Toronto – We Are Wolves are a 3 piece rock n roll band from Montreal. Another CBC Radio 3 endorsed band, it was no surprise when we arrived to a packed house at the El Mo. I think CBC Radio 3 is like the Pitchfork Media of Canada, and Pitchfork Media is the NME of the US, and the NME is the Panic Manual of England, meaning, if they are endorsed by these media outlets, a crowd is guaranteed.
We Are Wolves took the small El Mo stage at 1. Bassist/Vocalist Alex Ortiz came out in some pseudo military garb and keyboardist Vincent Levesque was dressed in Miami Vice-ish attire. I don’t know what the drummer looked like, but I think he stood the whole time. Anyways, right away, they ripped into some song that got the crowd rocking. Alex Ortiz did his best rock star moves, including playing on his knees, jumping up and down, lookin real intense and everything. He has learned much.
The set was delayed early by some (a lot) of technical issues involving the monitor. After ten minutes or so, that problem got solved and the show went on. Normally this is not an issue, but given the 40 minute time slot, you have to wonder if some WAW fans felt shafted at the ten minutes of not music playing these guys did. I didn’t really care, cos they were just keepin it real. Either way, the show went on. I am not familiar with We Are Wolves, but they definitely know how to rock it. Pulsating bass lines followed by a flurry of drums and a layer of synth at just the appropriate time. I didn’t really get a chance to pick up any of the lyrics, but it was something like “ARRrrgh Blughar ROOOOOOOOCK”. Maybe not. I would say they remind me a lot of Death From Above 1979, only French, and with a keyboarder person. A mosh pit developed halfway thru the show and was sustained for the rest of the set, there was multiple drumming, and in general, everyone had a really good rockin time.
In conclusion, life, is sometimes like the We Are Wolves concert. It’s too short, there can be unexpected technical delays at times, but in the end, when it’s all said and done, you can go for chinese food down the street and be like ‘well, that was all good innit?’
