On January 29th, CJSF volunteer Shazia R. reviewed local musicians Barcelona Chair show at Honey Lounge. She had to say this... 

On January 29th Honey Lung Thursday breathed in a small and eager crowd who waited to see local shoegaze and post-rock bands The Barcelona Chair and Lownote.

The Barcelona Chair’s opening song “Destroy this Night” began with a soft build up of melodic guitar with delay, punctuated by an anticipatory drumbeat. The sense of momentum and atmospheric distance was vaguely reminiscent of some Mogwai songs, which made me quite happy. A piercing but not shrill violin debuted in the first half of the song and continued to create a balanced bittersweet melody achieved through the contrast of its high and sweet notes against the tumbling low guitar. The multi instrumental climax towards the end displayed the potential of The Barcelona Chair as they introduced more noise through distortion and maintained the violin’s clear and aching melody.

I particularly enjoyed the placement of the tambourine above the hi-hat on the drum kit, which rang soft shakes in their untitled new song and only added to the layers of sound that created the nostalgic and climactic sense of distance. The band members’ no fuss demeanour and charismatic silence during the set made me feel at ease and in the company of musicians who sincerely appreciate music without paying too much attention to the performance aspect. However I would definitely not say that there was no attention to their performance or that they were boring to watch, they just focused more on their music than that of their stage presence. Their performance came through naturally since their intensity and passion made them animated and beautiful characters to watch! You will like The Barcelona Chair if you like bands such as Explosions in the Sky, Lali Puna, Mono, and Mogwai. Their next show is on March 5th at Little Mountain Studios.