MUSIC: Library Voices to reinforce the Saskatchewan Invasion
The last time Saskatoon’s Library Voices was in town, the band was pelted by grapes. True story.
“Just part of the fun of being on tour,” according to lyricist and synth player Michael Dawson. Heck, by the end of it, the seven band members were catching them in their mouths. That all went down the night after playing the Pawn Shop in September, at a house concert downtown as the musicians were loading their van, and neighbours upstairs from the show were throwing grapes down at the band members and their fans.
Don’t expect a recurrence this Saturday night, when Library Voices is back in town to play an early show at the Pawn Shop. The critically-acclaimed band that’s been written up in Spin magazine and the New Yorker is one of the most energetic and vibrant live acts you’ll ever witness, and will undoubtedly put on another great show. According to Dawson, the Pawn Shop “is always great to us … we’ve always had amazing shows there.” It’s really the perfect venue for an act like them, small enough to feel intimate, and yet large enough to contain their large and growing local fanbase.
Dawson says he and his bandmates are “most inspired and motivated by other Saskatchewan bands” – and there’s a lot to be inspired and motivated about. Library Voices is just part of a burgeoning Saskatchewan music scene that’s done well by The Sheepdogs winning the Rolling Stone cover contest.
“I have a lot of respect for how hard they’re working,” Dawson says. “They’ve certainly made Saskatchewan more of a household name in the music industry.”
He acknowledges it’s a little harder to become known when you’re from the Canadian prairies, and “geographically harder to tour”, but with other bands like Library Voices, as well as Slow Down Molasses (Saskatoon) and Rah Rah (Regina), it’s no surprise the province is receiving wide recognition for its music scene.
Saturday’s show is part of a weekend mini-tour that’ll see the Library Voices play Calgary on Friday night, and then a hometown show a couple weekends after – a nice tune-up for a lengthier tour in the spring/summer, according to Dawson. The full itinerary can’t be disclosed yet, but the band has been confirmed for Toronto’s Edgefest, and don’t be surprised to see its name on bills at other summer festivals.
Fans won’t see any new material this go-around, as one of the band members has spent the last number of weeks out of the country on his honeymoon, but there’s every reason to expect a new album by the end of 2012. The band has two EPs and two full-length albums to its credit. The latest full-length is called Summer of Lust, released this August.
Tickets to the show, with opening act the Fight, are $20 – online here or at the door.
