Twins Tegan and Sara played a show at the Palladium ballroom on Feb. 25.
Although I've been a Tegan and Sara fan for many years, I've never had the opportunity to witness them live. So when I attended their Feb. 25 show at the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas, I was blown away by their stage presence and live performance.
Tegan and Sara's concerts are any fan's dream and the type of concert any fan could hope to attend. For anyone who has a favorite band, they wish they could get to know the members of the band, meet them, and maybe even be friends. Tegan and Sara take that extra step and talk to their audience's as if they are friends, sharing personal information and singling out certain groups in the crowd with a few words here and there.
For the duration of their tour, Tegan and Sara invited Steel Train and Holly Miranda to open up their shows and, collectively, the two set up the perfect vibe for the twins' own interesting show.
As an introduction to their song "Call It Off", Tegan, front and center on the stage while Sara stood farther back with her head down, dedicated the song to their late grandmother who died the evening of their last concert in Dallas two years ago. In the same moment, Tegan announced to the crowd how it was their grandmother who called them out as lesbians when they were five years old. Apparently, they were small, chubby little kids with long, beautiful hair and they demanded they get the same haircut as their father's, a short style. After their mother took them to get the cut, their grandmother proclaimed "Oh my God, you're going to turn them into lesbians!"
The sisters own the indispensable finesse to connect with the crowd, seemingly effortlessly, while their fans melt in their hands. From their humble attitudes and friendly smiles to Sara's adorable "Thank you!" at the end of each performance of their songs, Tegan and Sara relate to their fans at every turn. When Sara introduced the performance of their song "So Jealous" as a dedication to us, the audience, while asking the crowd not to feel like she's stalking them, I felt the tangible yearning of the crowd wishing she would.
The set list they compiled to perform was more than perfect and appeased every level of fan. They started out the show with several songs from their newest album Sainthood; they also touched on songs from their 2007 album The Con, So Jealous and If It Was You.
I'll admit I hadn't memorized 100 percent of Tegan and Sara's older songs, so this show further familiarized me with their music. "Monday, Monday, Monday" from the CD If It Was You impressed me, especially with the added effect of the live performance.
After the show "ended" completely and the sisters, along with the rest of their band, left the stage, the crowd cried out for the sisters Quin to give an encore. After about five minutes, Tegan and Sara emerged by themselves with their respective guitars and played a few acoustic songs.
Much to my surprise, they performed a song that not many Tegan and Sara fans are familiar with, "Feel It In My Bones." It was even more satisfying without the background techno beat, which allowed the sisters' harmonious voices to shine through. True to form, this twin lesbian power duo didn't disappoint.