Beasts Aplenty For Transmission's Third Night

Storyeum

Vancouver, BC

on Dec 5 2008

Quinn Omori (CHARTattack)

12/09/2008 11:36am

I started the final night of Transmission by catching Courtney Wing's set.

The write-up on the band mentioned "members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Bell Orchestre," but while Wing's ensemble shares a penchant for the grandiose with the two aforementioned acts, it's not really a fair comparison. Godspeed and Bell Orchestre are very much the sum of their parts.

By contrast, it was clear that Wing could have taken to the stage with just his guitar and voice and more than held his own. But that's not to say his supporting cast didn't add a ton to the performance. Wing was flanked by a full band and a sizeable choir, and his set was reminiscent of Spiritualized, minus some of the blessed-out, druggy psychedelia. He made up for that with a set of pipes that J. Spaceman would probably kill for.

"We're here to ruin your evening," Bison B.C.'s James Farwell quipped before the hometown act proceeded to try to tear the roof off of the venue with their thrashing mix of metal and hardcore. They pulled material entirely from their Quiet Earth full-length debut and may have shocked some of the showcase's more conservative attendees, but anyone with an ear for heavy sounds had to be floored by their performance. I don't want to sound like too much of a homer, but the local boys certainly showed the rest of the bands on the bill how it was supposed to be done.

Alex Cuba hails, as his name would suggest, from Cuba. But he's called the tiny B.C. interior town of Smithers his home for the last decade-and-a-half. His music reflects the disparate locales, bringing together a mix of Latin rhythms and Spanish lyrics with the sort of smooth, FM-friendly rock that one can dial up on radios across Canada. He seemed at times to be hitting on a winning formula, but too often things erred too closely on the side of yacht rock.

Things got a little heavier again when Beast took the stage. They came off like a more aggressive version of Portishead, and their beats ranged from trip-hop to industrial, while singer Betty Bonifassi (who previously lent her voice to DJ Champion) wailed over top. When it worked, it worked well, but Bonifassi's delivery was a bit overbearing at times.

There were quite a few two-pieces who played Transmission, but none took the stripped-down approach as far Sweden's Wildbirds And Peacedrums.

Save for a few songs that featured some delicate autoharp, all of the instrumentation was provided by Andreas Werliin's drumming, with wife Mariam Wallentin's vocals rounding out the sparse set-up.

If there was ever an argument for the idea that less truly is more, Wildbirds And Peacedrums were surely it. Werliin's drums went from tribal roar to politely restrained, while Wallentin invoked everyone from Bjork to Feist to Nina Simone as the pair shifted with ease from whispery folk to sweet sounding pop to a wonderful cacophony.

Elliott Brood had the distinction of closing this edition of Transmission. When you're playing something as tried and true as the type of no-nonsense roots rock that they deliver, you're not going to wow anyone based on originality. Luckily for the band, they have a combination of songwriting prowess and performance ability that puts them a cut above their peers. It wasn't a bad way to end the fest.