Last night I attended what was billed as the Armchair Cynics’ final show ever. I had known about the concert for a while but didn’t really intend on going until I heard at the last minute that it would be their last as a band. The only reason i wasn’t going to attend originally was just due to lack of sleep from working mornings the last couple days. I’m glad I reversed that decision, though I’m so damn tired right now.
Armchair Cynics are one of quite a few bands that have received hefty career boost from The Zone@91.3 FM in Victoria. The radio station’s “Band of the Month” showcase exposes fans around Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle regions to Victoria’s local music scene. It’s hard to believe Armchair Cynics were a Band of the Month in the very first year of the promotion EIGHT years ago. Since then quite a few of their songs have received solid rotation on the radio.
While last night’s show wasn’t a sold out crowd, it was respectable enough to be a rocking show. I have no idea who the two opening acts were and didn’t really intend on seeing either one, but I ended up catching the last bit of the first opening act and the full set of the second. Both had solid sets and had a nice stage presence with some good humour.
Armchair Cynics performed a 12 song set followed by a single song encore. You know a band’s talented when they can perform their music live at the same quality as they sound on cd. The highlight of the set for me was the performance of ‘Coalmine’ with Vince Vaccaro. A show always feels more special when the act you see pulls a guest unexpectedly to help perform a hit song. Jay-Z bringing up his wife Beyonce at Coachella is a prime example. While Vince’s role in the song was just singing some backup vocals, it’s just cool to see a couple local established artists collaborating. On another note, Vince seems to be everywhere. He’s had multiple shows in town, been a guest on other people’s shows on a couple occasions now and was at the Peak Performance Project bootcamp last week.
Anyway, it was a fun show. It’s just unfortunate that it’s their last.
Here’s ‘Coalmine’ performed with Vince Vaccaro
