Friday was only the second time my dad and I had been to a concert together, the first being The Rolling Stones for his birthday. I was a little hesitant taking him to the No Kids and Mount Eerie concert. I knew both bands were more experimental than I was used to, so I couldn’t imagine what my dad would think. No Kids took the stage and had a rough start. In the few first songs, the instruments seemed disconnected from one another. But by the fourth song, the trio hit their stride and started playing one beautiful song after another. The lead singer played the grand piano, while the two others were on the keyboard and the drums. The band took a minimalist approach to every song. The drums and keyboard provided a foundation for the piano and lyrics to soar. While the drums were not the intended focus of the music, they were some of the most interesting parts of the song. Sometimes the drums mimicked hip-hop beats, while at other times the beats were syncopated, like jazz music. The drums were always subtle, but their presence elevated the music from ordinary to pleasurable. It seemed that when the drums were off, the music was hard to listen to. But when the drums were in tune with the other instruments, the music was spectacular. Mount Eerie started their show with a bang. Two drummers, one with a gong, started beating their instruments as loud as possible. I felt my dad jump a little bit because the music caught him off guard. The sound was hard, but that was to be expected. The band’s latest record was a concept album about nature, specifically wind and rocks. Natural elements were present in every song. Soft drums and guitars mirrored the calm of water, waves and wind. Aggressive, loud sounds were reminiscent of the harsher elements of nature and its destructive capabilities. The music was always dark and dramatic. At times, elements of Broken Social Scene and Sigur Ros came through in Mount Eerie’s music. At points though, the music was so loud and overwhelming my dad and I were covering our ears. The concert took place in a renovated church, so I knew the echo would amplify the sound. However, it was just too loud to be enjoyable. Also, playing a conceptual album in concert is harder for the audience to enjoy because it is not as crowd friendly. The music may sound awesome through headphones, but it was too much in a concert setting.

My dad said it best – the first band was dark and pretty, and the second band was too much noise at times.