Zerbin Concert Review with Fall Brigade and National Tape

Last night, I found myself at the Lucky Bar in downtown Victoria for the Zerbin concert. Lucky Bar is really chill, it’s one of those places that has lots of random stuff plastered over all the walls. It has a dense, dark atmosphere that allowed for good conversation without being too quiet. I’ll definitely be sure to go back for other acts.

Fall Brigade was first up and they had a good sound. It was just the beginning of the night so sadly the crowd never got into too much. People almost seemed scared to approach the dance floor. When National Tape came on there was more excitement and they had a longer, louder set but they still didn’t get as much recognition as they should have.

To be honest, Zerbin’s set made me forget there had been any previous bands that night. Zerbin consists of Jason Zerbin, Peter Mol, and Nick West, with Derek Gust joining them live. As Zerbin was setting up, Rihanna’s We Found Love was playing which they all got really into. It helped to kickstart the fun vibe they had throughout their performance. Although they seemed to have a few very minor technical problems early on they got past it with ease and seemed to be having a great time on stage. The audience was pumped, cheering loudly and singing along during songs they knew. My favourite was definitely New Earth. The intensity and recognizability of that song made it an instant hit with everyone, so the excitement definitely went up after that. During the show Zerbin introduced a few new songs. Miracles is one song off their new EP coming out soon. Described as cheesy but fun it had everyone smiling as they sang along. Shoulder, introduced as a song they only finished two days ago, won’t be on their upcoming EP but when they do release it, it’ll definitely be a hit.

The introductions and little breaks for chat between songs kept everyone laughing and in a good mood. A few funny stories from Jason and some accents from Peter really just made me want to hang out with these guys. They referred to the audience as friends a few times and Zerbin’s enthusiasm never seemed forced. They seemed so humble and casual up on stage and I definitely wasn’t expecting such a friendly vibe, but I liked it. At one point in the night we had a cover of Mumford + Sons’ Babel which was really great, despite forgetting a few of the words at the beginning. Once they were into the swing of things it all came together nicely and a few songs required a ukelele which was really amazing. Who can say no to a ukelele?

Unlike in a lot of bigger shows where an encore is written in, Zerbin definitely didn’t seem to have it planned at all. Instead of the common planned encore where one of their most popular songs were saved for then, they came out and decided to do an acoustic/a cappella rendition of two covers. The Killers’ Human and Sufjan’s Chicago were the covers they chose and it was a fun singalong to end the night with.

 

To see all of my photos from the evening, head on over to herphotographyblog.com/zerbin to check them out!

National Tape on Facebook!

Zerbin on Facebook! Twitter! Their site!

Zerbin plays in Vancouver on Thursday at Joe’s Apartment on Granville street! Doors open at 8pm! Make sure to check them out, and you might even see me there!