Tegan and Sara at the MN Zoo

I remember first hearing about Tegan and Sarah while at college in Duluth around 97 or 98. They were guests on Much Music, the Canadian music station. Back then they were just twin sisters in High School, living in Calgary and playing music. I never really followed their career, but I knew they were still around – supporting shows like Rufus Wainwright or Ryan Adams.

I don’t remember where I first heard their latest release, “So Jealous”, it must have been from the Library or something, but I loved it – so what if pitchfork gave it a 3.4, slamming it for being simple pop music, and “radio-ready banalities over predictable power chords”. I thought it was the best record of 2004, wishing that they would get attention from the mainstream radio stations. I don’t think I even realized they were getting airplay until I went to Kansas City and heard it on an alternative/top 40 station.

When tickets went on sale, I delayed and didn’t get them right away. Luckily, Kyle (solace on east-lake comments and at morecowbell.net) had a couple of extra tickets so I grabbed those right away. Tricia and I met him at the Zoo last night and we took our seats in row G, middle section – closest I’ve ever been for a seated show.

Opening band Communique, from San Francisco, a faily standard U2/Shadowbox like band. Their latest CD, Poison Arrows, is on Lookout! Records, where Pitchfork labeled it as “whose utterly harmless brand of rock is so airtight in its calculated construction that even the inevitable half-hearted smile and head-nod is justification enough for the album’s existence”. Yeah, that sounds about right. I enjoyed their set, but I kept thinking about my friend Ben, and the way he plays on stage. He was a perfect mix between the main singer (facial expressions) and the main guitarist (Jack Black-like dance moves)!

When Tegan and Sara took the stage, I finally took notice of the crowd, mainly young High School age girls, digital cameras in hand, and ready to post them to their Live Journals. Then you had the normal early-to-mid twenties hipsters with “The Current” bumper stickers on their VW’s, and then the middle aged groups who buy blocks of tickets for the Music in the Zoo series and look a little out of place at a show like this.

I would like to find a setlist from the show, but it seemed like they played most, if not all of the new album, with 4-5 older tracks mixed in, a normal setlist for a group that has received a lot of press and attention lately. And you could tell the difference between the older and the new songs. Songs from previous albums were more Lilith Fair/Folk style, while the new songs were more rock and kept the girls in the audience dancing. I’ll have to go back and listen to some of the older records, but I thing the newer style fits them, and their audience, better.

One thing I really enjoyed about the show was the dialog the two sisters had on stage. They ripped on each other, their parents (jokingly), and drunk guys from the show in Madison the night before. And in the encore, they did a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark”, which actually made me kinda dig that song!

I was close enough to the stage to snap off a few decent pictures, but in all of the close-ups, Tegan’s face is completely washed out. The security guards were eyeing the crowd for flashes so I had to settle for low light shots. They turned out decent enough though.

Photos from the show:
Communique
Tegan and Sara

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