Photo Gallery: Death From Above / The Beaches at recordBar

Death From Above

Canadian noise rock duo Death From Above was originally scheduled to perform at The Truman on Wednesday night, but, likely due to poor ticket sales, the festivities were moved down the road to recordBar. Roadies and instrument techs were visibly disgruntled as they crammed gear onto and around the smaller-than-expected stage. Other than the sizable lighting rig blinding them a couple times, a couple hundred rockers seemed thrilled to be able to witness the band in a more intimate setting.

Bassist Jesse Keeler and vocalist/drummer Sebastien Grainger immediately locked in their cold, scientific grooves and rarely faltered during the hour-plus performance. Grainger's piercing falsetto and general vocal performance was also impressively consistent considering how aggressively he was playing with the rest of his body. Many front row fans leapt at the chance to use their phones to photograph their favorite band up-close, but the rest were more than satisfied shaking every limb of theirs at once as Grainger and Keeler motored through old favorites and newer, more danceable punk tunes.

The band's latest album, "Outrage! Is Now," is cluttered with limp and vague takes on today's political landscape and its stage humor was bro-ish, almost to a fault, but the guys were certainly self-aware. One of the evening's most enjoyable moments was a story Grainger told about how five minutes of their opening slot on a previous tour had been stolen by Incubus so the band could include a djembe solo in its set. Keeler butted in to feign support for said solo.

Fellow Toronto rock band The Beaches opened the show up with a peppy set of indie rock that mirrored the 2000's groups that its members likely grew up on. Traces of The Strokes and perhaps even The Donnas were present in this forty minute outing. The band's members whipped out pop-punk hooks, catchy mid-paced melodies, and a rhythm section with beefier parts than your ordinary rock group, which may have played a role in winning the respect of the evening's headliners.

Full photo gallery here.