Hedley Concert

When Hedley came out the audience was electric. The crowd was alive and receptive to every movement on the darkened stage. Hedley introduced themselves with a video clip of each band member being called to duty by the bat-phone. The buildup was a little lengthy after being subjected to three opening acts but it was well received by the eager fans. When the lights went up the cacophony of blood curdling shrieks and affirmations of undying love drowned out the first song. The 10 year old behind me was screaming almost as loud as the PG-13 chaperone directly beside me.

Jacob Hoddard’s on stage antics, acrobatics and constant dialogue with the crowd kept the audience on its toes in synchronized hyperactivity. He encouraged participation by commanding the crowd to move, indulging the sing along with a repeat after me hook in "Saturday". He made the bands’ fans feel personally important by grabbing hands and making eye contact mid verse with the stage hugging fans and most importantly by jumping right into the crowd to sing a verse during "321". A tribute to their Canadian heritage was by far the most intimate performance during "Beautiful", where Hedley had set up a campfire scene and had a beer with the audience.

Their set included all of the major hits from all three of their albums- a minor disappointment to me who enjoys their post punk first album best. I happily sung along with "Trip" and "She’s So Sorry" and was ecstatic to hear "Gunnin" but I would really have loved to hear "Johnny Falls", "Villain" and "I’d Hear Heaven". The high octane levels of their stage presence in combination with those edgier tracks would have truly demonstrated the vivacious and irrepressible nature of this band.

This is definitely a band that doesn’t take itself seriously. As Jake spun around in manic rapture and flipped back and forth between verses his headset broke free of his back pocket but he sang on and still attacked his choreography while he fixed it. During a vigorous drum solo, Chris Cripper broke a drumstick, which he deftly replaced from his stash with no audible loss of the beat. The dialogue between the band members felt natural even if it was scripted, because it was playful. Hedley gave the crowd lots of evidence of their boisterous nature throughout the performance- who says they’re too established to moon the crowd.

I am always astounded at the myriad usages for our personal communication devices. During the slow jams, "Sweater Song", "Amazing" and "Gunnin" I could see thousands of LED displays all swaying to the beat. The ambiance had an ethereal sci-fi quality with the sea of LED displays that the tiny flicker of a lighter could never give. The only person with a lighter around me was the PG-13 chaperone beside me.

It became apparent about three songs in that she, and not her daughter, was the die-hard Hedley fan. She sang every word of every song, jumped higher than our whole row and was waiting to use that lighter to tribute her favorite songs. To see her, lighter outstretched, face contorted in reverence for the band and at least 30 years older, 80lbs heavier than the average Hedley fan was not only noteworthy but also picture worthy. She was a living testament to the death of traditionalism. Lighters at concerts are so 90’s.

This is a band that is much better live because their antics complete their rebellious sound. They are definitely hindered from making their performances more radical because of the conservative demographic of their underage fan base. They are humourous performers with great showmanship drawing their fans into the performance and revitalizing them at the same time. They satirize band-branding and taking music too seriously while still retaining the fundamental structure of a rock show stage performance. The visceral response of the audience was encouraged by Jacob Hoddard’s screwball humility and unexpected antics. He makes the band the production it is.

The tweens will return but I probably won’t.