Photos by Cailen Alfred Roy Dye
The Group Sound and Sean Nicholas Savage's hotly anticipated London stop began with an opening set by one man gang New Zebra Kid; who both stepped outside the shadow of his former band, A Horse and His Boy, and broke out as the New Kid in Town in only his third performance to date. Simplifying the five parts of AHAHB down to the vital components seemed to work New Zebra Kid’s Aaron Simmons into a comfort zone that allowed the London native a chance to bust loose with his best songs to date. Finding just the right time to switch from a jagged coo to A Vega-scree the Kid's complete control engaged the focused audience. Headliner Sean Nicholas Savage was seen pointing to his head saying ‘this guy’s smart’ and lightheartedly suggesting he was gonna ‘steal’ the Kid’s moves.
Next up, Canada's best kept secret namely Sean Nicholas Savage brought his off-brand pop and heart-on-sleeve roots jams to the stage. Kicking off with the so-good-you-should-stop-everything-and-hear-it-now ‘Heart Wish’ from standout LP ‘Spread Free Like a Butterfly’ followed by a relentless groove of fun fun fun with no shortage of crowd adulation. Savage exuded as always an abundance of charisma and the great cross section of humour, intelligence, and world-weary veracity that made Morrissey-Marr such a formidable duo.
By the time the Group Sound took to the APK stage the good feeling didn’t seem like it would ever stop, and they certainly did not disappoint in delivering the sounds of a heat wave bent on an endless summer. From the frontline boy-girl duo refrain of leader Matt and Jessica to the underscore of Mark and Alec’s staggering rhythm the Group Sound showed everyone in attendance why they refuse to be anything but the holders of the Champions Chains.
The live renditions of (standout after standout) songs from their recently released album ‘Secret Girlfriend’ displayed a sense of timing, confidence and great ability. The songs all employed classic song structures with slight veers. While paying homage to a by-gone golden era of rock n' roll the Group Sound clearly hold claim to their own unique future fix. Insane video abstractions curated from the collection of projectionist Mahmud Naqi, which equally caught the fancy of the crowd, added an air of high artistic quality that helped propel each of the acts to greater heights. Perhaps the crowning achievement occured in the all for one encore which saw Sean Nicholas Savage join forces with his followers in the Group Sound for a rough punkish performance of the Who classic 'Baba O'Reilly' and early Savage Summer 5000 campus hit 'Bye Bye Bye' which also saw New Zebra Kid join his new traveling fans.
The show was a raving success for Bill Murray Radio, promoters of this their debut event, who stood only to reap the rewards of good times for old and new friends and the hard working tourists from Edmonton and Montreal. The Bill Murray team hopes to match and topple the good times, great memories with Friday night's Slim Twig/U.S. Girls/Zacht Automaat/Many Mental Mistakes show at Brennan's Beer Bistro. Note: doors open at 9pm with a $5 cover.
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