@ The Crystal Ballroom — Music Fest NW
Now if you are like me, you have been waiting for close to two years for the next glimpse on Wolf Parade’s follow-up to Apologies To The Queen Mary. You may have even checked out Pitchfork’s videos of their recent concerts. Lord knows I did, but it was nothing compared to what they brought to the table to close-out MusicFest NW. But first, let me share a couple words about their opener, Holy Fuck.

On a whim, I decided to leave my post at the bar next-door and head up early to check out Holy Fuck. The Toronto-based, electro-experimental 5-piece included Wolf Parade’s sound manipulator Hadji Bakara, who have been making waves across the festival circuit in recent years; and for good reason. They left my jaw as wide open as Britney Spears’ schedule for the next 10 years. In all my life, I don’t think I’ve even had more fun or been as impressed with an opener I had never heard of than Holy Fuck. To briefly try and give you an idea about their sound, think Girl Talk or Dan Deacon, minus the happy-go-lucky pop sentiments and instead replaced with the Kraut-influence of the early Berlin sound or more recently, Trans Am’s The Red Line. Armed with a heaping pile of pedals, children’s keyboards and other novelty instruments, Holy Fuck got the entire crowd jumping and freaking with a set that could only be described as the business side of an LCD Soundsystem show. I highly suggest you pick up their incredible self-titled LP, which comes nowhere even close to how great they are live.

When Wolf Parade came on, I felt as though I was seeing a bunch of friends I had not seen in a while because they were backpacking through Spain or something stupid like that. That’s how mentally fatigued I was after Holy Fuck. Anyways, they played a rip-roaring set of both new and old that was met with the warmest of responses. During concert favorites “Fancy Claps” and “Shine A Light”, the overflowing crowd danced, sang along to, and thrashed around, prompting lead guitarist Dan Boeckner to comment, “Whenever we play this venue, there’s always this pit circle in the front that’s totally early 1980’s hardcore punk”. He was very amused.

Frankly, I was scared to hear the new material. I mean, how in the world do you follow up Apologies? I was to soon find out.
Wolf Parade’s new ditties took on a more thoughtful and planned out shape, giving ex-Hot Hot Heat guitarist Dante DeCaro a more prominent presence in the group, adding vocals to much of the new material. Overall, the Boeckner/Krug rotating song duties on vocals remains the same while the instrumentations seem markedly more cooperative and epic. They closed their set with a 14-mintue explosive and crescendo-laden voyage that beautifully wrapped up the festival. I am now piddling with excitement for that new release.

Wolf Parade MySpace Page
Sub Pop Records