The Deep Dark Woods at The Railway – Winchester, Feb. 18, 2012
The Deep Dark Woods hit the road (or should I say hit the skies) last month to embark on a tour of all tours across the pond to ‘Jolly Old’ England where they took on venues in Manchester, London, Brighton, Winchester before heading overseas to Europe. Their first stop was The Railway in Winchester. Being the adventurer I am I jumped in my car, taking on unfamiliar roads, at their first point of call.
Arriving approximately two hours ahead of schedule, I was greeted outside Winchester’s fine establishment by the lovely Ryan Boldt, Chris Mason, Burke Barlow and Lucas Goetz. We ventured to a local Indian restaurant where we chowed down on some curry and ‘padinkadons’ also known to us Brits as ‘poppadoms’. The boys had great difficulty saying the word. After eating a glorious dinner and watching our waiter smash a glass with the touch of his hand, we went back to the venue arriving with just enough time for me to grab myself a cold coke from the bar and get front stage.
Front man Ryan Boldt told stories of how jet-lagged the band was, along with jokes about sausages and his pants
With the stage lit up like a cosy country cottage with vintage lamps, the band kicked off the night to an eager crowd with one of their softer tracks. The band played a set of old songs and more recent tunes from their 2011 album A Place I Left Behind.
Tuning his guitar in-between songs, front man Ryan Boldt told stories of how jet-lagged the band was, along with jokes about sausages and his pants – a little humour to keep the audience even more sweet than they already were.
At one point I turned around to take a photo of the audience and the content on each one of their faces filled me with sheer joy. Not only did the band remind me of my Christmas spent in their hometown of Saskatoon, but they also reminded me of how truly wonderful music is, how inspiring it can be and how it can touch even the loneliest of hearts. The boys met every expectation I had of them. From start to finish, every lyric and every note played, from the genius on the keyboard to the bass tapping pro on the other. They did so with passion, charm and real sincerity. A truly delightful night that I will never forget. Thank you Saskatoon for bringing me The Deep Dark Woods.
— Contributed by Hannah Stocker