Hannah Georgas
Playing on the River Stage on Sunday, Vancouver’s Hannah Georgas started her set with “Waiting Game” the song that finishes her latest album. Georgas and her band mostly played songs from her electro-tinged, self-titled and Polaris long-listed pop record. Her live show continues to evolve as she moves away from the singer-songwriter cliche to a more rounded band leader who sings, plays guitar and synth. Kathleen Edwards and Jim Bryson could both be spotted in the crowd singing and dancing along to her performance. Well, Bryson wasn’t quite singing and dancing, but he was there!
Tegan and Sara
Playing in front of a huge curtain featuring their faces, Tegan and Sara put a huge show on at the Claridge Homes Stage. The twins kicked off the show with “Drove Me Wild” and “Goodbye, Goodbye” from their new album Heartthrob before dipping into their back catalogue. Their latest album has seen Tegan and Sara embrace the power of pop singles and that is reflected in their live show. Featuring lots of synth, guitar, bass and drums the pair have really found a giant radio-friendly sound. With a huge single like “Closer”, the band now can get everybody in a festival crowd singing along instead of just their core fan base. They also threw in older favourites such as “The Con” and “Where Does The Good Go” satisfying the wants of new and old fans alike.
They seemed aware of their new status as hit-single makers, getting the crowd to sing-along with “Where Does The Good Go” , a song from 2004’s So Jealous, or to hum along if they didn’t know the words.
“Sing it like you’ve never been so fucking pissed off,” they said. After the song they said “I’ve never seen so many angry faces in Ottawa.”
The band buttered up the Ottawa crowd a little more, telling them they were a better crowd than the one that gathered to see Tegan and Sara in Toronto the night before.
The twins have pulled off the difficult task of pulling in the mainstream music audience without alienating their old fan base. While it would be easy to call the pair a sell-out, this performance showed they are perfectly aware of their situation as they satisfied the cravings of old and new fans alike.
Photos by Scott Blackburn. Words by Jonathan Briggins
