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Philadelphia shoegazers A Sunny Day In Glasgow played Friday night at The Garrison. I really liked the band’s recent release, Nitetime Rainbows EP, so I was anxious to hear how their moody strings and keyboards would translate live. Doors at The Garrison were scheduled to open at 8 PM. Considering I had never been to the venue and recent reviews had described it as one of Toronto’s new spots in the “hipper” west side, I arrived at 8 PM to ensure I would get a good spot to shoot from. The place was completely empty. Most of the chairs were still stacked in the corner and the screeching of guitars and mad drumming could be heard as sound check just got underway. A bartender appeared a few minutes later and informed me doors were at 9:00 PM.
I returned at 9:30 PM to discover very little had changed. The chairs in the bar area were at least set up, but it was still empty and the stage silent. Fast forward to 10:00 PM: now a scattering of people, we were admitted into the back area of the club where the stage was. When I asked, the girl working the door informed me the band wouldn’t be on stage until midnight. My frustration was now growing, so I did what any other responsible bar patron would do: I killed what turned into a four hour wait by drinking beer and people-watching until, finally, the band stepped on stage. Or at least I think they did, because I never really could see them. With the exception of some red and yellow stationary lights (aimed at the back of the stage where the drum kit sat) the stage was completely dark. A minor disaster ensued as the tacit rule for band photography is “no flash”, and I didn’t have one on me. The eventual performance was pretty good, but after my adventures the experience was heavily dampened.
Photos by Dave MacIntyre
