The Raveonettes at the Phoenix on April 2nd, 2011 with Tamaryn

It is hard to believe that another year has almost passed since the Raveonettes last performed a free show at the Yonge-Dundas square during last year's NXNE. The show would  end up wowing hundreds of people, including our own co-writer, Bryen. They just fiished returning to town for another gig on April 2nd, 2011 with their new album, " Raven in the Grave", which was released on April 4th.

The venue was fairly empty to start when the opening artist, Tamaryn made her appearance. The goth progressive singer started her performance without a single word, while a tide of ample screenings and lights waved throughout the stage. Despite all the flashing lights, her performance reflected the emptiness of the venue as her hair swayed slowly behind her. It seemed predictable how she would perform the rest of her set after only listening to the second song. Although her songs and the concept of her music were cultivating my curiosity, I lost my focus very quickly as her performance was nothing but blunt and boring. What made it so difficult to follow her performance was the fact that there weren't any attempts to engage the audience, as if there was an invisible wall seperating her from them. She never said a word or even introduced herself; there were no interactions with the crowd throughout the entire set, leaving them to wonder who she was. However, I doubt that any of us would actually care to find out.

When the Raveonettes appeared on the stage with a song entitled, "Recharge and revolt" from their new album (Raven in the Grave), the atmosphere of the venue changed both completely and instantly, into something more uplifting and lively. With a great mix of songs from their new record and their good oldies, the Danish Duo showcased their great harmonies generated from a unique chemistry between the band's members, Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo. In addition, the strong drumming and percussions fuelled the momentum with vocals and fuzzy guitar melodies. As the crowd was basically given highly melodic ear candy, attentive fans carefully studied the new tunes and enjoyed every bit of the new record.

What impressed me the most about their showing was how they really seemed to know when to 'turn it up' and 'keep it down'. A recent conversation  with our editor, E.T, crossed my mind during their performance; "The balance of subtleties and loudness is a key element for a great performance". I think this quote proves to be true in this instance as it describes them quite accurately. They then demonstrated even more great range with songs like, " Let me on out", the sentimental melody that echoed throughout the stage while provoking thoughtful emotions within the crowd. Then on the other hand, they slapped their instruments as hard as they could with songs of a more grungy nature, like "Ignite". The duo closed with one more epic song, "Aly walk with me", then proceeded to humbly thanking their fans for sharing this amazing night with them.

"Raven in the Grave" (via Vice record)  is also available on Spinners' free listening for this week. Don't forget to check it out!