There is a lot of love in the Ruby Lounge for The Besnard Lakes tonight.
The gig isn’t sold out but there is barely anybody in attendance who appears to be here simply out of curiosity.
The Canadian four-piece have carved out a small but loyal fan base who seem happy for The Besnard Lakes to remain a fairly well kept secret.
Many of tonight’s audience are 30-plus, seasoned gig-goers who are well past the music business crazes, well past the hype, the fads, the NME covers and the tight jeans. They are an audience who basically seem know a good band when they hear one.
Interestingly enough, Jace Lasek of the husband and wife fronted group looks like a cross between what Kurt Cobain would look like if he was still alive and had suddenly got into surfing, mixed with a 21st-century Ian Hunter.
Having recently released their fourth album, Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO, The Besnard Lakes have fought off lazy comparisons with fellow countrymen Arcade Fire and have created a sound which brilliantly embraces a melting pot of early-Verve, The Beach Boys, Spacemen 3, John Lennon, Pink Floyd and Robert Plant.
Tonight’s basic but fantastically effective retro lighting rig, mixed with a plethora of dry ice, complement their music perfectly. Meanwhile a cacophony of howling feedback, psychedelic drones, soaring harmonies and hypnotic guitars makes you forget that you are in a music venue in the north of England drinking bland lager.
People Of The Sticks, And This Is What We Call Progress as well as The Specter are particular highlights.
It is evident to all in attendance that as well as the love in the room being dealt to them in spades, The Besnard Lakes know when they are appreciated and leave the stage looking genuinely flattered by the reaction they have been given tonight.
Picture courtesy of Oscar Anjewierden, with thanks.
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