
Diamond Rings @ The Garrison - Photo by Aviva Cohen
PS I Love You, the duo from Kingston, Ontario (consisting of PS namesake Paul Saulnier and drummer Benjamin Nelson) that are powerful enough to sound like an ensemble of at least five, brought their corrosive sound to the stage to support their pal and the evening’s headliner, Diamond Rings aka John O’Reagan, who was in his adopted hometown to celebrate the release of his debut album, Special Affections.
Although Saulnier’s wallowing lyrics are most often rendered indistinguishable by his Frank Black-esque shrieking (especially on the gritty “2012″), he definitely lived up to his newfound reputation as ultimate shred master, pummelling out a cacophony of riveting guitar riffs before melting audience members’ faces with the final solo in the band’s last number, the gut-wrenching “Butterflies & Boners.”
Diamond Rings and PS I Love You have become inextricably intertwined after the release of 2009’s much-praised limited edition split 7”, featuring O’Regan’s Pitchfork-approved “All Yr Songs” and PS I Love You’s “Facelove,” which was performed as a duet last night between the two Little Canadian Bands That Could much to the crowd’s delight.
Building off the momentum of PS’ magnum performance, Diamond Rings hit the stage clad in matching leather jacket and biker gloves through a haze of fog and launched into his trademark, sugary sweet synth-pop with ‘Play By Heart’, which immediately got the crowd swaying and gyrating. O’Reagan continued to dazzle the audience for nearly an hour with his spastic dance moves, crystal-clear baritone vocals, his impressive 6’5” superhero stance and strategically applied rainbow eye make-up. Hungry for more, a ravenous crowd cheered Diamond Rings back for a two song encore that included a pepped-up cover of PS I Love You’s ‘Actually (I Am A Monster Now)’ and his most infectious gem to date, ‘All Yr Songs’, the track that inevitably started all of Diamond Rings’ much-deserved acclaim.
Dimond Rings Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/diamondrings
PS I Love You MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/psiloveyouband
To see more photos of Diamond Rings click HERE.
To see more photos of PS I Love You click HERE.



