Ode to the Winks

For me, it all started last summer. Tired of my old playlist, I researched, long and hard, for a band that would have that little something that would tickle my ears. I somehow, discovered the then Victoria band The Winks. The song Snakes quickly became a favourite of mine; it feels very much like a fairy tale put into lyrics. When I found out the gang was making their way over to our side of the country, my Pop Montreal just got so much better!

The first time I saw them live was at the Divan Orange and I completely fell in love. The innocence of the performance reminded me of when we would dress up and put on shows at birthday parties, which was, I later found out, precisely the point! In fact, their latest album is called just that, Birthday Party. The stage was filled with lanterns and Christmas lights and the band sparkled through the slideshow that was cast on them. The night was complete with the tap dancing and the confetti throwing that they are known for. While most bands rely on a very straightforward approach to live music, they managed to give a beautifully theatrical show where each is as exciting as the next (trust me, I’ve seen… many!).

While I hadn’t seen them since back in October until last month, I was very excited when I found out they were playing at the Feats of Strength show with Telefauna and ITTSOMV?. I was not deceived and caught a great deal of that sweet sweet music they do so well.

Then, not too long ago, my friend Aleks who had been with me at the second Divan Orange show and I met up at the Art Matters Launch and were talking when all of a sudden, we both stopped. The Winks were belting out their Guitar Swing and we literally looked at each other and ran back into Le National, up to the stage and danced. Might have been a good idea to check the night’s lineup, but somehow, we hadn’t and the surprise was so much better. Then, one thing led to another and the both of us thought it would be a good idea to go up to each separate member and proclaim our love and adoration. We ran into Emily, the cute drummer and told her we “like her hair and stuff.” Todd and I agreed that we would rewrite the story of how Tyr and him met, seeing as it had previously (wrongly) been reported that he was dressed up as a hotdog and had seen her play cello on a dock and it was love at first sight, or at least something along those lines! While the truth is that they met in fishing camp (or at least, that’s what they tell people) we agreed that they had met at a Black Sabbath cover band show where she was the lead singer. Cute!

While the next day, we regretted our obnoxiously loud love, we decided we hadn’t had enough of them and headed out to Concordia’s Layola campus to see the two of the band’s cuties’ play Twin Party. After a scary and long cab ride from the Plateau to NDG with a questionable cab driver who didn’t really seem to know where West Broadway was (to be fair, neither did we) and then wandering the halls to find out where the play was, we arrived only 2 minutes in advance and we’re ushered inside, but strangely enough, the entrance was on the stage where all of the cast stood solemnly and Tyr was playing the cello. We lingered, unsure what to do, and then ran inside and took the two remaining and separated seats and were too nervous at the silence and the fact most of the audience was glaring at us to even remove our coats. oops! Followed was a half hour of music, tap dancing and cute colourful costumes.

We felt a bit awkward and obsessive(understatement) about the fact we had seen the same band 3 times in under a month, so we thought “hey! why not go again?”. After all, four is such a nicer number. As initially reported by Risa, The Winks were scheduled to perform at Green Room just days later! So, while we initially thought it would be funny, we set ground rules. No looking them in the eye, or discussion allowed. So much for that when we run into Emily the drummer who says “Thanks for coming, and stuff…”. Fail.

I’ve developed a fantastic collection of the Winks pictures and they’ve become one of my favourite band to photograph. See the many many pictures here!

If you want to catch some Winkies action in the next couple of weeks, you’ve got many options! Tonight, come dance with me at Divan Orange where Feats of Strength put on another great show with Peter Panic (with The Winks’ drummer, and stuff), Boo Hoo and The Corduroys.

The Winks play a show on my birthday and I believe its a sign. Birthday party anyone? March 22nd at Sala Rossa with Pawa Up First and then May 19th at Casa Del Polo.
April 14th when Exercising, The Winks side band will be performing at Bar St-Laurent.