Joel Plaskett Emergency (photo: Blake Morneau)
Joel Plaskett might want to change his band’s name from Emergency to Joy Emergency or something, because I’m fairly certain happiness doesn’t radiate from the midst of most emergencies. Inside of an old church in Victoria, BC, Joel Plaskett Emergency put on a sermon of a happiness that immediately turned me from a guy who has a passing familiarity of Plaskett (mostly through his masterful album, Three) into a true fan.
Looking like some kind of indie rock Bill Nye the Science Guy, Plaskett is basically impossible to dislike. And like Nye, his quiet exterior betrays the ridiculously smooth motherfucker that resides within. I couldn’t help being overwhelmed with cool, watching him glide-dance around the stage during “Down at the Khyber” with some well placed hip-swaying and the awesome move where he drops the mic against his heart after singing, “Oh, you could hear my heart out loud.” That is a master of cool at work.
Joel Plaskett Emergency (photo: Blake Morneau)
Three was well-represented with some choice cuts like “Precious, Precious, Precious” and “Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’,” the latter of which garnered the biggest applause because, really, it’s impossible to hear that song and not have your joy-cup filled up. But it was the quieter songs on his latest album, The Park Avenue Sobriety Test, that left new, wonderful impressions on me. Hearing “Captains of Industry,” which Plaskett dedicated to “anyone who’s fighting for what they believe in,” the day after our government passed the notorious “anti-terrorism” Bill C-51, was an especially poignant moment and made me like the song even more.
Before playing the big ballad from the record, “When I Close My Eyes,” Plaskett remarked that he wanted it to be a song that junior-high kids slow-danced to. It’s the perfect visual for that song, another one that I probably liked way more in the live setting than on album. I guess I need to expand my Plaskett vocabulary beyond Three because every song he played was a win in my ears.
No Comments