Australian indie-folk duo The Dreggs are growing their audiences across the globe, with a tour hitting many countries – including Canada – for the first time.
On Sunday, September 21, the pair made their Toronto debut at the Drake Underground, expanding to a three piece by adding a friend on drums, helping amp up their live sound.
It was the band’s first time touring in North America, with a few stops in both Canada and the U.S.A., and while they didn’t speak much on politics, they did note they had a harder time bringing merch into a certain country (i.e. not Canada).
Unfortunately, finding parking was a true exercise in frustration, made worse in my case by thinking that a green P parking symbol I saw on my map and decided to set my navigation destination to was gonna be within walking distance of the venue. After parking and realizing it would be a walk of over an hour to get there from where I had left my car, I hopped back in and had about another 15 minute drive to actually get to the venue.
I drove up and down Queen West, and nearby side streets, attempting to park in several spots, including a nearby grocery store, before seeing signs labelled “For permit holders only” or “Max. 15 minute parking,” and all of them threatening to tow violators. Not something I wanted to deal with on what was already going to be a late Sunday night, so I kept going until I found a lucky empty spot a few twists and turns down a couple of side roads, with no obvious signage.
Suffice it to say, I missed the opening act.
Fortunately, however, The Dreggs had not yet taken the stage, so I got there in just enough time to hit up the bathroom and grab a drink at the bar before making my way closer to the stage.
I’d initially heard about The Dreggs through listening to Ziggy Alberts, who in turn I’d heard about by listening to Hollow Coves… who in turn I’d found through some YouTube acoustic folk playlist that I put on at work to help me chill out and try not to lose my mind over things that really do not matter. My most listened to music stylings oscillate between hard, fast and angry punk/rock, and soft, soothing, acoustic folk, and for a few years there I went through a time where my nervous system could not handle the fast, angry stuff at all anymore (long story), so I turned more heavily to folk for quite some time. Usually I do like a bit of grit in my folk though, and The Dreggs offer that in some of their songs, including “Give Myself to You,” which they played that night.
I will admit, there was no way this was going to compare to seeing Propagandhi the weekened before for me, so I maybe wasn’t quite as hyped for this show as I otherwise would have been – not wanting to move on so fast from one of the best concerts I’d been to in a long time (though I have been very spoiled this year in that sense) – but to their credit, The Dreggs put on an excellent, intimate evening, and I was quite happy to take it in – and that I made it in time to catch all of their set.
The Drake Underground’s max. standing capacity is only about 150 people, so it was easy to get a decent view from pretty much anywhere – just had to find an angle looking between people’s heads, but I wound up only about 3 rows back from the stage, so I was good with that. There were a few Aussies in the crowd, who were some of the most pumped fans in attendance, given that, from what I gather, these guys are a pretty big deal back in Australia, and I can imagine seeing them in such an intimate setting would be quite a treat for those that know them in that capacity. In fact, the band referenced their larger-scale success back home a bit on stage, saying they usually had guitar techs, etc., to tune and hand them their gear, as I guess they felt a bit less polished while lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Paddy Macrae switched between guitar and banjo for different songs throughout their set.
Macrae said he was struggling with his voice a bit, as he was getting over some kind of chest infection, and they were only 5 days into a 12-day Canada/U.S. tour, so he encouraged the crowd to sing along several times throughout the night. The band also kept egging the crowd on, comparing audience participation between us and the people in Montreal where they’d played the day before. They did say a couple who’d been right up front the night before had looked at each other, shrugged, and left after they played one of their biggest hits, and co-guitarist/co-songwriter Zane Harris joked that he would chase anyone down the street if they repeated that behaviour on this night. In the end, I think the Toronto crowd did enough to re-energize them and make up for the half-hearted Montreal couple, however, as they ended up finishing the set with a song they said they weren’t initially going to play, being another of their biggest hits, “Take a Little Time,” which they explained had been written about performing at an indie showcase/competition of sorts in Australia, after which no one had clapped. In spite of this, they kept pushing and found success on their own, and then wrote a song about the whole ordeal, which as far as I can tell has become one of their most successful tracks. (I wouldn’t have guessed that to be the meaning of the lyrics, having assumed them to be about rebuilding after a relationship fallout of some kind, but we (I) tend to interpret songs to fit our (my) own circumstances when we (I) don’t know the backstory, and of course the lyrics perfectly suit their struggles in finding success as independent musicians.) While that particular situation may not be the most relatable to most of us, I think it can still be taken as a general idea of having to fight for the life you want in this world – which is still something I’m trying to figure out/find energy for, and love to be inspired in hearing of others’ success.
The band stuck around to sell what they had of merch at a table at the back, but I high-tailed it out of there to head back up north to Huntsville to try to catch some sleep before work the next day (and in case there was going to be any kind of ticket/tow situation to deal with with my car – which thankfully there wasn’t). I’m also considering that my anxiety has taken me out of so many situations of potentially chatting with musicians, since I’m not actually doing the journalism thing professionally at the moment, and I feel a bit out of my element just talking to people as a fan rather than an interviewer. Maybe I will look back and regret not having taken the chance to have a chat, but I was quite happy just to see the set and hit the road back home again – though it was not lost on me that, if these guys continue to grow in popularity around the world as they have back in their home of Australia, the next time I see them may be in a bigger venue with less potential for interaction. So I will cherish the night for the opportunity to have seen such an intimate set with talented performers, and keep an eye on what I’m sure will be their continued success throughout the years.
Lisa goes to shows 