• News
• Fringe
• Sports
• Editorial
• UH Section
• Archives

• About
• Join the Post
• Contact
• Advertising

• E-mail
• Print
• Text size:

It became immediately evident that the sisters produce alarmingly sharp sounds both vocally as well as instrumentally. There’s a controlled edge to every pick and every note that emanates from the two of them.

If an one thing could be extracted from the Tegan and Sara show at The Pabst, it was that the fans were sure glad to be there.

The May 7 audience was composed of true fanatics of the Canadian twins, and they showed it by cheering and applauding louder and longer than I’ve ever heard at any of venues in Milwaukee.

As soon as the sisters and their band stepped on stage, they were met with an uproarious ovation as the band immediately began to play the titular song off of their newest album, “The Con.” The fast paced number uncorked the night on an extremely energetic note.

It became immediately evident that the sisters produce alarmingly sharp sounds both vocally as well as instrumentally. There’s a controlled edge to every pick and every note that emanates from the two of them.

Playing in front of a enigmatically large picture of a lone tree stump, the sisters ping-ponged off of each other throughout the duration of the night. Tegan Quin would take the mike and interact with the crowd while playing a few of the songs she wrote before passing the proverbial baton to her sister Sara for the next batch of tunes.

Each twin gave the other their space in the spotlight before taking the helm themselves. This allowed both sisters to showcase their styles, while also giving fans a taste of their entire repertoire.

The banter that the two shared with the audience was always entertaining. From commenting on the “quaint Wisconsin accents,” to relating stories of a recent Bruce Springsteen show, the gaps in between the songs were always filled with interesting dialogue.

The most compelling of these interludes also doubled as a statement on the band itself. When one of the sisters noticed that roughly half of the crowd was standing while the other half remained seated, she posed the question of how they could reach a compromise that would benefit both sides.

The solution was comically simple. The sisters would tell the audience when to stand up and when to sit down. This odd dichotomy fit well with the fact that Tegan and Sara’s songs either fall into the category of high-energy electronic rock, or soft acoustic ballads. By playfully telling the audience when to rest and when to rise, they truly dictated the pace and tempo of the show.

As far as song selection go, they delivered a nice blend of newer numbers off of “The Con,” as well as older songs from their catalogue. Sara took center stage during her songs, such as “Like O, Like H” and “So Jealous,” while her sister belted out “Nineteen,” a personal favorite from the night.

When the nearly two hour set reached a close, the sisters thanked the audience and told them that they’d be back in Milwaukee soon. The collection of fans responded by giving the two an elongated ovation that the Canadian twins are sure to remember when they look back upon this tour.

> Comments