There was hot anticipation prior to the Chad VanGaalen, Blood Meridian, and Constantines show. Drunk girls slurred loquaciously about what a fucking great live show it was going to be and what a treat their friend, the poor kid who'd never seen these bands live, was in for.

Vancouver's Blood Meridian took the stage as the obvious home-town favourites. Where the crowd would see forthrightness and feeble reality later, Blood Meridian brought to the table an inkling of escapism with their songs. With blues-folk admittances of troubles, their live show seemed decidedly slow with the knowledge that we had come out to see the Constantines. I felt my impatience grow and I could tell that I wasn't alone. I had just got off work, afterall, and had barely enough gusto to muster for this obviously talented (if slightly drawn-out) band.

I had recently had a haunting dream about Chad VanGaalen, and somehow felt that whatever qualms I had with his album, Infiniheart, would soon dissipate with seeing the man from my dreams (literally) in front of me. This Calgarian, with his roots in busking, was lovely to watch, seemingly relishing his spotlight and cheerily inviting his tour-mates on stage for tambourine cameos. VanGaalen's songs are portrayals of small emotions, subtle in their delivery yet somehow not easily carried away. VanGaalen stays within the realm of his audience, and, characteristic to his beginnings, quietly finds a way of drawing devotion from within the crowd.

And then there were the Constantines. Shortly before the set, you could feel the mood in the crowd shift from introspection to a more pressing excitement. More hype-talk ensued. Sure enough, there was little to disappoint. Bry Webbs singing is so honest, true, open and urgent that it was impossible not to be transfixed. The others (Dallas Wehrle, Steve Lambke, Doug MacGregor, and Will Kidman) make brazen fist-clenched salutes during brief pauses in their extensive set. Their new album, Tournament of Hearts, breaks down simple chords with sincere lyrics and just the right amount of noise, not indulgent but totally straightforward. The Constantines are a band which has the ability to sound passionate without being staged. Since their emergence in 2001, they have graced the Canadian Indie scene with an integrity rarely followed by a record as strong as 'Tournament of Hearts'. Its a record which shows that, though the band may have once been convoluted, they have now emerged with a sound which is so exciting, its almost makes you not want to hurl your beer at the knob behind you yelling, "Dallas, throw me your pick, Cocksucker!" Here is a hard-working band which, with songs decrying the bone-numbing mundanity of working full-time, breaks through with a feeling of urgency, as if they need to get home to get up at 6am for work again in the morning.