Such a great weekend in the Greater Moncton area, Atlantic Nationals Car Show, Friday night street party with Canadian rockers April Wine, Shediac Lobster Festival, and the first of two amazing shows at the Casino starting off with more Canadian content, Marianas Trench on Saturday night! A beautiful and sunny Saturday evening brought out the people for an all ages show and the Casino was packed for the headliner and opening act The Bellwoods.
Toronto based band “The Bellwoods” played a roughly forty minute set of Indie-folk styled acoustic music which was pretty good but seemed a bit in contrast to what we would receive with Marianas Trench. Although there was the contrast they warmed up the predominantly female crowd well, engaging them in crowd participation and sing-alongs. They even got ten young ladies to join them on stage as back-up singers during one song, encouraging them to ‘silly dance’ and have fun.
The Bellwoods – Casino NB – 07/11/15 ~ Refrain Photography
Next up the crowd began to buzz about the headliners, Vancouver based Marianas Trench. Formed in 2001 and having released an EP and three full length albums (Fix Me-2006, Masterpiece Theatre-2009, Ever After-2011) with their last album being nominated for a Juno Award. Back touring once again to promote their new release and fourth full length album “Asotoria”, they brought their music, old and some new, to a diverse group of fans at Casino NB on Saturday night. Impressive is that the band has maintained it’s membership from the original forming for fourteen straight years now with frontman Josh Ramsay, Lead guitarist Matt Webb, Bassist Mike Ayley, and drummer Ian Cassleman.
Marianas Trench – Casino NB – 07/11/15 ~ Refrain Photography
I spoke previously of both the predominantly female and diverse crowd, I was quite surprised by it actually, ranging from literally a baby in the crowd (yes, a baby asleep in mom’s arms, don’t worry the mom remembered ear protection), to young kids in the preschool age bracket, all the way up to your average adult and a few seniors. I also mentioned that for it being a general admission standing show (no seating on the floor, just the rear bleachers) it was packed, with well over two thousand in attendance.
Lead singer Josh Ramsay is the clear focal point of the group, flamboyant, entertaining, energetic and certainly says what comes to mind. Not just a singer but an accomplished producer and writer, he received a grammy nomination for his production and co-writing of Carly Rae Jepsen’s massive hit “Call Me Maybe”. He interacts with the crowd, get’s them excited and will even ‘crowd surf’ if the mood strikes him. A first I’ve seen at the casino (as well as some of the security staff), during their hit “Stutter”, Ramsay embarked on a journey through the crowd, all the way to the back of the room to the bleachers, through the main body of the crowd, and back to the stage all the while the band playing and Ramsay singing. After about song three, Ramsay discarded his leather jacket and hat and spent the remainder of the show shirtless much to the appreciation of the females in attendance, I could have done with out it, but hey, that’s rock and roll. Their is a great relationship between the band and the crowd, they want to be involved in what’s going on in the room, which makes for a very entertaining show.
Josh Ramsay – Marianas Trench – Casino NB – 07/11/15 ~ Refrain Photography
I was quite surprised by this show, how entertaining, energetic and overall how much I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I recognized far more songs than I thought I knew from Marianas Trench, and really enjoyed the songs they featured off their new release Astoria. I was impressed by the overall vocal ability of the band who have fantastic four part harmonies for a group of their style. I was also thoroughly shocked when the band hushed the crowd and sang a full song around one mic, acapella in great harmony. I have to give kudos to the band’s lighting tech too as this was one of the best “lit” shows I’ve seen at the casino in a while (this matters to a photographer), bravo sir. They entertain from start to finish and I highly recommend checking them out if you ever get the chance.
Thanks to Marianas Trench, The Bellwoods, Casino NB, and PPRL for another fantastic night of music and entertainment!