Japandroids

Last night I saw Canadian rock duo Japandroids perform at Metro in Chicago, and it was an incredible show.

Japandroids consists of just a guitarist and a drummer, but they manage to make a huge amount of noise and really do rock very hard. They go gung-ho on their instruments at all times and both members sing, usually simultaneously. While the music is good, it is their lyrics and the spirit and psychology behind the songs that makes them great. Japandroids’ music is all about living life to the max, being young and wild, going out and being adventurous and leaving worries for another day. When the songs contain such positive vides and lyrics like “remember saying things like we’ll sleep when we’re dead”, it is hard to listen without wanting to throw your arms in the air.

Celebration Rock is probably my favorite album of 2012

A few days ago it was looking unlikely that I would be in attendance – the show had sold out and I had nobody to go with anyway. However, I decided to get into the Japandroids spirit and went on my own with a ticket bought on StubHub.

I was proud of my gusto, but I was comfortably outdone by the first person I talked to. Residing in Ann Arbor, Michigan, this chap had boldly decided that in the absence of a Michigan show, the reasonable thing to do was to travel to the Chicago leg of the tour. So at 7.30am this fellow took a five hour train ride to the city, spent the day drinking, went to the show, then planned on staying in a cheap hotel and getting the train all the way back to Ann Arbor in the morning.  Here was a man who was clearly taking Japandroids’ music to heart.

Like myself, the Michigander journeyed to the venue solo, but he was not alone at the concert. Before leaving, he had posted ‘FREE JAPANDROIDS TICKET’ on Craigslist, and five minutes later he had a buddy to enjoy the gig with. The grateful recipient of this free ticket was simply astonished at his new friend’s commitment and although his Thursday night had suddenly got a whole lot more exciting, he didn’t quite share the traveler’s obsession with Japandroids. “I mean, I like them I suppose” he remarked. The money this opportunist had saved on the ticket had clearly gone towards buying alcohol, as evidenced by his disastrous attempt to drink his beer mid-sentence – he didn’t even notice that the brown liquid missed his mouth completely and flew onto his shoulder.

The band themselves were certainly practicing what they preached. The duo had now been on tour for over four months and the manic energy they put into each performance combined with life on the road had undeniably taken its toll. The guitarist made a plea early on for help from the audience with the vocals and the face of the drummer between songs resembled that of a man who had just played five sets against Rafael Nadal on clay. However, they overcome their weariness and played with remarkable intensity. Meanwhile, the crowd was raucous and very sweaty, jumping around, raising arms and singing along to every word like their life depended on it. It was great fun.

Vancouver's Japandroids are a fantastic live act

On the way home my get-up-and-go attitude was one-upped once more. The Craigslist surfer alighted at the same L stop as me, but I was staggering home to bed exhausted and he was going to a 2am showing of The Hobbit. Given that the movie runs for 2 hr 46 mins and he had work at 9am the next morning, perhaps he had too had told himself he’ll sleep when he’s dead.