The Viewer

Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention, but when I became a fan of City and Colour, I figured that Dallas Green had departed from hardcore band Alexisonfire. I never noticed that he was still the guitarist and second vocalist, shame on me. That’s just a rare thing these days for most highly touring bands. This only proves his versatility and commitment to his fans. I got the chance to see Dallas Green live in a close setting, at the Central Presbyterian Church on January 21. He impressed me with his vocals in his records, but live was even better. I don’t think I could say something I don’t like about Dallas Green if I tried, he’s so multifaceted. He asked the crowd how many people have seen musical shows at a church before, and when few people raised their hands he explained. Churches are made for things like this, he said. They’re made to project sound, and that is why he wanted to perform in churches. Though this limited the amount of people that could attend to a very small group, he would rather give a higher quality show than not. Green is not only a talented musician, he’s an interesting person to listen to. He talked about how he came to write many of his songs. “Body in a box” is for his father, who he said he made an agreement with to never mourn each other’s deaths. He said he understands that death can be sad but he would rather celebrate life and live fully until that time comes. Even if the death isn’t his. Many of his songs are written about life and one about a girl. I have yet to figure out who “The girl” is, but she’s lucky. City and Colour has won two Canadian given Juno Awards, one for “New Artist of the Year” in 2007 and “Songwriter of the Year” in 2009.