Julie Doiron Faces Chattering Classes In Saskatoon

Saskatoon's Amigo's Cantina saw a fantastic pairing of Attack In Black and Julie Doiron doing their second of four western Canadian gigs together last week.

Attack In Black are in the midst of recording their next album, and their opening slot focused heavily on unreleased material. That led singer/guitarist Daniel Romano to pause and apologize at one point saying, "Sorry for playing so many new songs. I guess we're just selfish like that."

The front half of the spacious venue seemed unfazed by the band's choice of material as the audience nodded along to the Welland, Ont. act's well-crafted blend of rock, punk and country. But those hovering in the back end were more content to converse amongst themselves, and their continual chatter made it tough to hear Romano's vocals.

A bigger crowd gathered around the stage when Julie Doiron started at midnight, considerably lessening the background noise in Amigo's. Doiron was backed by Constantines' Will Kidman on drums, and opened with "The Wrong Guy" and "No More" from 2007's Woke Myself Up.

The latter saw the songstress getting quite lively — waving her arms, jumping a little, and pacing between her microphone stand and the drum kit while playing the excellent harder edged (by Doiron's standards at least) cut. Kidman picked up a guitar and Romano handled drumming duties for "Borrowed Minivans" from 2009's I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day, the top-charting disc on Canadian campus radio last year.

After dedicating tracks to Fred Squire and to some local gals who drove to Sackville for last summer's SappyFest and camped in her yard, Doiron slowed things down with a stunning rendition of "Will You Still Love Me In December?" Kidman's faint backup singing complimented her wonderfully, creating easily one of the top highlights of the 80-minute set.

Unfortunately, pockets of patrons throughout the club used this quiet moment to strike up new conversations instead of listening to the fragile, beautiful track.

"Sweeter" followed and was equally moving.

Romano teamed up with Doiron once again during the encore to perform a well-received selection from December's Daniel, Fred & Julie, a disc they recorded with Squire last summer.

Despite it being well after 1 a.m., the 200 or so attendees still wanted more. Doiron closed out the night alone, treating all to "Nice To Come Home," which she said she hadn't done live in a long time, and a new, still untitled song that thankfully, finally, almost all stayed silent to hear.