It’s admittedly a bit of a letdown to be at a very under-sold show. No matter how good the band on stage, it’s an uphill battle for them to energize (and they themselves feed off) a crowd that simply isn’t there. And, while shoegaze trio Weekend performed rather well at their recent Toronto appearance, obviously the lack of an audience stands at the forefront.
Touring 2013 sophomore record Jinx, the San Francisco-born, Brooklyn-based band came on stage to a fairly quiet reception from a crowd of about 50 people. While 50 would seem a lot for a crammed in space, at The Garrison it feels downright ridiculous given it can comfortably fit 300 more bodies.
You could blame it on a lot of things, really. For one: it was an insanely cold night in the middle of a Canadian winter. It was also a Tuesday – a difficult day of the week for any band to pack a room. Perhaps there’s some over-saturation as well: Weekend were just here a couple of months ago, playing the same room as an opener. There’s also the fact that Googling them isn’t the easiest – you’re more likely to pull up pictures of Vampire Weekend or YouTube videos of The Weeknd than you will of them. But whatever the reason (or, more likely, combination of reasons) you choose to attribute the absence of a crowd at The Garrison: there was a noticeable problem.
It seems the band could feel it too, playing quickly and – outside of a slight early hiccup that saw vocalist Shaun Durkan scrambling for a replacement guitar – ploughing through their set. When they play, they’re very good. Weekend delivered the type of fully fleshed out sound that only comes with a lot of shows, a lot of time spent together, a strong sense of their band, and a love of music. And make no mistake, the band is loud – some audience members jamming fingers in their ears as an act of self-preservation. Bring earplugs next time, friends.
On vocals, Durkan’s approach to the microphone showed a strong voice drenched in reverb. He absolutely belted out “Youth Haunts”, a track from their 2010 debut Sports. Guitarist Kevin Johnson was responsible for much of the necessary guitar feedback and memorable melody lines – especially notable on the band’s third last song of the night, the English-flavoured dark wave of “Hazel” via their Red EP.
Their drums were best when kept on the lower, propelling end. Assaults on cymbals from Abe Pedroza felt slightly out of place from their otherwise dark, foreboding sound. A touring bassist brought the band to a quartet and provided much of the requisite heaviness.
The band ended their set with a huge, extended assault of instrumentals and left the stage, sans-encore. It was big, it was brash, and it was all performed very well. While I’d very much approve of a well-deserved larger crowd for Weekend, they probably shouldn’t rule out playing smaller, sweatier rooms in their next visit to Toronto. It’d feel much more suitable – at least for now.
