songwriter community.
Aidan’s sold out homecoming was packed with friendly friends and familiar faces, all happy to see each other and share their memories and stories of Aidan and his part in the Victoria music scene. The crowd was packed with a who’s who of bands, media, and photographers, all there to support a friend we wished we could see more of.
The night kicked off with east coast singer-songwriter, Laura Sauvage, who toured with Aidan and his band on the cross Canada tour. While her stage presence gave off the impression of a nervous and awkward teenager, she performed like a seasoned professional. It made me wonder if her “awkward persona” was the real performance of the night.
Following Laura’s set, the lights grew dark (making it very difficult to get some photos of the band) and the crowd decreased to an almost-completely-silent hush as Aidan and co. took the stage. The silence is a rare occurrence at Victoria concert. Generally people would rather talk or yell during the entirety of a concert here than enjoy the music they paid for. Funny how that is.
Having not heard the Aidan’s latest record Each Other before this evening, I was utterly surprised by the set. Aidan and his band had traded in the acoustic guitars for crunchy psychedelic sounds reminiscent of bands like War on Drugs and the Allah Las. I definitely heard the terms “face melting” and “epic” more than once that night from fellow concert goers.
The night was filled with new and old songs. You could hear a pin drop in Lucky Bar while Aidan played Jasper solo to a swaying mass.
Just before Aidan came out for his encore, his mom came over to me at the bar to say she’d seen me at many of Aidan’s concerts over the years, whether it was solo or in Counting Heartbeats, Maurice, Black Tie Social, or one of the many other bands. She wanted me to know how appreciative she was of my support of her son. It was a very genuine moment that hadn’t happened to me before. I was touched that she remembered me all these years later.
Victoria is Aidan Knight’s hometown and Victoria let him know that he is always welcome home. In fact, we want him back here soon.
