9:00 - Holy Felix
On January 19, 2024, Fake Shark and Holy Felix open for Hotel Mira in Vancouver.
As the lights dimmed to darkness, the late night was about to begin. Walking onto the darkened stage, dressed in white, was bassist, Mitch Oster, and a mysterious masked drummer, sitting in behind, Fake Sharks drum kit. The crowd buzzed in anticipation for the few moments it took for “Holy” Felix himself to grace the stage, dressed in like a samurai, in all black.
The crowd was there to support the supporting act. Bobbing their heads, and moving to the music. The music itself was harder than the acts to follow. But for those there, it wasn’t out of place. And I think a few people going in not knowing Holy Felix, left the Commodore, fans.
"This last song's for you."
"I'm Felix, make some noise for Fake Skark."
9:45 - Fake Shark
"Vancouver! 1-2-3!"
At 9:45 it was time for the second act of the night. Fellow locals, Fake Shark. This time, it was the band that was dressed all in black, while singer Kevvy Mental, dressed in head to toe white. Only his neon yellow hair giving a pop of colour to the stage. It didn’t take long for Mental’s stage presence to be felt. Moving around the stage, while the band behind him generally stayed out of the spotlight, only waiting for their moments to show off themselves.
"We're all best friends now, Right?"
Mental took the time to interact with the crowd. He didn’t just talk at them, but felt as more he was connecting with them. I’m not sure the crowd could’ve been more into the show. I’m not talking about the bobbing or jumping or even singing along. But the fact that when I looked out into the crowd 30 minutes into their set, there was two phones out. A minute later there was none. I don’t know if it was the probable strong contingent of people that knew the band that’s the reason. (I’ve found that when the more people that know the band that are watching, the less phones are out). It’s nice to see the audience was more interested in seeing the band before them live, and not some shaky video on a phone. Kudos.
"Can we play two more songs?"
“YES!” was the answer to the question. It was “Bummer Summer” that took the man they call Kevvy down from the stage and onto the barricade, where he seemingly half floated above the crowd. High-Fiving those around him.
For the last song, while admitting that despite the fact he likes being the handsome one on stage, brought out his best friend, and Mariana’s Trench guitarist, Matt Webb, to help close out the show.
Next up was Hotel Mira. Which you can check out here.
"Thank you so much, we're Fake Shark!"
Were you at the show? What did you think?
Check out the Hotel Mira gallery below.
Hey, Jade here. Thanks for visiting Backline Beat. If you like the site and would like to help support it, I’d be very grateful. Every little bit helps. Right now I’m an army of one, and would like at some point to be able to bring on other voices, to be a part of Backline Beat. Below, are links to Patreon, PayPal, and Linktree.
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— Jade Dempsey