There are probably countless things you can find yourself doing on a Saturday night in downtown Toronto but on November 8th, indie rock lovers decided to see some awesome music from Minnesota at one of the cities most revered venues. Ticket holders were welcomed to Lee’s Palace via easy listening rock with the likes of Dosed by RHCP and Wish You Were Here by Incubus that really set a chill atmosphere like a calm before the storm in the layered space that would be filled to the brim hours later. The tour that kicked off with a hometown Minneapolis show on September 12 is now in its final stretch as the brother-sister duo of Durry (named after their shared last names) comes off their latest full-length release titled This Movie Sucks earlier this summer. Taking the album and fellow Minnesotans VIAL with them through North America, it’s clear that the love for new music from the North Star State spreads nationwide.
The stage setup had two drum kits ready to go with the one on the left having the stickers spelling out “VIAL”, a 3-piece (with support from Gabs!) playing a style of punk that’s explosive as it comes especially live on stage – the blast of energy from their opener Ego Death tells you a lot about what to expect for the rest of the show. Complete with a “Furby snake” wrapped around one of their mics, guitarist KT Branscom, drummer Katie Fischer, and bassist Taylor Kraemer are a triple threat especially with all three being able to share vocal duties across their catalogue of tracks and just like their set, it’s a great blend of indie-rock, pop melodies, and raw punk aggression. The stretch from the Nirvana cover of Territorial Pissings, into their newest single IDLE HANDS from late October this year that hits like a truck, then into the satisfying “pop-iness” of bottle blonde, really highlights their impressive range as a band through their releases thus far. Tracks like Creep Smoothie and their closer Piss Punk also just manage to etch itself in the best way into your brain with its catchy lyrics and guitar work. It’s no doubt this trio can rock and really sets the bar on making the most out of Lee’s Palace’s stage.
Then hailing from just outside the Twin Cities is Durry, the night’s headliners were set to take the stage after a switchover that had the sound system grace the crowd with all the energy All These Things I’ve Done and Mr. Brightside could muster before they start their show. Made up of Austin & Taryn Durry and supported by bass guitar and drums, the band started with a bang. Over half the set comes from This Movie Sucks and so, it felt right for the duo to kick the performance off with the album’s dynamite opener Bully into the just-as-explosive Monopoly Money. These first two tracks from the album does spotlight their new work, but also shows how much their sound has evolved especially following it up fittingly with Coming of Age from their 2023 release Suburban Legend, an album and the encore track at the end of the night. This isn’t to say that they’re abandoning their roots at all with the tracks on This Movie Sucks with the Durry’s signature throughline of clever melodies, catchy lyrics, and relatable topics still being the forefront. Whether it’s the “I hate capitalism” vibes of idk i just work here, yelling back to that singable part halfway through More Dumb, or the emotional power of The Long Goodbye especially with the story behind the song, Durry captures this sort of surburban frustration and romanticism in a real and honest way with their indie rock sound as the vehicle. I think Taryn’s surprise at people moshing in the crowd to Porcupine says it all.
Early in the show, Austin explained how for this tour, he’d been working hard editing and working on the set for a year. The stage setup included 6 large TVs in the back behind the single drum kit (with VIAL’s drums now packed up) so initially, it was exciting to see what was in store. Durry’s known to be hands-on and DIY where possible with their productions so you can really see the passion and care that fuel this project and how can they can achieve visuals that pop because of it. Unfortunately for the Toronto crowd though, the crew was not able to get the entire stage setup to work so those visual effects will have to wait until (hopefully) their next visit to the city and so Austin said, “today is pure rock n roll” and so rock they did. To help make up for it though, a functional VHS tape featuring a collection of Durry’s music videos appropriately titled “Bully” was given away to a lucky fan at the end of the night – a very niche but special prize that take’s the band’s love for nostalgia to another level.
To double down on this duo’s creativity, the band got into their song Dead Media that they released back in September. This song that starts off with robotic sounds and immediately evolves into this satisfying emotional anthem was actually a secret track hidden in the dead wax of This Movie Sucks and which is why it wasn’t digitally released until later in the year. That attention to detail showcases again in one of the many ways how much this duo put into Durry and maybe their sibling connection says a lot. Austin then mentioned how he’s wrote a lot of music in his time and it’s only ever worked when he played with his sister which was also a perfect segue into their internet hit Who’s Laughing Now that closed their set. A song that spread like wildfire, the catchy indie rock banger really opened up a lot for the band and like Austin mentions, now they’re 4 years in, 2 albums deep. Looking at the response from the Toronto crowd packing Lee’s Palace front-to-back, it feels like Durry is on the right track to go as far as they want to go.
Keep up with the latest on Durry through their Instagram and Website.