1 Outta 3 Ain't Bad

First of all, let me say that I'm pissed. Since when do venues keep the entire ticket?! They've single-handedly ruined my ticket collection. Friggin' bastards.

Moving on, I'd like to express further disappointment over the fact that Sunset Rubdown and Frog Eyes cancelled a few hours before the show (something about molotov cocktails?). So the openers instead were hip hop artists Bus Driver and Edmonton's Cadence Weapon.

They were ok. Cadence's beats were way more fun and varied. And that's all I have to say about that.

A couple hours--and 5 beers--after the rhymes began, Islands took the stage in all their 7-member glory. Guitar, bass, sax, violin (2x), keyboard, drums--these are the ingredients of a great indie rock show.

With the crowd shouting Unicorns references left and right ("I was born a unicorn!"), the band powered confidently through a well-paced set. My favorite track--"Volcanoes"--came early in the show and I settled in for a good time.

A major highlight came during the song "Where There's A Will There's A Whalebone" when the band was joined by Bus Driver and Cadence Weapon for help with the hip hop-rock crossover verses. Good times. "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby" and "Rough Gem" were also fan favourites for a good reason--they rocked.

Towards the end of the show I was getting pretty tired. I haven't been sleeping much lately. So the big finale didn't have quite the impact that it should've. A few fake endings later the concert was over and I began to regain feeling in my lower appendages.

A quick stop at the merch table was in order, I picked up a t-shirt and the Islands' latest release--Return To The Sea--on double white vinyl. Overall it was a really, really good time. But as great as it was I couldn't help but wonder, who will cut our hair when we're gone?