Fun, Tegan and Sara – Live (August 31st, 2013)

Ambleside Park is more known for scenic views, family picnicking and a pleasant place to walk your dog than it is for hosting live music. But amidst the rolling hills of West Vancouver, Fun and Tegan and Sara broke the norm and brought their huge outdoor stage right next to the beach on Burrard Inlet Saturday night to bring a little splash of excitement to the otherwise peaceful setting.

With a cross section of generations – from kids to grandparents – spread out across the grassy concert floor, it appeared that people from all walks of live made the trek out to bask in the sun and some live music. The field was sufficiently filled by the time Calgary indie-pop duo Tegan and Sara were ready to play. 

As an entertaining animation built off of the twin’s artwork for their latest album Heartthrob played on the centre screen, the crowd made their way to the front – cheering in anticipation. The build up was strong, making the band’s actual entrance (a simple stroll onto the stage) seem all too anti-climatic. This was, sadly, something that hindered the sisters’ entire set as they seem to be undergoing a certain amount of growing pains.

Through years of non-stop touring, Tegan and Sara have learned how to perfectly captivate and control smaller stages. Seeing them play in a 400 or 2000 person venue is a sight to be seen. Intimate, engaging, comical, their smaller shows are some of the highlights of my concert-going experiences. With Heartthrob, the band is pushing their boundaries. Expanding to new territories of electro-pop and no longer headlining but opening for pop stars in larger venues. In this case, a 10,000 person setting outdoor venue that Tegan And Sara weren’t quite able to control.

Focusing mainly on their newer material – Drove Me Wild, Goodbye Goodbye, I Couldn’t Be Your Friend, Shock To Your System and so on – there’s no denying that they have the musicianship down pat. Sonically, they were spot on and songs like How Come You Don’t Want Me were pristine examples of perfectly crafted pop-anthems. However, their stage presence hadn’t matched their sonic growth.

Their signature banter was still there, but lacked some of the charm that they normally display. In a way, some of the tales seemed generic – praising and thanking the headlining band like oh-so many openers often do. With a bigger stage and larger setup, the band needed to use everything at their disposal to fill up the space – and they often did as the visuals that accompanied I Was A Fool and Closer were stunning and energetic. But when they left those elements behind, they seemed too small on such a big stage.

They sounded fantastic but were stuck in the middle performance wise – almost able to control the show but not quite.

Fun.,  however, had no problems with that.

As the sun crawled behind the hills, the night sky was clear and black and the trio of Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost, and Jack Antonoff appeared quietly on stage in tuxedos and bowties huddled in a corner with a single spotlight on them as they softly performed Some Nights (Intro). The lights cut out, the crowd cheered and in a matter of seconds the tuxedos were gone, the backing band was in place and the stage erupted with lights, videos and energy with Nate Ruess flying around the stage for One Foot.

Their nearly two hour set was full of theatrics of that nature. A never ending display of lighting effects, CGI graphics and live footage splattered across the four video screens and a fully animated band that saw every band member moving, jumping and putting it all into their stage. Ruess may have been the vocal point, but he was far from the sole performer that evening.

Unlike Tegan and Sara, fun. controlled the stage from the moment they stepped on. It may have been one of the biggest shows they had ever played, but it didn’t come off that way. They oozed confidence and showmanship, drawing laughter and cheers and sing-alongs from the crowd.

Halfway through the set, the stage literally erupted with Barlights as blasts of confetti sprayed the audience (and an equal number of iPhones were jetted into the air as everyone tried to capture the event rather than live in it). Guitars were thrown, amps were climbed it was an epic ending normally reserved for the final song of the night but used here as a little pick-me-up right in the middle.

We Are Young, Carry On, All the Pretty Girls  and a rousing cover of The Rolling Stones‘ You Can’t Always Get What You Want – fun. were the prime example of a pop band on top of their game. Ten years from now, they may be completely forgotten about but right now they are on top of the world and bring that confidence to their live show with a vengeance.

If only there were more than two exits to get out of the venue as 10,000 people filtering through two small tents took quite some time.