the book of right-on

I figured it was time to get my butt out to the Lo Pub on Friday to see Ohbijou — they’ve been through town before, but based on their latest release, Beacons, I guarantee this is the last time you’ll see the band at a venue as small as the Lo. Which is really for the best. The next step up is the West End Cultural Centre, which is a listening room in the truest sense. (Is it just me, or has the talking during performances at the Lo gotten worse?) I’m looking forward to seeing Ohbijou in that setting, because their orchestral qualities and variances in tone get lost in a loud bar setting.

Their set was wonderful –songwriter, lead singer and guitarist Casey Mecija has (what was to me) a surprising amount of presence and charisma. That the band tours as a six piece, with a nice little string section (dedicated cellist Anissa Hart and Casey’s sister, Jennifer, on violin as well as backup vocals.

Speaking of the sisters doing vocals, talk about a great way to make your live sound indistinguishable from your recordings! Other indie bands might find their vocals sounding thinner on stage without track layering and such. Turns out all you have to do is have siblings, whose voices are genetically complementary, in your band.

The setlist was heavy on Beacons material, which was fine with me, since I prefer that record (though they did nice versions of tracks from their debut full-length, Swift Feet for Troubling Times, like “The Otherside.” They opened with one of the standout songs from Beacons, “Black Ice,” and began a two-song erstwhile encore with “Make It Gold,” which was my personal must-hear, so I went away happy.

Back to Casey’s stage presence — she told a hilarious anecdote about a recent tour to Europe where people kept telling her that they “could really hear the Asian influence” in their music, and that their voices “sounded very Asian.” Slightly puzzling for born-and-raised Canadians of Filipino descent. Casey then joked that people must be even more impressed by their “African cello.”

Here’s a few more snaps from the show. Keep an eye out for the next time this lovely band spins through town!