Japandroids Played Mercury Lounge

Thursday had been a long day by the time 11:00 rolled around and I was in need of some energy. I got to the Mercury Lounge just in time to catch the end of Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, so I grabbed some beer and waited for the Vancouver duo to take the stage. A little after 11:00 the guys came on stage plugged in and began to power away at their loud fuzzy guitar and palpitating drum sound. It was the night before their friend's wedding so they were in an extra special mood. They turned the shoegaze guitar sounds way up and Brian danced around the stage creating great energy that flowed right into the crowd. From the opening chords of "Heart Sweats" the crowd was swaying and eventually the full on rock was delivered. It has been a while since I've been to a show where not only the crowd was having a good time, but based on the actions of the band I think it is fair to say that these two guys really seem to enjoy what they are doing. They played with such passion and had everyone screaming along to "I don't want to worry about dying/I just want to worry about those sunshine girls" that you would think these guys have been stressed about this problem for twenty years. The club nature of the show was also an intricate part of the performance as it felt like these were two guys who just genuinely enjoy rocking out for their friends.