As festival season slowly draws closer, Victoria continues to have some incredible shows roll into town. Last night, TOPS visited the Garden City to perform at Capital Ballroom with support from Diamond Day. With indie/alternative sounds in the air on a Monday evening, Victoria showed out to watch a couple stellar sets and forget about the work week. While the next day might be rough for our 9-5s, it will always be an easy price to pay to experience fantastic live music.
Prior to this show, I had a few friends mention Diamond Day to me in passing. Some of those mentions included “this project is not to miss” and “Josh, your mind will be blown”. That’s a lot of positive praise, but the only way to find out if the statements were true was by catching this opening set. I can now say that those statements were not only true, but I’d go as far to say that this duo is destined for great things. As soon as they arrived on the stage, the soundscapes and vocals drew me into their world. This set was enough to make me a fan and the next time I see their name on the island, you can be sure that I will be in crowd, and you should be too.
For Canada’s Indie Rock Scene, Montreal’s TOPS is easily one of the most exciting names out there right now. So, when it came time for them to take to the Capital Ballroom stage, the entire room roared with excitement. Their sound reminded me of a summer drive along the coast, which was very fitting seeing as this show took place in the Summer. The set featured tracks from throughout their discography and included a few tracks from their upcoming August release, Bury the Key. The night closed out with a two-song encore, which included their 2019 single, Seven Minutes and Colder & Closer from their 2020 album, I Feel Alive. Two great tracks to close out a dreamy set. If this set told us anything, it’s that Bury the Key is going to be a powerful release from the band, and it should get some play time through your headphones.
There are risks to attending a Monday Evening concert. You might need a couple extra cups of coffee, or maybe you’ll need to hit the snooze button on your alarm clock a few more times. However, some risks can yield great reward, and the gold we heard last night proves that statement to be true. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to grab my sixth cup of coffee to help stay awake for the week ahead.
