It was a treat to watch two Juno-nominated bands share the stage on Saturday, Feb. 8 in Mitchell Hall, only days following the great news of their nominations. The reassured confidence in their music oozed out of the performers that night, albeit in a well-deserved manner for these Toronto natives.
The Darcys kicked off with a wave of energy. The group was messy-haired, in ties and tight jeans, as if they had just stepped out of the 1960s. An inventive and indistinguishable collision of sounds like The Constantines, Bon Iver, and Patrick Watson, created a luminous sound that was at the same time upbeat and authentic. The group begs to be undefinable, with a band name that derives from the name Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet’s romantic interest in Pride and Prejudice, and D’Arcy McGee, the first Canadian political figure to be assassinated.
It helps that each of them has the gratitude to match their talent, humbled by the positive response they have received as of late. Between dancing wildly during July Talk’s performance to show their support and conversing with fans until they were the last ones in the venue, I instantly wanted to make these guys my best friends.
July Talk followed with quite the performance in the rawest sense of the word. The contrast between Leah Fay’s sweet vocals and feminine mystique, and Peter Dreimanis’ rough exterior and harsh Tom Waits-esque timbre, was like watching Beauty and the Beast drink whiskey and fall in love during a wild Spring Break vacation – you’re unsure if it will work in the real world, but your impression would be that it’s been the steamiest week of their lives.
The juxtaposition of the two on stage was pure genius. Their playful flirtations with each other, though seeming a tad counterfeit, adds a sexy mysteriousness to their story. Upon returning to Toronto from a final European tour with his band, Dreimanis reportedly sat in a candlelit bar listening to a beautiful stranger perform, dumfounded, realizing heʼd met his soul mate. The next day he started his search; when he found her, they founded July Talk.
Having seen the duo perform multiple times the past year has confirmed that the two are able to strike up a very unique relationship with their audience. The phrase “any publicity is good publicity” seems to work for July Talk, who have been known to do some pretty outrageous things on stage to make a show more interesting – even controversial. There are still speculations as to whether or not the blood that pooled on the back of Fay’s silky white dress was really an accidental menstruation episode, or simply planned for the sake of shock value. One spectator went to the extent of licking the dried blood off of his hand to try and distinguish its authenticity. Regardless, Fay had the entire audience encouraging her bravery, actually feeling honoured to have her blood smeared across their faces after the show like a rite of passage or a proof of your proximity to the stage.
It is my personal belief that the blood was a part of the act, yet it has been heard from a valuable source that the rest of the band was just as unaware of Fay’s plan as the rest of us. I echo the audience that night and commend it as an act of bravery. It is not every woman that would purposely impose such an image and own it the way she did. It shows confidence in her performance on an artistic level. Above all, my respect for the band is heightened after observing the way they handled many other things that went wrong over the span of the evening, including wardrobe malfunctions and technical difficulties.
July Talk has been nominated for Breakthrough Group of the Year at this year’s Juno Awards, and The Darcys for Alternative Album of the Year for their 2013 record, Warring.