The most daunting thing about walking into the Camel sponsored show at the Vic was to be greeted by glowing neon pink outlines of camels and free makeovers being given to the crowd's 22 year olds, both male and female. Sometimes corporate sponsorship can help a band but it also can hurt a band. After getting past the plastered faces, The Sounds took the stage and everything felt a little more normal. Somewhat.
Download: "Painted By Numbers" - The Sounds
Since the Swedish quintet's 2002 debut, Living in America, the group has carved out a name for themselves with their synth-heavy, 80s retro music. Blonde bombshell lead singer Maya Ivarsson dons a leather hot pants outfit ready to rock. They begin with "Living in America" the titular track and immediately the band's energy is palpable. "24 Hours" is the next song from 2006's Dying to Say This to You which progressed the group forward. Some of the crowd of college aged kids are dressed like it's 1985 yet these kids were probably too young to even remember the 80s. How ironic. Ivarsson then yells,
"We're supposed to be writing our new album but Chicago was calling." She sings more songs about love gone wrong and caters to the audience becoming a strong stage presence. On "Queen of Apology," the synths resonate and Ivarrson struts her stuff. Before the song "Ego" ends, two of the band members pulverize electric drums for a couple of minutes and then toss a drumstick into the audience. The band follow it up with the romantic ballad, "Night After Night," the seemingly only slow song in their discography. The keyboard exudes piano sounds highlighting her soaring voice as a bunch of kids in the crowd light up their lighters and sway to the soft sounds. All the members leave the stage except for the pianist and guitarist who play a two minute instrumental session. Everyone comes back for two high energy songs from Dying, "Painted by Numbers" and "Song With a Mission." With "Fire," the crowd sings along and Ivarsson stands on the kick drum while singing about guys. "Tony the Beat" is the penultimate song and one of the best from their last record. This version has more oscillating beats to it and sounds great. The set ends with the fiery "Hope You're Happy Now" when Ivarsson encourages the audience to "dance motherfuckers!" The song ends with the volatile lyrics: "I hope you're satisfied/fuck you and fuck your lies." Because of the strange clientele, we didn't stick around for headliner The Bravery (um, why weren't The Sounds headlining?), but we heard things were thrown on stage during their performance. Thankfully, The Sounds put on an very entertaining show avoiding such dissonance.
Setlist:
1. Living in America
2. 24 Hours
3. Dance With Me
4. Like a Lady
5.Queen of Apology
6. Much Too Long
7. Ego
8. Night After Night
9. Instrumental interlude
10. Painted by Numbers
11. Song With a Mission
12. Fire
13. Don't Want to Hurt You
14. Rock 'n' Roll
15. Tony the Beat
16. Hope You're Happy Now
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