White Lies and Friendly Fires

Last week [April 1] I headed out to Lee's Palace for the sold out Soft Pak/ Friendly Fires/White Lies concert. I arrived just as Soft Pak was finishing their set and of what I saw of them I enjoyed, but I didn't catch enough of it to make a real opinion.

Next up: Friendly Fires who proved to be the best surprise of the night. Hailing from England, they are a band I often turn to on the treadmill - their performance was something I didn't expect and truly blew me away. I couldn't help but dance and have a wicked time because the energy that lead singer, Ed MacFarlane, was giving off was certainly contagious. These guys were shaking their thing Mic Jagger style, jumping on speakers, running into the crowd and were rocking out like true stars. Skeleton Boy, Jump In the Pool and Paris really hit the sweet spot with the crowd. Oh yeah, the other thing they got bang on is that you can never have enough cow bell. Myspace: www.myspace.com/friendlyfires

The main event, the White Lies, took the stage for their second time in Toronto and were a starch contrast from the upbeat, energetic Friendly Fires. Dressed in all black, the White Lies hit a more serious chord with lead singer Harry McVeigh leading them through a great set, sore throat and all. Kicking it all off with "Fairwell to the Fairground", they jammed through every songs on their debut album "To Lose My Life". Harry's haunting vocals had the crowd in awe with lyrics like "There's a part of me thats still believes; my soul will soar above the trees; but a desperate fear flows through my blood; that a dead love's buried beneath the mud; let's grow old together and die at the same time..." If you haven't picked up on the magic that is White Lies and you like the Editors, Arcade Fire, Joy Division, The Killers, then whatcha waiting for? Myspace: www.myspace.com/whitelies

Did I mention Harry's wicked awesome Nike hightops said "White Lies" along the heel?