Yukon Blonde / The Prince Brothers @ The Horseshoe

I have become convinced that the staff of Nevado Records sneak into my apartment when I'm not home and peruse my personal CD collection for inspiration. For now I'm afraid that I don't have any physical evidence to support this theory, and they haven't stolen anything yet so I guess that it's no big deal. But I can't think of any other way to explain the way that they consistently sign acts that so perfectly cater to my own scattered taste. The latest example of this is Yukon Blonde, who performed last week as part of Nu Music Nite at the Horseshoe.

I thought that I had timed everything perfectly, especially since I got to the venue just shy of the band's supposed 10:50pm start time. However, as I got there another band known as The Prince Brothers were just setting up. This was a bit irritating to be honest, since it was a rainy night and I wasn't really in the mood to be out, and the prospect of being able to just get out, quickly see a set by this band that I've been hearing all kinds of good things about, and getting home early-ish, was just enough to convince me to go. This irresponsible setback was definitely putting a wrench in my plans. That's the bad news. The good news is that The Prince Brothers were actually a really good band.

This Toronto band, led by brothers Eric and Bryan Prince, have a very warm and organic sound that puts them in a unique place for a pop rock band. Usually those adjectives are reserved for artists that dwell in earthier, folksier territory but The Prince Brothers take those roots and accentuate them with grand chorus's and addictive hooks. This is what makes them the type of band that I don't think a person could truly dislike unless he was deliberately being contrary. Their set was mainly composed of songs from their latest release entitled From This Place, and if there were any aspects that stood out for me, it was their very tight musicianship, as well as their impressively smooth sound. I'll admit that my description makes them sound somewhat generic, but that's not what I mean at all. If I was grasping for some sort of comparison, I suppose The Rheostatics would be a good place to start, along with perhaps Wilco's Summerteeth period. Also, if you're looking for a bit of a visual, the drummer does the bulk of the singing, and the other vocalist looks like Trey Anastasio which led me to think that he sort of sounds like him too, but that could just be my mind doing that warped comparison thing that it sometimes does. Anyway....good band.

Photos: My shots of The Prince Brothers @ The Horseshoe are on flickr
Myspace: The Prince Brothers

As explained earlier, Yukon Blonde was the band that I really wanted to see. While waiting for them to take the stage, I was greeted by several other attendees who couldn't stop assuring me that this band's live show really was a sight to behold. A couple of songs in, and it became obvious that Yukon Blonde have been taking in a steady diet of all of the great classic rock bands of the past, and have carefully honed their live show as a sort of tribute of sorts to them.

In the 70's and early 80's, stadium worthy rock bands would cater to the audience with every note, and every rock star pose. In a similar fashion, Vancouver's Yukon Blonde were very aware of their audience, and they put on a rock show that was similar to those epic performances of the past, while still managing to stay away from anything too grandiose or bombastic. They played with an energy that made it obvious that the band not only loves what they're doing, but they also thrive on the attention they garner from an enthusiastic crowd. The songs themselves were just as good as the performance, ranging from straight ahead guitar rockers, to mildly psychedelic mini flourishes. During one of the trippier numbers, they encouraged the audience to dance around all 60's-like, which apparently meant to flair your arms in the air and wave your hands around in a semi-interpretive dance-like fashion. If you don't know what that means, don't worry, Jeffrey Innes did a humuorus job of demonstrating it for us, and it was fun to see the audience flailing along with him during the song. In the grand tradition of classic gems like Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp and Boston, Yukon Blonde are one of those bands that I plan on checking out again.

Photos: Yukon Blonde @ The Horseshoe are on flickr
Myspace: Yukon Blonde