A church isn’t the first place that comes to mind when thinking of indie concert venues. However, the First Unitarian Church proved to be a wonderfully mellow venue for the Tall Firs and Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton. With the altar pushed to a back corner of the stage and the audience calmly seated in pews, the setting provided an intimate, contemplative, and serene atmosphere for the bands to come.

The opening band, Tall Firs, was truly a band of equals. For once, the drummer was not relinquished to the usual background. Drummer, bassist, and guitarist all stood in a row, sharing the vocals equally. Perhaps the highlight of their set, the last song featured new and experimental percussion techniques. Drummer Ryan Sawyer not only beat a drum with a maraca but also bowed cymbals with a violin bow, producing a rather haunting saw-like sound.

I’ve learned to expect good things from Broken Social Scene offshoots (Stars and Feist come to mind), and Emily Haines is no exception. With a raspy but soulful voice, Emily has a Cat Power-esque presence without the nervousness and tawdry past. A gifted pianist, Emily played with a delicate touch which was perfectly suited for her repertoire. The other instrumentalists sharing the stage were presumably from her backup band, The Soft Skeleton. Emily did not introduce her band members (perhaps a beginner’s mistake), so the world may never know. Her set list closely resembled the order of the album, which is not uncommon for a group with only one album at its disposal. Her hit single, ‘Doctor Blind’ was incredibly moving, eliciting many pleased murmurs from the audience.

An interesting feature of the performance was the film projections from “The Saddest Music in the World” by director Guy Maddin. Unfortunately, due to the stage set up, half the audience could not see the projections. The images were very appropriately chosen and reflected the melancholy that pervades the entire album. In fact, Emily wrote many of the songs on the album while mourning her late father, well-known Canadian poet Paul Haines. Such lyrics as “Numb is the new high, all memories die out ‘till nothing and nowhere is golden” do not leave the listener unaffected. Emily even punctuated her final song with the sarcastic comment “that’s uplifting!” causing the audience to break from the melancholy for a minute and laugh at itself.

While Emily gave a relatively short concert (and regrettably no encore), I was undeniably impressed. Her haunting sound stayed with me all the way home from the church. Given how polished her first solo album and tour are, I can only expect truly great things from Emily in the years to come.

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