Concert Reviews

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. at The Garrison – March 18, 2014

When I arrived at The Garrison the for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.’s show the venue was almost completely empty. I worried that with only ten minutes before the opening act went on most people did not realize the venue shifted from The Hoxton to its current locale. When I went to Bonnaroo back in 2012 it seemed like Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. was playing everywhere. Most bands only have one slot but they seemed to have their name on the schedule for all the tiny sponsor tents as well. Unfortunately neither I nor my group of friends had heard of them so I missed their sets. I clearly made an error in judgment in doing so.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. is a band that for my money wins for best band name going right now. When I looked around the crowded venue it seemed almost everyone had a Jr. Jr. toque or band tee on, which is always a positive thing for an up and coming band. A little Easter Egg I found was the keyboards used were Korg and Roland’s with electrical tape covering specific letters so the Korg read ‘OR’ and the Roland read ‘AND’. With the lights out their large Jr. Jr. light up sign was slowly pulsing with the lights going up and dimming while the backing band came out first followed by vocalist/keyboardist Joshua Epstein and vocalist/guitarist Daniel Zott. It actually does a disservice to the guys by listing their instruments as they all played a bit of everything which was very impressive.

Epstein announced it was the first time they have headlined a show in Toronto and they were very excited to do so. He regaled a story of how once they opened for Moby. Apparently some guy proposed to his girlfriend on stage. Afterwards Epstein told Moby that it was sweet and all but it was such a cliché thing to do. Moby replied that breakfast is cliché and people don’t seem to have a problem with it. Confusion ensued as no one understands what that even means. The band started the night with Hiding, a slow burning song that eventually picked up steam to a full on rock out. Both singers had secondary microphones to warp their vocals. Epstein was using an old telephone taped to a mic stand and Zott was using some smaller hand held mic held off to the side of his regular one so he could lean into it when needed.

In the middle of the two front men’s set up was a small drum and electronic drum pads with a mic stand. Epstein began singing Don’t Tell Me in the middle, but then took the mic and began to climb on the monitors on the front of the stage. The Jr. Jr. lights would flash brightly with the beat while the crowd all sung along. Then without expecting it Epstein jumped into the crowd and began throwing his body around while still singing. Bubble machines that went off made the party get to another level of crazy!

It is hard to describe the sound of this band. They sort of have Sgt. Peppers/White Album Beatles sound mixed with the oddity and synth pop of MGMT, but some of their songs also have influences from calypso, folk, alt rock, jazz and blues all rolled into different parts. Their drummer Mike Higgins kept a fast paced beat rocking the whole night making it impossible not to shimmy around. Multi instrumentalist Jon Visger was a chameleon being the backbone to all the different style changes. Visger played the keyboard for most of the night, but also played bass, guitar and the drums in the middle of the stage.

Epstein mused about his love for Toronto and Canada as a whole, it is a great country because any country that allows Leonard Cohen to be a national hero is one worth living in. He also talked about how the band came up a few days early since they are from Detroit; visiting Toronto is always a good time. They played many songs off their recently released album The Speed Of Things including the pumped up jams Run and Mesopotamia. They finished the set off with their ode to their hometown Just Lost Detroit, fun blues jam with a Motown inspired beat.

They came back out to some very loud chanting; the crowd demanded the party not to stop. Zott shouted into the microphone that if you have not danced yet, this is your last chance. They played three extra songs including their current single and hilariously titled If You Didn’t See Me (Then You Weren’t On The Dancefloor) a super fun Phoenix meets euro club song.

I met the band afterwards when they were at the merch table. I was very impressed that they ran all the sales themselves while also logging everything sold with money being organized by what product people were picking. All this on top of having genuine interactions with people who were in awe of the fantastic show they put on. Chad Valley’s Hugo Jonquil was also behind the table helping out with sales along with selling cassette tapes with his tunes on it too.

Photographs by Sarah Rix

About author

Music Editor at Live in Limbo and Host of Contra Zoom podcast. Dakota is a graduate of Humber College's Acting for Film and Television. He now specializes in knowing all random trivia. He writes about music, sports and film. Dakota's life goal is visit all baseball stadiums, he's at 7.