Victoria’s Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra recently played Upstairs Cabaret here in their hometown of Victoria with locals Compassion Gorilla and Carousels opening up. There was a strong sense of community and no shortage of dancing at the show.
Carousels, a young, eight-piece orchestral band, kicked off the night with a set of carnival-esque show tunes. Instrumentally, the group was impressive, but their lack of vocals and movement, as well as distracting use of sheet music, really took away from their stage presence. Carousels’ final tune, however, cast a spell of frisky tango about the dance floor, creating the perfect lead into the rest of the evening.
Next to perform was the incredibly crowd-pleasing Compassion Gorilla, with their eclectic mix of instruments and style. This troupe, also an eight-piece ensemble, incorporated spoken-word poetry regarding pipeline resistance into their world-beat music and connected with the crowd on a personal level. Compassion Gorilla obviously have fun performing together, which was reflected in the reaction they received.
Finally, Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra hit the stage, sending everyone forward for a better view and space to jump about. The band was better than ever, accompanied by new member Keith Rodger on double bass, guitar, and vocals.
Aside from playing everyone’s favourite songs (some new, some old) the band talked about their upcoming album, Wolf in Wolftown, recorded on Quadra Island. Songwriter and fiddler Mack Shields sported a cartoon-like wolf mask for a majority of the night and encouraged everyone to “sound like your favourite animal,” sending the show attendees into a barking, howling, and meowing fit lasting late into the night.