Review – Faber Drive at Saskatoon Ex.

By: Shayla ObrigewitschImage

Faber Drive was in Saskatoon on August 7, 2013 and performed a free outdoor show at the Exhibition. By the time gates opened at 7:00, the line to go in stretched beyond vision, going in between the many food vendors on the fair grounds. At 8:30, the band was announced and Faber Drive took the stage to play to the crowd.

Their set consisted mainly of old fan favourites from their 2007 CD, Seven Second Surgery. These included songs such as Obvious, Tongue Tied and Time Bomb. The guitarist, JP – Jordan Pritchett – even covered the song Hold My Beer by his father Aaron Pritchett. Aside from playing many of their older songs, Faber Drive played a few from their CD released in 2009 – can’T keEp A SecrEt. You and I Tonight and Give Him Up were among these songs, as well as The Payoff, which I have been anxiously waiting to see live since it was last on their setlist in 2010, but they went through some technical difficulties and were unable to play it then. After The Payoff, drummer Seamus O’Neill got the crowd cheering with a drum solo, in which he climbed over the drums while continuing to play without missing a beat. From their newest CD released in 2012 – Lost in Paradise – they performed title song Lost in Paradise, as well as Life is Waiting and Candystore. Faber Drive was very interactive with the crowd the whole night – telling stories and asking questions, and talking between one another. They closed the show at 10:00 with G-Get up and Dance, which of course got the whole crowd jumping and singing along.

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Throughout the night, the crowd had many small items to throw on stage because of the concert being at the fair. Faber, JP, Krikit and Seamus all received various “gifts”, involving bass-player Jeremy “Krikit” Liddle putting as many beaded Mardi Gras necklaces on his neck as he could, and Seamus getting some stuffed animals to put on his drum set. Singer Dave Faber got a nice wristband that said, “Nice Melons” which prompted him in saying, “Thank you. I like my melons too… I know what it is…  I’m not stupid”. The crowd was a fair size, considering the rainy and gloomy weather throughout the day earlier, and not many people being at the Exhibition to begin with. As Krikit said later in the autograph line though, the crowd was “small but loud”! Everyone on the ground level was full of energy and dancing and singing along.

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Faber Drive is by far one of my favourite bands to see live, and it’s always a nice treat when they remember your face and give hugs. I look forward to taking in all their stage energy and talent at their next concert when they tour across Canada!

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