As a musician, I always have my ears perked for quality musicianship, songwriting, and performance, and I know from previous shows that Victoria’s Sleepshake tick all the boxes. So when I got the opportunity to review their show at Lucky Bar on Friday, January 20, I was stoked to experience their music live again.
Sleepy Hips, a local rock band originally formed in Shawnigan Lake, was up first. Their solid drums and excellent timing and rhythm kept me tapping my feet and feeling involved in their cohesive sound. They kept it simple and well-rounded, with everything there for good reason, including a beautiful and very well placed guitar solo.
Next was electronic indie pop band Cold Fame, also from here in town. It’s so refreshing to see a female frontwoman vocalist in the mostly male-dominated Victoria music scene. Unfortunately, she ended up sounding relatively drowned out in the mix, leaving her vocals a little harder to hear than the other bands. The group’s hard rock sound, with powerful bass guitar and interesting guitar lines, softened by the poppy and graceful vocals and captivating stage presence, was highly enjoyable.
Sleepshake ended the night with an electrifying storm of rock. Their bright and tight sounding drums and sly bass held it down, while overdriven guitar and glowing keyboard took it away. They were incredibly in sync with each other, creating a very full sound that filled the room and energized the crowd.
The band had excellent stage presence, capturing and maintaining my attention with vocalists Nate Prevedoros and Camosun/Nexus alumna Rhea George taking turns singing. Near the end of their set, Prevedoros got off the stage and joined the audience in the crowd while continuing to play, which was very entertaining.
I loved the composition of all of Sleepshake’s songs; they’re unafraid to move outside the pop songwriting framework by changing up the rhythm and time. And although they’ve been described as sounding like Metric and Royal Blood, they reminded me of The White Stripes, especially because of Prevedoros’ vocal style. They also somewhat reminded me of the indie pop rock of Tame Impala.
Overall, the show satisfied my musician’s ear and kept me moving the whole night. Music lovers and show goers: keep all three of these bands on your radar.