NxNE Day 2 – Golden Isles, The Novaks, Dinosaur Bones @ Horseshoe Tavern
Tonight was a night of firsts. Unfortunately none of them were music related. I was in mid chew of a sausage while watching two douchebags fight it out over who stepped on the other guy’s puma when another person in a clown suit tried to break up the fight. The clown was eventually the guy who got his ass kicked (obviously). All that moment needed was a random car crash and I think I would’ve gone straight home to end the evening on a high note. No car crash occurred so I had to settle for good music instead. I arrived at Horseshoe Tavern at 9pm with anticipation to catch Golden Isles, The Novaks, and Dinosaur Bones and the evening did not disappoint.
Opening the night was Montreal’s Golden Isles. Early into their set, their songs were very gritty very energized. It sounded completely out of place to me. When they changed direction and performed some of their mellower songs like ‘I Love You’ and ‘Silly Girl’, then you could see the real charm this band has. Naturally these songs would give off the impression of cliché but the hook here is lead singer Adam Feingold’s voice. His vocals can hit a low baritone. This added a sense of sincerity amidst a serious message. Some live bands are loud for the sake of being loud and vocals are never understood. Golden Isles has a leveled setup and everything worked in unison.
Much like Nancy’s day 1 experience at Horseshoe Tavern, when I arrived at nine the place was nearly empty. But by the time The Novaks were setting up for their performance the room began to fill up quickly. Hailing from St John’s Newfoundland these guys were a small town favourite to the crowd. The majority of their songs conveyed darker vibes like ‘Rain Rain Rain’. Coming from their debut album, ‘Destroyer’ was the strongest song of their performance. They damn near blew the roof off the place with this song and the crowd could feel it. Most people were pushing and shoving in the front for a shot at getting some eye candy of the band. They had the best live performance I’ve seen so far at NxNE.
Photo by Andres Hannah-Suarez
I’m glad you enjoyed Golden Isles. I’ve been a fan since the days they were called Crystal Moustache!