By: Krista Hessey –
Half Moon Run. (Photo: Krista Hessey/Aesthetic Magazine Toronto)
Devon Portielje couldn’t stop smiling. The crowd erupted in another tumultuous roar, as the three other members of Half Moon Run—Connor Molander, Dylan Phillips and newcomer Isaac Symonds—joined him on stage. On a crisp winter night in Toronto’s Cabbagetown, crowds trickled into The Phoenix Concert Theatre to catch a glimpse of a budding Canadian talent.
Doe eyed girls and fresh-faced boys mirrored Portielje’s grin. “It is so good to be home,” he said as he glanced over atMolander in disbelief of the swelling crowd before them. Without further a-do, the lights dimmed and the quartet burst into an upbeat rendition of “21 Gun Salute”.
The Montreal-based band has captured the world’s attention after Glassnote Entertainment Group released their debu talbum, Dark Eyes, internationally in 2013. The quartet blends elements of energetic indie and folk with melancholic harmonies and catchy synth-rock nuggets.
Onstage, the album translated beautifully; laden with light, swirling harmonies that amass tension before it all breaks in the chorus, with heavy guitar riffs and percussion.
Half Moon Run continued to impress the crowd early on playing back-to-back album favourites such as “Nerve” and the cheeky keyboard ridden “Judgment”, which began with repeated staccato chords that resembled something from Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, and endedwith a busy guitar progression that was similar to Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”. While the band’s slower, more patient, atmospheric tracks are beautiful, their full potential becomes clear through synth-rock tracks like “She Wants to Know”, and “Full Circle”.
After embarking on an American tour with Metric, Half Moon Run immediately jetted off to the UK to play at Iceland Airwaves festival and Inrocks festival in Paris before returning home to perform a Canada-wide tour. “We’ve been on tour for a long time,” said Portielje. Though, evidence of that hardly resonated in his voice, which was spot on all night.Molander, Phillips and Symonds nodded their heads in unison as if to agree that this visit home was long overdue.
Half Moon Run disappeared behind a wall of darkness, alit only by small green lanterns on the stage for an intimate rendition of “Drug You”. “Love/ Drug” lingered in the concert hall as the crowd repeated the lyrics in a soft whisper. It was here when Portielje displayed the full range of this voice, building from a gentle hum to an intense countertenor quickly within a single chorus.
From their slender frames and play fighting on stage it was clear the band is very much in their youth, though their future looks quite promising. Mumford and Sons, whom Half Moon Run opened for during their spring European tour, claimed that they are “one of the most important bands debuting an album this year.” Such high expectations have not weighed down the band, as they enter the final stretch of their tour with seemingly effortless energy.
As all four members returned onstage for their final encore, heeding to the crowd’s whistles and squeals, they gathered front and center with to perform a cappella. In combination with an acoustic guitar, Molander played the harmonica in between verses serenading the crowd with an emotive, folk-rock take on Pink Mountaintop’s “Vampire.” As their set ended, the band members exchanged glances as widespread grins once again crept across their faces as if to acknowledge something serene; as if to say, “guys, I think we made it.”
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Half Moon Run
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Thus:Owls
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Aesthetic Magazine | Album Reviews, Concert Photography, Interviews, Contests 
its Thus Owls not Owl 🙂
Posted by Brian | December 2, 2013, 12:48 pmSorry about that. It has been changed.
Posted by Aesthetic Magazine Toronto | December 2, 2013, 12:55 pmgreat article, great pics, great show, great band!
Posted by roger horn | December 3, 2013, 1:16 amThanks!
Posted by Aesthetic Magazine Toronto | December 3, 2013, 10:27 amThanks Roger!
Posted by Aesthetic Magazine Toronto | December 7, 2013, 11:37 amThis is not a Thus:Owls video…
Posted by chanel | December 7, 2013, 2:32 pmWe changed it. Thanks Chanel!
Posted by Aesthetic Magazine Toronto | December 7, 2013, 3:30 pm