Justice10.08.24
Vancouver, BC
So this was my opportunity to see Justice and their live show to support their new record, Hyperdrama, after bailing out early before their headlining slot at Portola just over a week ago. While I'll never know just how that set at Portola went, this set at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum felt pretty legendary.
This was my first time visiting Pacific Coliseum, former home of the Vancouver Canucks before Rogers Arena opened in 1995. Also the venue for figure skating and speed skating at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics! It's a bit of a hassle to get to from downtown, and the arena has definitely seen better days -- you know you're in an old building when you see a sign for a smoking section. But it was pretty cool how the concourse opened up into the floor, like they had blown out all the seating to create a path. They essentially had this set up as a GA only show, save for a handful of seated sections, which I think anyone with a GA ticket could grab.
Knowing that their show is mostly about the lighting and acoustics rather than any on-stage antics, I hung out around the mixing booth for the entirety of the show. And I have to say, that was one of the most impressive lighting productions I've seen at a live show, rivaling that of Tame Impala. Lasers galore, in any colour you could think of. Loved the effect it created with the wooden ring-shaped ceiling (the ceiling reminded me a lot of what I've seen in pictures of Madison Square Garden in New York).
Their set was relentless, featuring tracks from all across their discography. Heavy emphasis on the Tame Impala collaborations from Hyperdrama ("Neverender" and "One Night/All Night") and some of their other defining tracks from earlier albums, like "D.A.N.C.E." and "Safe and Sound".
From the merch booth, I picked up a t-shirt with "I survived Justice live in Vancouver" adorned on the front. Accurate description of the night!
