Let’s just put this out there: EVERY concert should come with a free ice cream sandwich. We are going to have a really hard time committing to covering future concerts without the promise of free ice cream. Just saying… the bar has been set very high by Oscar St. Records.
The independent and artist-led record label, Oscar St Records, features some of the best Victoria-based and Canadian acts out there. Could you blame them for wanting to celebrate some of their talented roster with a showcase at one of our favourite venues, the Rubber Boot Club.
Frontperson is a band separated by the grand geography of Canada, with Kathryn Calder living on Vancouver Island and Mark Hamilton of Woodpigeon living in Montreal. That distance and touring schedules with their respective bands already makes it hard enough for the supergroup (yes, we are calling them a supergroup) to get together for a concert. It takes something monumental like recording their second album to bring them to the same city.
Washed out in solid blue with a hint of florescent backlighting, Kathryn, Mark, and drummer Melissa McWilliams took the stage for what would be Frontperson’s debut concert. The Rubber Boot Club buzzed with anticipation as this was the band’s first time playing in Kathryn Calder’s hometown of Victoria under the moniker of Frontperson. An adoring crowd of friends, family, and fans held onto every note the future-folk trio struck.
During their single, Tick Tock (Frontrunner), Kathryn and Mark playfully wrestled for the helm in a back-and-forth from the song. Throughout their, set the pair took balanced turns as lead, backup, and harmony to each other. Let’s hope that it doesn’t take until their third album for the band to grace Victoria with their presence again.
What can we say about Kirsten Ludwig that Rocktographers haven’t said already? If you haven’t figured it out yet – we are big fans of her and her music.
Kirsten Ludwig is a powerhouse and on the cusp of something bigger than our island city. This was made clear by her drawing the largest crowd of the night, gathering inches from the stage just to catch some of her folky indie rock, relishing her performance while we can before she sets off on a European tour later this fall.
The night rounded out with an impeccable headlining set from Peach Pyramid. Dreamy psychedelic indie rocker Jen Severtson has become a staple of a growing portion of the music scene here in Victoria: deeply honest, guitar-driven, and not afraid to get a little weird with making music.
Severtson and company played in the midst of a mist from a fog machine with a mix of blue and purple light. Each time we see Peach Pyramid, we secretly hope they’ll have some better lighting for catching some better photographs of the band, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case this time. Guess we will have to wait until their outdoor performance at the Phillips Backyard Weekender later this month.
Peach Pyramid played myriad newer songs they have been working on for a new album, but also peppered in some of their more established music. That all paled in comparison to their surprise cover of Sheryl Crow’s “If It Makes You Happy” during their encore. This caused the dance floor to explode into a bar-wide karaoke session.
When your night starts with ice cream sandwiches and ends with a Sheryl Crow singalong, it’s clear that Oscar St. Records know how to throw one hell of a party.
