Whitehorse

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On our August holiday to Prince Edward County with Leslie and Gordon we went to see the band Whitehorse (husband-and-wife duo of Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland based in Hamilton) at the Hayloft in Cherry Valley on Friday, August 5. The Hayloft is a smallish old barn that's a concert venue during the warmer months when tourists throng to the island, the wineries and beaches. I understand that Whitehorse plays there every summer and has done so for quite some time. There are regular fans who look forward to seeing them in this intimate environment. It is an intimate spot to see a band, I like it.

There was an opening act, Evangeline Gentle, who had a very nice voice and a very "gentle" presentation. She seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time doing her sound check and must have rehearsed her whole set list. We weren't able to enter until that was done.

The low stage was at one side as you enter, with a bar to the one end, an open standing room only/dance area in front and a loft area beyond. We parked ourselves below the loft area behind the sound man. There's some photos of Gord and Leslie dancing there. The Hayloft has a pretty good sound system but very poor lighting. The stage lighting are all at the performers feet, there aren't any light stands set up high. This made for some challenging photography.

I was vaguely aware of Whitehorse and have a couple of their albums from 2011 (Whitehorse) and 2012 (The Fate of the World Depends on This) but they've grown a lot in the 10 years since. Gord and Leslie were the fans and had bought the tickets which I recall were pretty expensive. I knew of the band as a gentle alt-country/folk/pop duo and was not prepared for what we saw that night. Accompanied by a drummer they tore up the stage with intense frantic fast paced rock and roll. I was very impressed, they're fast and furious and anything but gentle alt-country/folk/pop.

If you have a chance to see them, I'd encourage you to do so. For a quick sound check visit the Whitehorse Youtube Channel.