Destroyer, Club Lambi

I managed to catch Dan Bejar as Destroyer this weekend in Montreal at Club Lambi. The club was pretty cool, the second smallest room I've ever seen a show in(the original Green Door in OKC being the smallest). Without knowing what time the show actually started we showed up around 7:45 and walked right into the club where Dan Bejar was standing by the door talking to someone. Gretchen spotted him and was sure it was him i was hesitant, he was too short, way too thin and wasn't rocking the beard, in fact, he looked a lot like Joe Jack Talcum from the Dead Milkmen circa 1991. Before we could approach him or continue debating who he was he was called up on stage for soundcheck, thereby effectively proving Gretchen right. About that time we were told that doors wouldn't open until 8:30 so we hit the bar down the street.

Back at the club we grabbed beers and a table and settled in, with the exchange rate basically being even i paid $15 USD for a shirt before sitting down for a wait.

The show opened with a band who's name i forget, i believe they were local, in any case they literally put me to sleep(granted i haven't slept well since the funeral but come on).

Next up was Colossal Yes, they put on a really good set but it was very short, the singer explained that he had blown out his voice a couple of shows ago, that put Destroyer up next.

I really enjoyed the show, he sounded great playing mostly new stuff although he did play something from Destroyer's Rubies and i believe a song from Yer Blues. Foam Hands sounded spectacular. The Destroyer set ended up lasting an hour and ten minutes. Dan explained that he had lost his voice the night before in Toronto. Towards the end of the set he said that he would be cutting it short because of his throat but he did come back out and do a song without the band. I was happy and quite satisfied, the show cost $15 CD and we got two really good bands. Gretchen was less that satisfied, her point being that we had come from Vermont, had rented a hotel, paid for food and entertaining the kids, it was probably our last trip to Montreal and she was away from her studies two weeks before finals. She wasn't complaining about the show, she liked the set but the length was definetly much shorter than either of us expected especially since Dan had lived in Montreal and homecoming shows are usually pretty awesome. No one regrets going but it does make you think about all the things that go towards making a great show because a live show is an experience. The performance is a big part of it but there are so many little things that count, the people you see it with, the venue, dinner, the trip home, the list goes on and on.