ALVVAYS: Back-to-Back Sold-Out Shows at the Commodore Ballroom
JUNO award-winning band, Alvvays, sold out two back-to-back shows at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver last week. Didn't make any of the shows?! Don’t worry, I'll walk you through it.
As you step into the historic ballroom on Thursday evening, dimmed neon lights cascade on a packed house for the first night of back-to-back sold-out shows; the anticipation in the air is palpable. To get yourself a drink, you first must weave through a sea of flannel shirts, thick-framed glasses, and infinite chuck taylors; don’t lose your friends.
The band walks on stage to a notoriously-Alvvays-sounding spacey synth, slowly leading Molly into the soft ethereal vocals of “Pharmacist”. Lost in the dreamy sound, Alec jolts the crowd with his infamous squealing string transitions, the perfect opening song to showcase their unique blend of indie rock, alt-pop, and 60’s shoegaze influence.
Revving up the crowd, the band transitions to “After the Earthquake”, a song that has most recently acted as a quick shot of dopamine for me, despite the contrasting poignant lyrics. The upbeat, catchy melody of the song makes you forget it's about the painful fragility of romantic relationships. Alec’s jangly and buoyant guitar riffs distract you from Molly’s story of the aftermath of a devastating earthquake - the struggle to contemplate one’s feelings and recognize the fatal shift in a relationship heading to its wake. I’m convinced that Molly’s penchant for using meaningful symbolism and pithy artistic devices in her lyrics makes her one of the best songwriters of the Canadian indie scene today.
Starting off the concert with two songs in a row from their latest (and possibly best) album, "Blue Rev", you can appreciate how this record has evolved to become more new wave/post-punk, yet still retains the signature retro-pop sound we know and love. Halting your appreciation for "Blue Rev", Molly serenades the crowd with the "you find a wave and try to hold on for as long as you can" of “In Undertow”, sending a warm nostalgia across the room. As the band plays some of their most notable hits, like “Archie, Marry Me”, “Dreams Tonite”, and “Adult Diversion”, the crowd is collectively transported to a breezy 2015 summer day in Toronto.
Time for the internal dilemma of keeping your spot close to the stage or heading to the back to buy another drink. Choosing the latter, you navigate your way through a crowd of doc martens to the bar when the first 30 seconds of “Not My Baby” catches you off guard, inciting vertigo that moves the room in slow motion. Not often does the room sway before ingesting the alcohol, but sometimes a beautiful guitar riff can do a more effective job of bringing about the spins.
After an hour of swaying, singing, and bumping elbows with kind strangers, the band announces they will be playing their last song; the disappointment in your chest is overcome by relief when you hear the uplifting intro of “Saved by a Waif”, the perfect song to end the night. The shimmery reverberated guitar pairs with a technicolour disco ball shooting azure and indigo fluorescence across the room; Molly’s cosmic “you cut your haiiiir” seals the deal and immediately sends the dance floor to a retro 80s pop-rock Commodore Ballroom. The song is preceded by a show of appreciation through collective stomping on the springy dancefloor (a long-standing Commodore Ballroom tradition that dates back to the 1930s when it was an actual ballroom), just now with high-top combat boots and thick flannels adding more bounce.
So there you have it. Though my illustrious and incredibly informative words may have captivated you enough to believe it's forgivable for missing these shows, I’ll have you know that no esteemed writer (even such as I) can hold a candle to the experience of the show itself. So next time, just make sure you’re there.
