Last week I was surprised by most of the night’s concert. I had gone primarily to see the Sadies, but I showed up in time to seeing the opening act Visqueen. Never having heard of them, I expected some sort of countryish group, but I walked into the sound of a loud dirty guitar and intense vocals (had I known then that their old bassist used to play with the Fastbacks, I’d have guessed exactly what was coming). The group was good, but not quite solid on their stage show yet, mainly lacking some presence. Their banter could use a bit of work, too.

Next up, the Sadies surprised me by how *good* they are. I liked the last disc, Favourite Colours, but I didn’t find it that technically impressive. Live, though, the boys turned in a show full of brilliant alternate picking and honky-tonk chops, and one of the guitarists (the shorter Good brother, I forget their first names) has a great ear for fitting his solos perfectly into the flow of the song; his sense of melody was very impressive.

Finally, Neko Case took the stage (with the Sadies as her backing band). I like her albums okay, but she never blew me away. Seeing her in person, though, I understood just how big her voice is. She also knows how to command a stage and draw in an audience, who offered one marriage proposal and one drunken baby-making offer (watch the hyphens), to which she replied, “I shan’t give you my baby, sir.”

I was also surprised that between sets the DJ kept playing the 2 or 3 same Bad Company songs over and over. When Neko and the Sadies came out for their encore, they went into an improved “Feel Like Making Love.”

Although it always ends up costing me time and money, I love it when an act (or, in this case, acts) can win me over with a live show.