By Janet Athanasiou

A 700-person venue that boasts it specializes in indie/alternative/punk/experimental music, the Black Cat in Washington DC hosted recently reunited Wolf Parade on October 22. The main stage of the venue is on the second floor, in a long, low ceilinged room where fans packed in to see and listen to Wolf Parade rock out in a loud, frenetic, fun concert.

Starting out with three songs from Apologies to the Queen Mary: Modern World, You are a Runner and I am My Father’s Son, and Fancy Claps, then moving into the newer material from Cry, Cry, Cry, Wolf Parade managed to play a quick 90-minute set that hit a lot of the favourites, while still showing off new material. Some highlights of the new album were You’re Dreaming, Baby Blue, Am I an Alien Here, and Weaponized. They capped off the evening with a 3 song encore of Valley Boy, This Heart’s on Fire, and Kissing the Beehive.

While some bands trade on banter and interactions with the crowd, Wolf Parade focused on the fans by playing their songs and limited exchanges. The concert was loud and the guitars were distorted, which resulted in a ringing in my ears for two days, but it was absolutely worth it!

The benefit of being an ex-pat in the States is that I can see Canadian bands in smaller venues than they would usually play at home. This was the case with Wolf Parade Sunday night. We were able to stand 10 feet from the stage, watch the band as they played and talked to each other. Again due to the loud band, large speakers, and acoustics in the room, the sound quality was not great, but the experience was a great one.