Jets Overhead @ The Chan Centre -- 10/08/09

In my all too humble opinion, one of the marks of truly talented musicians is the ability to take your songs and strip them down to an acoustic form. This is exactly what Jets Overhead did last night at the Chan Centre. They played a set, which was recorded for CBC Radio 2, that was pretty stripped down and raw. Not having heard them do any acoustic material before, I really wasn't sure how it was going to turn out or what to expect...
They came on just after 5, with no opening act, and played for about an hour and a half or so. Starting with a few tracks off their first album, Bridges, they then did something that I had never seen before, and something that was actually really cool. They played the entire new album, No Nations, back to front. Starting with the last song and working their way to the first. At the beginning, they mentioned how difficult it ended up being. Of course, by the second song they proved this to be true when the bass player started in on the second song of the album, but they just joked about it and from there it went off without a hitch. After the album, they played a couple more older songs, but then another brand new one, recorded at the same time as No Nations. I didn't catch the name of it, but I really liked and I hope to be able to find sometime soon. They closed the set, sans encore (which I liked, since my views on the "wander off, then come back on, when you could have just kept playing" practice are well known) with another older song, off their first EP. I also have to mention, they had, just off stage, an upright piano that was only used for a couple songs, but added a great sense of scope to the songs. Maybe it's just cos I'm a sucker for piano.
The whole set, aside from the one flub, was incredibly tight and pretty seamless. They all seemed completely comfortable to be up there, and a lot of the stage banter and stories were loose and natural. As much of a fan I was of the band before the show, I am even more so now, because of this show. I think I even liked some of the songs just as much, if not better than, the album versions, to the point where I was wishing for an acoustic album. I am really glad it was recorded for CBCR2, so I will be able to listen to it again and again and again.

Setlist
All The People, Seems So Far, Tired of the Comfort, It's A Funny Thing, Always a First Time, Fully Shed, Time Will Remember, Sure Sign, No Nations, Weathervanes ((In The Way) Heading For Nowhere, I Should Be Born, George Harrison, Get It Right, [New song], Sun Sun Sun.