Live, in Review:

Megan Nash & The Best of Intentions, w/ guests Dump Babes

Live at Amigos Cantina, Saskatoon, SK

November 27th, 2021

By: Gregory Torwalt

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Megan Nash, together with her band The Best of Intentions, released their highly anticipated sophomore album Soft Focus Futures on November 3. Closing the month by celebrating with two home-province shows - Friday night in Regina, and Saturday in Saskatoon - the singer-songwriter and their band were in fine form at Amigos Cantina.

Nash’s new album focuses on the dissolution of her marriage, and includes a number of devastating, heavy lyrical moments. The audience may have been a bit nervous about how this new album would translate to a live-setting… would her show be too sad, would it be too serious? But with the seasoned performer that Nash is, the setlist was smartly planned for a club setting, and was peppered with a mix of upbeat selections, a buoyant cover of “Brass in Pocket”, and plenty of relatable, off-the-cuff stage banter that Nash’s fans love to experience. Plus, the opening set by Dump Babes left the audience in an energetic state that Nash capitalized on for their set.

Both of Nash’s album release shows featured Saskatoon four piece Dump Babes as the opening act. Dump Babes released their first EP in Feb 2020 - and for a band that came together just prior to the pandemic, they sound evolved, tight, and confident as a live act. A highlight of the set included the funky, Creature vibe-alicious “Talk to Me”. The band is grounded by the tight rhythm section of Jill Mack on bass and Eric MacNeill on drums, and their sound dances between a few 80’s Cranberries-esque jams, 70’s country-rock, and some hard-hitting psychedelic thrash. Joining Dump Babes on guitar (and in long-johns) was the charismatic Skylar Cafferata - most notably of The Faps. Dump Babes was fun to watch, and Wolfe’s strong full voice cut through the band, and overtop the bustle of the crowd. Having only seen lead singer Aurora Wolfe perform solo a few years ago, I was eager to experience Dump Babes in a live setting. Wolfe was incredibly captivating in front of a band, with a stage presence that brings to mind notable “can’t take your eyes off of them” singers like Amy Winehouse, Courtney Love, Karen O, and Beth Ditto. She is most alluring when she sets down the guitar, and performs either directly behind the mic or moves around the stage.

For the final song of their set, Wolfe grabbed the mic and stomped around to a powerfully fierce cover of Danzig’s “Mother”. Staring deep into the audience and bending her body in half during verses to bring herself more eye level with the crowd - it was intense, a tad terrifying, but gloriously mesmerizing. Near the end of the song, Wolfe grabbed her car keys and a can of beer from the stage-floor. She pierced the can, tipped back her head, raised her arm exposing luscious armpit hair, and shotgunned the beer to the exploding response of the audience. After tossing aside the empty beer can, the band continued to play as Wolfe looked down at the stage-floor with her thick black hair flowing in front of her face. The crowd continued to cheer - she then returned to the mic-stand, looked up with wild eyes as beer dripped from her lips, and snarled: “We are Dump Babes, and so you are!” What a way to close a show and imprint your band name into everyone’s head. It was one of the wildest live music moments I’ve witnessed, and I can’t wait to experience more of this band’s energy. Antics like this can be cheap when the music isn’t tight, but these theatrics were the icing on the cake of a catchy, danceable, groovy set by Dump Babes.

After a short change-over, Megan Nash and The Best of Intentions came marching through the crowd single-file from the back of Amigos Cantina chanting “Dump Babes! Dump Babes!” Nash soon tore into set opener “Artifact”, the first single released from their newest album. As soon as their booming voice filled the room, the crowd was instantly in the palm of their hand.

Nash was a sea of red: a cherry hued guitar, a light burgundy blazer (the same one they wear on the Soft Focus Futures album cover), and flowing auburn hair with short iconic rockabilly bangs. As the scarlet stage lights shone from behind, the fiery passion of Nash beamed through the venue. Before jumping into the set’s second song “Wait”, Nash noted how playing at Amigos was bringing back memories of her early twenties, and mistakes made during those times…particularly 3:00AM trips to 7-11 for taquitos.

