Dundas, Ontario’s Caribou - Dan Snaith’s one-man recording visionary - brought his four-piece band to town on a cool Devil’s Night to an oddly decorated and packed Richard’s on Richards.
With the now classic dual-drum setup front and centre facing each other in a twisted new gladiator style and room in the back for the string slingers, Caribou has attitude from the get go. Trouble is, once the show began and the precise technicalities of the songs unfurled there was a bit too much brain leaving a lack of the essential soulful punch.
It was my third time seeing Caribou here in Vancouver (albeit once when he was still called Manitoba). Although Snaith’s music has improved brilliantly from album to album, the live show was lacking this time around. The music never transcended from the stage enough to really captivate and enrapture the audience. Trust me, with the warped visuals blanketing the band in technicolour paired with sheer volume, this is music that should be capable of doing just that.
Could be where Snaith used to pre-record his vocals because he was a tad shy about them he now sings them, softly, into two microphones giving him ample control over the sound his voice makes. In the past, by freeing up his weakest live link he was able to work the sound of Caribou into a swirling psychedelic mess of IDM bass hits and glitches, feedback-drenched guitar squalls, and reverberating live samples while simultaneously pummeling a drum kit from front stage.
Much has been made of the fact that Snaith is now a Ph.D. in Mathematics. His style is particularly suited to this from his personal appearance to the detailed craftiness of his albums. But, as Caribou’s music improves and gets warmer on record, the precision of playing it live means the band never did seem to let go on stage. The moments were blissful, but expected. The latest album Andorra was heavily represented with standouts like “After Hours” & “Eli”. Some older tracks like “Skunks”, “Every Time She Turns Round It’s Her Birthday” & “A Final Warning” were pretty fantastic in an explosive way. But again, they were great because of the songs, not necessarily because of their onstage execution.
Either way, there is no doubt Caribou’s trajectory is reaching the stratosphere and scratching outer space pretty hard. Over the course of four full-length albums, assorted tour EPs and DVDs, Snaith has gone through a series of startling metamorphoses. All that’s left now is for Caribou’s live show to reach out and match the inventiveness and power of their recorded output and you’ve got an artist that would be unbeatable in any environment.
Photo by Bhlubarber
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