Yesterday was a day of local Edmontonian talent. My wife and I started out the evening with Kris at Litfest, where we saw the book launch of Devil’s Cinema. A non-fiction account of the Mark Twitchell (Dexter Killer) case written by Kris’s good friend Steve. It was great to see hometown talent return and to see the success of a friend. It was also great, because we had never been to a book launch/Q&A before.
After that we grabbed a poutine at La Poutine and headed over to Wunderbar for some music. Yes Nice! is a band that has been mentioned on the blog before in the best of lists. They are a indie-pop act that runs the gamut on styles.
Their set was preceded by a band called The Mondrian Shift which was a bi-lingual band featuring female lead vocals, keyboards, and violin in addition to the guitar, bass and drums. They performed a combination of french and english originals and 3 covers, and although they alled looked to be in the age range of 16-20, their music was rather cohesive and put on a very good show.
The next act was a Winnipeg band called Les Jupes. Les Jupes seemed to have some more live experience than the youthful Mondrian Shift, and their energetic set had several highlights. A male guitarist/vocalist with a deeper than average voice paired with the female keyboardist/secondary vocalist were handily backed up by the bass/synth player and extremely impressive drummer. We were pleasantly surprised by Les Jupes and thought that they were a great complimentary act to Yes Nice!.
Yes Nice! put on a very danceable set featuring music from both of their releases and a few new tracks that hinted at their sound progression on their upcoming album to be released this year (hopefully). Their new material was very much inspired by the 80′s and classic funk. New track “Hot River” was a very dancey standout that I am definitely looking forward to. Yes Nice! seem to be improving their live performance with each show, and their onstage presence, crowd engagement, and obvious enjoyment help elevate the experience. They are playing tonight in Calgary if you are around.
Ultimately it was a great date evening with the wife, who is going with Kris tonight to see Ben Folds with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the Winspear, which should prove to be a good show.
here is a video for their great track “Horses”
- Shaun
