I didn’t get to most of the shows happening in Lethbridge this week due to illness and other 
commitments, but I always love hearing girls sing, so I’m glad the one I made it to was Isobel Trigger and Rend at the Slice with special guests the Utilities, Oct. 2.
Local indie rock band the Utilities opened up the night to a decent sized Thursday night crowd with a solid set of upbeat indie rock drawing on a variety of influences from U2 and Radiohead and ’90s pop rock like the Gin Blossoms and Refreshments plus Calgary's the Dudes.
They played a mostly uptempo set except for a pretty, slower new song “Gasoline Trigger.” They ended their set with a Bobby Fuller Four cover “Let Her Dance.”
Victoria pop rock band Isobel Trigger, who lent their drum set to all three of the bands for the night, borrowed Rend's bassist Jeff Quinn who fit right in like he’d always played with them.
“We’ve never played with him before. We’ve never even jammed with him,” enthused lead vocalist Felicia Harding, leaping around the stage in between playing Korg synthesizer and crooning like a more jazzy Metric.
There was a lot of synth pop and jazzy, hyperactive vocals and a while lot of energy. After left handed guitarist Brett Faulkner, whose parents were listening intently in the audience, broke a string near the end of the set, he borrowed Rend guitarist Steve Roe's right handed guitar for an excellent version of Isobel Trigger’s single “Dust and Bones” from their new CD “Nocturnal.”
During that, Roe changed Faulkner's guitar string for him in time for the band to play a medley of Led Zeppelin's “Whole Lotta Love,” the White Stripes' “Seven Nation Army” and the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams are Made of This” to end their set.
Rend set up a steel guitar and synths for their set, which began with a sexy version of “Ain‘t No Sunshine.”
There were ready to rock after that with “ Battle Cry” from their last CD and focused mostly on material from their latest CD for the rest of it, though a highlight was another tortured, sultry number “Shadow.”
They kept the energy level up from the beginning with “Breakout” from their latest EP “Winter to Summer.”
They sounded a similar to Metric and Florence and the Machine with a touch of Pat Benatar classic rock. But lead singer Carol-Lynn Quinn definitely sounded like fellow Edmontonian Ann Vriend with a more rock edge.
She played a kazoo solo in between playing synth and jamming around the stage and into the audience.
Their latest single “Scars” was a highlight as was the title track of their EP “Winter To Summer.”
They finished their set just after midnight with a couple of more brand new and more synth pop songs including “ I Don’t Know What To Do.”
And not to be outdone in the Led Zeppelin vein by Isobel Trigger, they ended the night with a sexy cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.”
