Wolf Parade played Paradise Rock Club – 2/23
Canadian indie rock vets Wolf Parade returned to Boston for a Sunday night gig at the Paradise with Sub Pop labelmates Jo Passed.
As a 2000s indie rock lifer, Wolf Parade will always have a place in my heart. Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug’s first three LPs’ worth of idiosyncratic anthems – in all their yelp-y, hook-y and synth-flecked glory – were major factors in my high school soundtrack that hold up a decade-plus later. And yet, between their 2011-2016 hiatus and a couple of inconvenient tour dates, I’d never seen the band play a club date before this weekend. It was a gap I was happy to fill.
Guitarist Boeckner, keyboardist Krug and drummer Arlen Thompson released their second post-hiatus LP Thin Mind in January, and simultaneously kicked off a supporting trek that wrapped up with Sunday’s Boston show and a Brooklyn Steel date the following night. If there was any end-of-tour fatigue setting in, the trio’s high spirits kept it well-hidden. The band seemed hugely appreciative of an enthusiastic, near-sell-out Paradise crowd, and the reciprocal energy made for a set that buzzed with spirit.
The unconventional power-trio format is a new one for Wolf Parade, who bid farewell to multi-instrumentalist Dante DeCarlo last year, but the pared-down lineup only served to heighten the urgency of their sound. A helping of Thin Mind cuts outshined their studio counterparts, and those old Queen Mary and Mount Zoomer favorites sounded vital as ever against the band’s psychedelic projection visuals. (No Expo 86 to be found on this setlist sadly, but I’ll let it slide.)
It was a stirring show front-to-back, but earned extra points for the encore, which included a dedication of the rarely-played “Same Ghost Every Night” to a loyal fan club member (who also got a front-row hug from Boeckner) and an emphatic set-closer of the band’s signature prog epic “Kissing the Beehive.”
Openers Jo Passed were an excellent match for the bill, and not just because of the Sub Pop connection. The Vancouver four-piece twisted their dreamy guitar jams into shapes weird enough to keep an audience on its toes and engrossed in the groove.
See photos of both sets below.
