July Talk Celebrates 10 Years of Touch with Electric St. Patrick’s Day Show in Calgary

Photos: finitelightphotos

Somewhere near the entrance of every July Talk show is a sign that declares loudly: LOVE LIVES HERE.

It’s an overt announcement that their concerts are a place of acceptance, and dismissive or discriminatory behaviour doesn’t belong. But it also happens to be a good way to sum up the vibe of a band whose fanbase is as rabidly devoted and enthusiastic as ever.

The March 17 show at Calgary’s Palace Theatre has that vibe of adoration flowing through it as soon as you walk in the doors. Being St. Patrick’s Day, the drinks are flowing steadily. Anecdotes about past tours ripple through the air, accompanying the multiple iterations of merch that many proudly display on this unseasonably warm spring night. 

They’re all here to celebrate 10 years of July Talk’s second album, Touch, which spawned some of the group’s most recognizable hits and cemented their status within the Canadian music scene. It’s an occasion that has filled the 1,200-cap theatre to the brim, and every person that packs in brings a little more energy to the mix.

First to the stage were Vancouver alt-rockers Gay Nineties, delivering a warm-up set of excellent guitar work and fake-out song endings that helped keep the anticipation building higher. After a short stage rearrangement, the lights went down again – signaling the volume in the room to blow past 11 and stay there for the rest of the night.

The lead singers – Peter Dreimanis, fresh off a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles between two tour stops to be at the Oscars for his starring role in Sinners; and Leah Goldstein, visibly pregnant and absolutely owning it anyway – rolled out and barreled right into the performance. On deck was Picturing Love, not only the first song of the night but also Touch itself: in fact, the entire first half of the show would just be the entire album, start to finish.

With the manic energy they’re known for, the two singers roam the stage at every moment they’re not required to stand in place, and even beyond its borders – hopping up on barricades, grabbing hands with eager fans, and performing bent-backwards limbos while layering in a flawless rhythm guitar. But between those moments of intensity, the show is also buoyed by their clear and genuine chemistry: the pair comes in close to sing a few words softly to each other, or clasp hands and spin around before veering off again. It’s an analogue for what this band does very well: energetic highs and undeniable emotions contextualized with small, introspective flashes to the deeper meaning below.

After the final notes of Touch, the second half of the set begins. Peppered with hits from other albums as well as fan-selected favourites from the last decade and a half, the band keeps the crowd locked into every moment as tracks like Love’s Not Dead and Headsick ring out. Conspicuously missing so far, though, are the most iconic tracks from their first album – so, when the first ooh ooh ooh! from Guns & Ammunition clears the speakers in the home stretch, the entire night of anticipation finally breaks with a deafening cheer.

Somehow having lost no steam despite 90 minutes of stage antics, Pete & Leah crush both that song and Paper Girl to close out the main set. Nobody leaves, and the applause continues – everyone knows there’s an encore to come. They’re not disappointed. The band returns almost as quickly as they left, throwing down two more final songs to send their fans home with. 

Summer Dress and Garden sound even better live than they ever have on a recording, but that might be because this is how rock music like this is meant to be experienced: in a packed venue full of pent-up energy, coated in sweat and spilled beer, surrounded by the most welcoming audience that a band could ever hope to have.

SCENE SNAPS