Indie dual show echoes

By Steve McGill

Up and coming buzz band the Mission District came and rocked The Observatory on April 2.
Unfortunately they were the only ones who came out.

Coming off of a performance at SXSW in Austin, Texas the band came to The Observatory on an off date from their cross-Canada tour ahead of a stop at The Live Lounge on April 4, which they're doing in support of their new album Youth Games.

Unfortunately, because they were on an off date from the tour, they couldn't promote the show at all for their fans.

This combined with the last minute nature of everything and the lack of advertising, meant that when it came time for the openers to go on, there were only four people other than staff and performers in the venue.

"I'm not going to do anymore April shows … people just don't show up," said Ken MacLeod, the promoter for the Students' Association.

Opening the night was The Framework, who are returning to the The Observatory after opening the show for DJ Champion back in September.

They're in the middle of a disjointed Canadian tour, bringing them to random cities throughout the province in the next month.

The band that took the stage was far more polished than last time they had played here, and had found their own sound, rather than the derivative sound they had before.

"Our target audience is the club audience … we want our shows to be a party," said Ryan Kash, one of the two singers.

After The Framework was finished, it was time for the Mission District to take the stage, though there was not much more of a turnout.

The Mission District is coming out of the studio after the eight months they spent recording their album and are eager to be back on the road.

"We're going to be playing Creed covers tonight … this song is called With Arms Wide Open," joked lead singer David Rancourt.

They still performed well, even though they didn't have much of an audience besides the members of The Framework watching and cheering them on.

The lack of audience turnout was disappointing, but understandable with the lack of promotion.

"We're meant to be here on the down low since we've got another date in Ottawa soon," said Rob Rousseau, guitarist and backup singer for the band.