Apologies to the Tobias is Queen Mary

Monday night at the Showbox, things were just a little off. In the smokers' area outside the venue, a blond dude writhed on the ground, either having a seizure or a "seizure," we couldn't tell which. The venue's bouncers were being tough on digital SLR cameras, due to their potential use as weapons (whaaa?). Right next door at the Green Room, some guy was getting kicked out and a girl was crying. Meanwhile, inside the sold-out all-ages show, it was hot, at least a thirty-degree temperature difference between the venue and outside. Wait a minute---doesn't the Showbox have air-conditioning? Isn't that what caused their little fire earlier this month? Turn that shit on! It would've saved Seattlest from sweating like a pig.

Anyway, there amidst all the heat and the crazy was Montreal's Wolf Parade. Despite guitarist/percussionist Dante DeCaro having a fever (the direct result of not enough cowbell), the band opened their set with guns a-blazin', charging through "Grounds for Divorce" and "Shine a Light." Regardless of any illness, the five-piece was in fine form. Co-lead singer/guitarist Dan Boeckner, looking as underfed as Keira Knightley, was in manic twitch mode, his Jimmy leg in full effect. By comparison, Dante was downright steady working the snare drum and chimes. Bowie-sounding vocalist Spencer Krug, donning a sweatband, commanded his keyboards and played acoustic guitar on a few of their new songs. And jack-of-all-trades Hadji Bakara managed another set of keyboards, effects, and even the theramin. From our vantage point we couldn't see drummer Arlen Thompson, but we assume he drummed.

In total, the band played five new songs, as well as most of their debut album. They closed their set with "I'll Believe in Anything," a great goddamn song, followed by the extremely Springsteen-esque "This Heart's on Fire." The encore consisted of a new song, a drawn-out, sprawling version of "Dinner Bells," and the snippet of another new track. What we heard Monday night bodes well for their next album (whenever it's finished); the stuff was solid. The crowd was into it as well: plenty of arms in the air, professions of love, furious "woo"ing, and one exuberant bespectacled kid in the front row singing along with everything.

Photo care of Flickr / user joshc.