A couple weeks ago my friend Harm and I went to see the Bravery at the Commodore. The 'dore is just the best place to see live music as it has a great wide open bouncy dance floor and great connection between the band and audience. The Bravery, reviewed on NME, were a really great surprise. I liked their album, especially Unconditional and Honest Mistake. They are an exemplar of the "new" new wave, taking from Duran Duran, the Cure, and Joy division.
In concert, they just rocked the place out. We were blown away by how much better they were live compared to the album. After being underwhelmed by Kings of Leon, Thievery corp and a few other bands live, it was a real pleasure to experience a live band that exceeded expectations. They were far better then the warm-up, Maximo Park.
They certainly fit in with the new good artists, like Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, Gorillaz, Strokes, Metric. There is so much good music going on right now, I don't think I've ever been this interested in new music.
The other thing that is great is that Harm is getting into music as well. Nothing like having good friends share even more interests. Death Cab, Killers, Franz and Metric are coming to Vancouver this fall so we'll see if we can see another show or 2.