Electric Owl – May 17, 2013
Anything but Main Street and the “one of a kind” garage punk marriage of Fred and Toody Cole is all about momentum and the enduring game of Rock n Roll. Pierced Arrows drew a full house at The Electric Owl. The beauty here is an unspoken code. Energy begets get energy. This vitality is translated through their DIY ethic and playing by their own deck. The devoted audience and local RNR favourites, the Jolts, understand this too. Without further ado, they charge up the stage for the Portland guests. Hats off to Slow Learners for planting the seed that evening.
Pierced Arrows come across as Pacific West Coast band, music that is raw, dark and wet. Not sure if it would even sound the same if they were located in a large eastern city.
The first half of the set is weighted on material from the, 2008 Straight from The Heart release. Attention is on Toody with her vocals on “Caroline” and her physical bass playing as she draws in momentum with her teardrop Vox, synching forces with Kelly Halliburton’s driving beat for songs like “Black Rainbows” and “Frankenstein.” The band wastes no time for small talk between songs except for ordering a cold pints of pilsner. The second half of the set works off material from Descending Shadows and with an ear channeled in on Cole’s guitar work with “Let it Rain," “Ain't Life Strange”, “This is the Day”, “Zip My Lip” and “Paranoia.”
On the edges of Main, a venue filled with Vancouver’s garage-punk concertgoers seemed to be all about drive and reverence, rather than flailing limbs. Still, there was no shortage of movement on the dance floor with a finale ripping through Dead Moon’s “54-40” and what seemed like an unstoppable high point, finishes with Halliburton standing on his kit, raising a toast to the audience.
-More Betty
