Thistle and Two Rats Loving brought masquerade, live dancers, and visual arts to masterful multimedia show
Photo by Jordan Mills.
Local band Thistle’s second album Let the Earth Lay Fallow brings poetry, music, visual arts and mythical realism together, while serving as a tapestry of what they’ve created since moving to the island.
Thistle is a predominantly folk-rock-inspired band, created by brothers from Washington, Declan and Aiden McLennan, the latter of whom is currently attending UVic. Their creative and local approach to music aims to create community in a dog-eat-dog industry.
On Sept. 25, they were joined by Two Rats Loving, a band made of UVic students and alumni Erika Kim, Finlay Macnaughtan, Cam Seward, Noah Jenkins, and Will Ainscough, for their album launch show at The Coda.
For the performance, they were also joined by Thistle’s live band members: Leo He, Matt Seale, Dexter Hodgins, and Ryan Keating.
The album launch saw approximately 310 attendees, with many more turned away at the door. Patrons came draped head to toe in formalwear, and some even made their own masquerade gear.
“I had messages from people being like, ‘We’re making our masks for the show!,” Two Rats Loving manager KC Buzianis said.
Macnaughtan said he was “kind of nervous to see how many students would come out in full formal wear.”
Beyond the opening band and live members, Thistle’s music gave even more local artists the opportunity to get involved. Videographers, dancers, and artists came together to support their album release. The band’s costumes were chosen after inspiration hit during a Langham Court Theatre visit with the members of Two Rats Loving.
“We rented our outfits both for the concert and for the Over The Garden Wall music video, the masks were all made by our artist friends.”
Two Rats Loving didn’t disappoint with their costumes, either. Jenkins — their vocalist and guitarist — leaned into a naturalistic woodland aesthetic for the performance. “I found a cow pelvis when I was at a house party and I was like, ‘This would make a great mask.’ Then I put it on a hat!” he said.
Fellow guitarist Kim went out of her way to make her own costume, a stylized orange and red dress paired with her iconic red cowboy boots.
Let The Earth Lay Fallow contains ten songs, each with an individual narrative. Sonically, the album features multi-layered harmonies and earthly instrumentals that pull at your heartstrings. “Watership Down,” a band favourite and the longest song of the album, was inspired by the classic Richard Adams novel of the same name.
Photo by Jordan Mills.
“We took a lot of the narrative structure of that book and then translated it into a song” Declan said. The song goes through the twisting and complicated yet harmonious story of two brothers, not unlike the McLennans themselves.
The main set pieces featured at The Coda included large birch trees and handmade lanterns –– painstakingly crafted by friends of the bands. Ivy was draped on the microphone stands, and netting was used throughout the forest set, drawing the audience into a mythical yet familiar garden.
One set piece that particularly stuck out was Thistle’s human-sized puppet, inspired by the “Mr. Krinkle” music video by Primus. The puppet was handcrafted by Declan McLennan out of chicken wire, papier mache, and tinfoil.
Dancers were also featured in the performance, donning costumes from the viral “Over the Garden Wall” music video directed by Makian, and proved to be a crowd favourite.
Aidan McLennan suggested the symbiotic nature of dance and music played a role in bringing together so many talented individuals.
“It’s fun to play music, but it’s even more fun to play music with dancers. And I’m sure it’s fun to dance, but I’m sure it’s even more fun to dance with a live band,” he said.
To Thistle, selling out The Coda with Two Rats Loving is only the beginning. In the last year alone, the brothers have written and recorded a full album, created a viral music video, and toured across North America.
“I feel like if you like what we’ve done so far, you’re only going to like what we’re going to do in the future more, because we’ll have more time,” Aiden said.
Those interested in seeing Thistle perform may have to wait, as the band is taking a temporary step back to work on larger projects and an upcoming 2027 tour.
However, Two Rats Loving, alongside local bands Stank and Zoocreeper, have another themed show, Freak Fest — coming up quickly on Oct. 24. More details on Freak Fest can be found on Two Rats Loving’s Instagram page, and tickets can be found on Gigpit.