It wasn’t long before Nash started to address the content of the new album - pointing out to the audience before the set’s third song that “we’re gonna go there already… life doesn’t always go as planned”. Performing two powerful tracks from her new album back to back: “Chew Quietly/Clean Slate”, and “My Own Heart”, Nash tore their heart open and offered the contents to the crowd. In the transition section of “Chew Quietly/Clean Slate”, Nash switched to an acoustic guitar - a notable shift that allowed the audience to feel the lyrics of “Clean Slate” even more: “You said don’t worry about it, November 9th, you said don’t worry about it, the inks not dry”, while drummer Tanner Wilhelm Hale repeatedly sang “parked car” hauntingly in the background. “My Own Heart” also featured beautiful harmonies with Tanner, and the soothing blend of their voices continued to be on display throughout the entire set. Dana Rempel was explosive on bass and synth, dancing along while performing, and humorously refusing to sing along to The Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” when Nash brought the mic close to his face. Darnell Stewart’s emotive guitar playing is always a treat, and brings to mind the tastiest licks of Fleetwood Mac. Megan has performed with the members of The Best of Intentions for years now, and not only do they frame her songwriting beautifully, it is no doubt that they help provide the support and companionship needed to deliver such personal music to an audience.

Especially notable moments later in the set were the back to back performances of: “Are We Still in Love?” and “Another Silent Night”. The more restrained music of these songs allowed Nash’s voice to shine. This portion of the set also featured creative staging which kept the audience fully engaged with what was happening. In a club setting, these slower, softer songs can be the times where people return to the bar for a drink, but the transition between the tracks kept the audience immersed in the performance. First, bassist Rempel left the stage for Nash, Hale and Stewart to perform “Are We Still in Love?”, then Hale took a side-stage seat by Rempel to leave Stewart and Nash alone for the dramatic “Another Silent Night”. Stewart held down the guitar for both tracks, while Megan grabbed the microphone and fully used her body to dig into the emotional lyrics. A striking moment found Nash kneeling down on the stage, hand on head, pausing to reflect behind the shelter of her hair.

Midway through the show, Nash also took a moment to address all of the creatives in the audience. As a veteran of the Saskatchewan music scene, many artists were out to enjoy Nash’s show. Nash was mentioning how they had set up room mics so that she could still hear the crowd through her in-ear monitors, but that they were nervous about clearly hearing comments from the audience about their performance, which led to a side anecdote about creativity and medication, “I have anxiety, and I’m on medication for it… I know there are a lot of creatives in the room tonight and I feel that there is this nasty lie that we tell ourselves that if we get medication for our mental health, that our creativity will just go away… you know, there is this stigma and I have to just say.. it’s such bullshit! I wish that I would have not lied to myself for so long and got on antidepressants before… And actually we finished recording this album and dare I say I was the most creative I’ve ever been really.. because I was sleeping! Sleep is rad! Water is cool! And talk to your doctor if you want to or if you feel like you need to.”

Prior to their well deserved encore, Nash closed the set by debuting a brand new song titled “Good Night”. Seemingly written in response to stories of sexual harrassment recently shared in the Saskatchewan creative community (of which Nash has been a strong voice of support advocating for safe spaces at live shows and for those working in the arts), the song’s verses include moving lyrics: “calling for accountability… you’re trying to stop harm, trying to stop hate, and they’re twisting up the words you say, but I see the care in what you do… I believe you…”, and was held down with a party-style hook that she later encouraged the crowd to chant along with: “I just want everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone to have a good night, to have a good time!” Nash has a knack for writing catchy songs that deal with serious subject matters, while still bringing an upbeat alt-rock sound that moves the crowd both physically and emotionally - shaking out energy while piercing hearts with their bluntly honest, yet poetically soft & thoughtful words.

Nash returned to the stage alone for an encore starting with “Table for One” - the song that bookends their new album. This was the most beautifully pure moment of the night. With watery eyes, Nash strummed her acoustic guitar and closed the song by softly repeating the final lyric: “I trip when they say at least you’ll get something out of it”. The band returned to the stage to join Nash for Soft Focus Futures’ single “Quiet”, and long-time crowd favourite from the Juno nominated album Seeker: “Deer Head”. The show closed with Megan and the crowd singing together the ending lines of the song: “You… you don’t want to know me… you… you…”

Megan’s honesty and relatability - both through her music and her stage banter - is refreshing and connects to the core of her fans. It is nearly impossible to watch a Nash concert and not become infatuated with them. Speaking of relatability, you can find hilarious live tutorials of Nash trimming their bangs with an electric beard trimmer live on her instagram. If you have a chance to go to a Megan Nash and the Best of Intentions show, you would be foolish to miss out.

- Gregory Torwalt

Live, In Review: Megan Nash & the Best of Intentions

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