At the Biltmore Cabaret on Saturday, February 13

It was business as usual for the Biltmore on Saturday night. Apart from some minor noise restrictions and the lack of fog billowing from the club’s smoke machine—concessions made to appease the guests packed into the adjoining Howard Johnson hotel—there was little to indicate that our fair town is in the midst of the Olympic onslaught.

The night known as Glory Days might have an awkward format—bands are sandwiched between dance-floor bangers typically reserved for the glitzy clubs lining the Granville strip—but the weekly event seems to hit home with fans of live music and Le Chí¢teau–clad weekend warriors alike. Still, as the DJ’s swinging reggae-tinged beats gave way to Makeout Videotape’s fuzzy, garage-tinged pop, it was hard not to liken the experience to one of those incoherent dreams you have after polishing off a batch of funky chow mein. You know, the type of night terror that has you battling Jean-Claude Van Damme one second and doing the hustle with Céline Dion in a steamy Montreal disco the next. Thankfully, the disorientating sensation subsided once the local duo launched into its minimalist cock-eyed pop.

With frontman and guitarist Mac DeMarco taking the lead, Jenn Clement—who fills in when resident stickman Alex Calder is unable to make a gig—pounded away on her simple floor-tom-and-snare setup, her gaze never drifting too far from her fresh-faced bandmate. From the woozy stoner waltz “Eating Like a Kid” to the blissed-out lo-fi lullaby “Bye, Bye, Bye”, the pair entranced a crowd that only minutes earlier had been gyrating to red-hot club remixes. Standing behind her two-piece kit, Clement did her part to hold down the beat, but it was DeMarco who really kept things rolling with his Jonathan Richman meets No Age routine, more than proving that Unfamiliar Records was onto something by signing the outfit.

When it came time for Sun Wizard to take the stage, singer-guitarist James Younger couldn’t help but make light of the preceding electro chargers, dead-panning to the Biltmore’s tech: “Can we get more smoke, more lasers, more gunshots, and more Lil Jon?” Who’s to say if those taking refuge in the back even noticed Younger’s tongue-in-cheek request as they hammered down vodka Red Bulls; the enthralled Main Street regulars clustered around the stage sure seemed amused, though.

As for the local quartet’s performance, it was nothing but polished and on point. Regaling the crowd with pristine gems off of its debut EP, Maybe They Were Right, Sun Wizard whipped through the rollicking “You Had the Answer” and passionate blue-collar romp “Day In Day Out” before unleashing the new “Into the Night”, a lazy country-tinged number that surely garnered the guys a few more admirers.

Only moments after Sun Wizard unplugged its gear, a soul-drenched Bob Marley jam piped through the sound system, calling the frisky clubbers back to the dance floor. And 30 seconds later, it was as if the rock ’n’ roll component of Glory Days had never even happened.