Photo by Andrew Mazurak at the WECC in Winnipeg.
By Andrew Mazurak
Toronto’s Austra came to town in late November expecting colder weather than that which welcomed them. Despite our less than wintery wonderland of a city being unseasonably warm, the WECC warmed up damn quick as the sold out crowd danced their asses off for opener Young Galaxy who just came through town a few months earlier with Junior Boys:
Our crew showed up a lil’ bit late and unfortunately missed Tasseomancy who apparently played a great set as we expected they would. The crowd went bonkers for Young Galaxy though.. even more so than for Austra.. which was good fun since I’d never really followed up with the band since they peaked my interest when being signed to Arts & Crafts many winters ago.
Austra was up next..
Led by singer/songwriter Katie Stelmanis, Austra have literally (thanks to their recent European tour over the summer) taken the world by storm. I always describe them as a poppier version of The Knife.. or dancier version.. although we dance to the Knife… though maybe they could be placed into this whole Witch House scene.. even though Austra are more classical based than drum claps ‘n synths.. although listening to that White Ring track.. couldn’t Crystal Castles be deemed Witch House?? Did The Knife technically create Witch House???
Photo by Jordan Janisse in Winnipeg
Fuck it..
I hate genre placement..
Photo by Jordan Janisse at WECC
You should too…
The act of categorizing augments separation..
Photo by Andrew Mazurak at WECC
While influences transcend these genres and music as a whole..
This show was brilliant!
The crowd received a 7.5 witches out of 10 possible houses which was pretty generous given said response to Young Galaxy.
I give them an 8.5 pops out of 10 EDMs.
HAVE FUN IN VIETNAM JORDAN!! xxoo