Japandroids
Massey Fucking Hall
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As someone who loves concerts but hates going out, live albums have always been a lifesaver, presenting an aspect of a show without needing to navigate tickets, crowds, and venue commutes. But, predictably, now that in-person shows are temporarily done with, I miss them.
So Japandroids' Massey Fucking Hall is the right album at the right time. A high-energy band with a great live show documenting it on their home Canadian soil, heroically bringing a strong set into our homes, until we're once again free to pay $12 for a warm beer from someone who looks like they'd just as soon poison us then give us our drink.
Japandroids are singer/guitarist Brian King and drummer/backup vocalist David Prowse. The Vancouver-based band have three studio albums of ragged rock & roll that never feels too raw or unfinished. The albums all have a live sound and energy and part of what's so impressive about their shows is that they find another gear in front of a crowd. They perfectly capture the experience on Massey Fucking Hall, recorded at Toronto's famous and intimate Massey Hall.
Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of live shows: ones where the band pretty much performs the songs as written on the album and ones where the band reworks their music. Anyone who's ever sat in a Bob Dylan show, trying to figure out what song he's doing, will recognize the latter. Japandroids keep close to their studio work, mostly playing with the intensity of the performance and occasionally, and briefly, inserting some of their rhythmic jamming, which can be positively hypnotic.
One of the nice things about a small band like Japandroids in this live context is that you can hear the dynamic interplay between King and Prowse. Prowse's drumming is astounding, filling up lots of space, manically propelling the songs forward while both holding down the rhythm and providing textural flourishes. This is all stuff he does on the albums, but hearing it live provides another level of appreciation.
Prowse's background vocals also shine live, similarly pushing King's always-strong singing. Prowse isn't a beautiful backup singer; his voice is more pragmatic than celestial, but live, you can hear how important it is to the songs. He's able to provide depth to their tunes, using his own voice to subtly flesh out King's.
The set holds no surprises. There aren't any unexpected covers. They don't go into an acoustic set. No big-name guest comes strolling out to perform with the band. They just work through their songs. "Younger Us," off of 2012's Celebration Rock, somehow exceeds the fervor of the studio version, King's vocals and guitars much more in your face, and Prowse's drumming doing the work of at least three band members.
"Arc of Bar," a slower number from 2017's Near to the Wild Heart of Life, serves as a good breather in their set, allowing listener to reset their heart rates. "Young Hearts Spark Fire," from their 2009 debut Post-Nothing, swells by a minute thanks to their locking in on a groove and refusing to let go. The album does justice to their impressive catalog.
The beauty of concerts once was that they were a moment limited to a finite number of people and if you missed that moment, you didn't get to enjoy it. Now, though, in our surveillance-dominated era, concert-goers use their phones to create literally dizzying concert videos that make Blair Witch Project look like a tranquil still-life, making it feel like there are no longer any truly hidden performances. Massey Fucking Hall isn’t hidden, but it demonstrates how much fun a good concert can be and while it doesn't replace the full live experience, it's a fantastic reminder of their beauty.
Notable Tracks: “Arc of Bar” | “Heart Sweats” | “Younger Us” | “Young Hearts Spark Fire”
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