Paper Bag Records continued celebrating its 10th anniversary in the Canadian music scene with Night Two of three shows at The Great Hall.
Each act played a solid 30–45 minute set, making for a packed and varied evening.
The night kicked off with Slim Twig, who delivered a wild and unpredictable set of weird, experimental pop-rock.
His performance was accompanied by projected visuals created by Meg of US Girls, which added another surreal layer to the experience.
Slim Twig focused mostly on material from his then-new album Sof’ Sike.
The set ended with a long, epic track that spiraled into complete chaos — including Slim Twig taking his shirt off — making it a crazy and memorable way to start the night.
Next up was Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, marking the second week in a row that I’d seen them live.
I was excited to see what they would bring to the PBR 10th Anniversary celebration.
Their set felt like a condensed version of Act 2 from their rock opera that was featured at Pop Montreal.
One of the standout moments was a new song from the opera, “At Atlantis /// Whale Song,” which completely overwhelmed me in the best way.
In my opinion, it felt reminiscent of late ’90s / early 2000s J-Rock, drawing comparisons to bands like X-Japan.
The set was made up mostly of new material, with “Queens” being the lone older track.
Once again, it was a brilliant and immersive experience.
By the time PS I Love You took the stage, The Great Hall was completely packed.
It was great to see such a strong turnout for their set.
As expected, they delivered a loud, high-energy performance that was impossible not to rock out to.
In the spirit of Paper Bag’s 10th anniversary, drummer Ben did something unexpected — he stepped up to sing a David Bowie cover.
It was a standout moment, and honestly, I hope he takes on more vocal duties whenever the band records their third album.
It was absolutely amazing.
Cuff The Duke followed, and it had been quite a while since I’d last seen them perform live.
Coincidentally, this year also marks the band’s own 10-year anniversary.
To celebrate, their first album is now available on vinyl for the first time.
Their set featured a mix of old favorites and newer material.
I was a bit bummed that Basia Bulat wasn’t able to join them, as she’s currently touring in Europe — especially since she appears on two tracks on their latest album.
That said, the band still put on a strong set of indie folk-country-rock-pop.
Closing out Night Two were The Rural Alberta Advantage.
It was already 1 a.m., but the crowd held out just to see them.
All I can really say is that they delivered a tight and spectacular set.
While they didn’t preview any new material, they did perform a David Bowie cover featured on the PBR 10 compilation, where Paper Bag Records artists cover Ziggy Stardust.
It was an incredible way to end the night, and I never get tired of watching RAA live.
Overall, Night Two was a fun and exhausting Friday at The Great Hall for PBR10.
Two down, one more to go.
