Words: Miljan Milekić
It seems like this is becoming some kind of tradition, and I’m all for it. Just over a year after I saw them for the first time, in this same venue, Edmonton’s Calling All Captains are back at the Black Cat Tavern in Saskatoon. This time, they were joined by another band I like – Vancouver’s Chief State, and a new name for me – Toronto’s Violet Night.
It was the Toronto duo that started the night with their blend of alternative rock, pop, and emo. By the time they got on the stage, the venue was still relatively empty, with the crowd slowly creeping in, but it felt like the band didn’t see it as a distraction, but rather as motivation. They were slowly immersing people into their own world, and by the time they kicked off the last song of the evening – ‘(If) You Are The Ocean (Then) I Would Like To Drown,’ people responded to their calls to come closer, and occupied the first few rows. The band released the brand-new album ‘Rosso Corsa,’ and most of the set consisted of the songs from this record, with ‘Gemini Moon’ probably being my personal highlight.
The second slot of the night belonged to Chief State, who already had quite a decent following in front of them. The Vancouver five-piece brought their upbeat and melodic combination of pop punk and hardcore, or “rain-drenched pop punk” as they would, surprisingly accurately, describe it, which resonated with the crowd pretty much right away. Picking up from both older and newer tracks, they quickly ran through their set, including a brand-new single, ‘No Breaks,’ released less than 72 hours before the show, and still followed up by sing-alongs in the first rows, which is always a great sight for bands.
I never thought I’d hear a band open their set with “Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble, gobble, motherfuckers!“ but Calling All Captains seem to be just the kind of band that can get away with it. Locked and loaded, they kicked things off strongly with bangers like ‘Be Cool’ and ‘Tailspin,’ immediately getting everyone involved. One thing I really love about this band is the honesty they radiate in everything they do, especially in the way they are building a relationship with their fans. So, when they thanked everyone for leaving their Thanksgiving dinners to come to this show, I knew they really meant it. They also made a couple of jokes about it, including surveying people on what their favorite Thanksgiving food was, so they can grab some tomorrow.
They continued the journey with older tracks such as ‘Laurel Canyon,’ ‘Loyalty,’ and ‘Nerve,’ before they kicked off a brand new single, ‘A New Type of Grey,’ which drew an insane reaction from the crowd, and during which singer Luc Gauthier ended up on their hands. As the show was nearing the end, the band delivered two more fan-favorites, ‘Skin & Bones’ and ‘Chasing Ghosts,’ before briefly leaving the stage. The encore started with an ASMR moment of Gauthier opening and munching a Supreme cookie someone in the crowd made him, before firing up two last songs of the evening – ‘Wallflower,’ and ‘Fools Gold,’ until they finally got off the stage. Hopefully, not for too long.
