Pardoner, Nick Normal, Guitar, Shoplifter, Cherry Venom | Concert Review
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How does one find themselves at the White Eagle Polish Hall – a mid-size event space for weddings and semi-pro wrestling – in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, at 7 pm on a Thursday night? If that’s where SF punk stalwarts Pardoner are playing, that’s how! Pardoner kicked off their west coast tour with lo-fi shoegaze act Guitar and egg punk weirdo Nick Normal (both from PDX) in Vic on May 9th. Add on support from a couple of local bands – the up-and-coming Shoplifter and first-timers Cherry Venom – and you have a killer bill.
Victoria is a midsize city with an outsized music scene, and the locals’ craving for exhilarating live music is insatiable. But Victoria is also out of the way and seagirt, only accessible for touring bands by ferry, so Thursday night’s show did not come easy. It is thanks to Shoplifter’s Curtis Lockhart and his confidantes Cam and Amber that Pardoner and crew even made it here. The night embodied a real DIY ethos and made me proud of the Victoria music community.
Shoplifter
Opener Cherry Venom made their debut, a humble three-song set channeling the spirit of Kim Deal and Tanya Donelly. Miraculously, the band was immune to first-gig jitters and held a steady tempo, letting the melodic rhythms, roaring guitar, and stabbing bass have their space while the eponymous Cherry’s vocals teemed with righteous indignation. Setting the stage for Pardoner is a tall order for a first show, but they were up to the task.
Shoplifter is the aforementioned Curtis and Cam, joined by the inimitable Matt E on bass, who was pulling double duty with Cherry Venom. Evolving out of their pre-pandemic project Numbing, Shoplifter hypnotizes with drop D riffs that marry post-rock balladry with post-punk drive. Imagine if New Order and Unwound had a child who listens to a lot of Hotline TNT. Curtis’ understated demeanor couldn’t overshadow his enthusiasm – to be playing this gig, to be opening for Pardoner, to see the audience of friends and strangers who showed up for the endeavor. “This was a really hard show to put on...I’m a mess,” he said, sweat beading on his forehead. A subtle smile revealed his feeling of triumph as the band blasted into their final tune.
Middle acts Guitar and Nick Normal are a bonded pair—they share members and equipment, swapping band leaders and instruments between sets. Playing in a thousand different bands is a core part of being in a local scene, and this hodgepodge arrangement gave us Victorians a glimpse into the kindred Portland scene a few hundred miles down the coast.
Guitar
I was most curious to see Guitar live – they’re the solo project of Saia Kuli, and their recent release Casting Spells On Turtlehead garnered buzz for its unique contribution to the shoegaze boom. How would he recreate that brand of noisy, highly composed, layered bedroom recordings live? Against all expectations, Kuli opts for a kind of anti-Strokes approach, taking over lead vocals while his band cranks away. The songs translate well – two guitarists meander and mingle with heavy chorus pedal riffs, extended intertwining lines of discordant guitarmonies that sound like a discombobulated Polvo. Kuli’s low-register vox give off Protomartyr vibes, and his presence as band leader is lowkey; so lowkey, in fact, that he even left the stage a few times to let the volume swell so the jams could have their space. At first, Kuli’s deep voice and mellow vibes sounded sarcastic and disinterested – “You could be anywhere else in the world tonight, but you’re here,” he intoned – but by the set’s end, his gratitude to the crowd and the openers felt genuine.
After a short break and a band member shuffle, Guitar’s guitarist is suddenly playing drums and singing – he's the eponymous Nick Normal – and now Saia is playing lead guitar. From the heavier drone of the previous acts, Normal’s band shifts into a higher gear with tunes that want to scratch your face off – Devo-inspired egg punk, straight hardcore rippers, skronky Andy Gill-style guitar over melodic post-punk bass lines, a bit of synthy weirdness sprinkled in. Mr. Normal on drums is an arresting presence, a real drummer’s drummer with virtuosic timing and panache that steals the scene. It took me maybe 90 seconds after his set ended to snag his soon-to-be-released tape.
NICK NORMAL
Then came the main event. Pardoner’s demeanor, guitar tone, and vocal stylings all scream “SLACKER!” But like any slacker rock band worth their salt, they undermine the moniker with a high-effort and tight-knit performance. Max and Trey trade solos and Thin Lizzy harmonies as they swell from distorted jangle to hardcore ferocity. Both sets of vox are true to the records with a tuneful, tongue-in-cheek nonchalance. The crowd was ramped up and grooving (the partition between drinking and non-drinking sections long since disregarded), and the improbable night of music came to a roaring, exalted climax. While a good share of Pardoner’s tunes are about the dispiriting state of the contemporary indie scene (their newest single is a jaded screed on the “Future of Music”), you could tell they were giving their all—an inspiring, infectious performance.
My only complaint, and the restless crowd clearly agreed with me, is that Pardoner's set was way too short. 20 minutes and done! We were shouting tracks by name (I would’ve loved “When She’s Next To Me”); though clearly tempted to play a few more, they dutifully packed their pedals and cables without another note. It was 10:05 pm in a residential neighborhood, so maybe there was a curfew? But it doesn’t help Victoria’s musical inferiority complex to feel cheated out of a fuller set from one of the coolest bands to venture out here.
That minor grievance aside, it was a hell of a night, and I left the show with my cup full – local bands and touring bands putting on amazing, diverse, original sets with the coolest guitar sounds imaginable and a heart-pumping energy.
Pardoner
What’s the takeaway? Touring bands: give the smaller towns a chance! For an extra stop on your tour, you’ll sell a few more tapes and shirts (and come home with a few more Canadian bills than you expected), maybe crash on one extra floor – but you’ll be doing an act of musical outreach to an underserved community of fans. And local fans: shoot your shot! Message that touring band on IG, hit up your local Polish hall or bowling alley about putting on a show, and cross your fingers. I grant that the economics of touring and throwing shows is tight (I hear the White Eagle Polish Hall charges an arm and a leg), and quite frankly, I’m not sure that Curtis broke even in his investment, but if your town has a good music scene and good vibes, it’s very much an “if you build it, they will come” situation. Invest in your local scene, and it will invest in you.
