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When I’m contemplating which bands to seek out live, there’s often a question hanging over a band like Wednesday: how does something rooted in narrative detail and slacker-adjacent indie sprawl translate in live venues that keep getting bigger? Based on the group’s April 24 stop at the Vogue in Vancouver, the answer is simple. Wednesday let the songs hit harder and louder.

Drawing heavily from 2023’s Rat Saw God before folding in newer material from last year’s exceptional album Bleeds, the North Carolina band built its set with major confidence. Early cuts like “Got Shocked” and “Hot Rotten Grass Smell” landed with a familiar, dusty warmth, but there was already a sense the night might veer off script. By the time it hit “Wound Up Here (By Holdin’ On)” and “One More Last One,” the room was shockingly rowdy.

Vancouver crowds have a reputation for being a bit polite. Not this one. From the middle of the set onward, it turned into something closer to a basement show that had somehow swallowed a full venue whole. There was crowd surfing, constant moshing, and a sea of bodies pushing forward and back. A plastic pink wand waved through the chaos, expelling bubbles. Oddly perfect, and a surreal and playful counterpoint to the band’s mix of noise and melancholy storytelling.

Frontwoman Karly Hartzman seemed genuinely taken aback. “I expected an orderly evening,” she joked early on, sounding both amused and a little stunned by the reception. But if she was surprised, she did not retreat from it. She leaned in. Her vocals, clear and cutting, carried through the mix all night, anchoring even the loudest moments with emotional precision.

Jeff Sanders

The middle stretch was especially strong. A haunting take on Edie Brickell & New Bohemians’ “Ghost of a Dog” gave way to a loose and collaborative “Phish Pepsi,” with opening act Gouge Away’s vocalist jumping in and pushing the energy higher.

Florida rockers Gouge Away had already set the tone earlier in the night with a blistering, tightly coiled set that leaned into hardcore, making it a perfect contrast and complement. Gouge Away is clearly a band on the verge of something bigger (the band will be back later this year at BC Place on a bill with Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters). 

Next, Wednesday reminded us of its Southern roots with “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinking Doubles)”, a Gary Stewart cover refracted through distortion and alt-country grit.

By the time “Quarry”, “Bath County”, and “Elderberry Wine” rolled around, the crowd had fully taken ownership of the night. “Elderberry Wine” in particular turned into a joyful, full room singalong.

Hartzman also took a moment to address the crowd directly, delivering a pointed and unvarnished speech about the times we live in, and loving the people from the dumb place they are from. The talk landed with force in a room already primed for release. She ended it with a “Fuck ICE… and of course, free Palestine.”

The closing run swung the momentum further. “Bull Believer” arrived like a tidal surge, and the last song of the night, “Wasp”, truly detonated the room. It marked a sharp shift into something closer to hardcore than anything that came before. It was a jarring and thrilling left turn, and the crowd met it head on.

Wednesday was one of the strongest bands to play the Vogue Theatre this year. The songs held up easily in a bigger room, even with the crowd pushing things toward chaos. Nothing got lost. If anything, the scale made the dynamics more obvious, the quiet moments softer, and the heavy ones hit harder. 

There has been some question about how the band might feel live without MJ Lenderman, whose guitar work and presence were such a defining part of their earlier rise. But if there is a gap, it is not one that lingers. Wednesday does not sound diminished. The band sounds locked in. The current MJ Lenderman-less lineup leans into a more unified and forceful approach, with the guitars still sprawling but slightly more direct, and the rhythm section giving everything a heavier foundation. Rather than losing something essential, the band seems to have tightened their identity. 

Most importantly, Hartzman now sits even more clearly at the centre of it all. Her vocals cut through the noise with total command, carrying the narrative weight of the songs without getting swallowed by the volume. This impressive control is what lets the band scale up without losing what makes it work.