Hiding from the Season with Montreal’s Frown Line, Joey Bird and Kelly Elizabeth

On Thursday, January 15th, I braved the elements and made my way to La Sotterenea for a show headlined by one of my favourite Canadian bands, Burs. I initially saw them in the Fall of 2024 and was very excited to catch them again following the release of their new album, Significance, Otherness. I would soon find out, upon stepping onto the metro to Laurier, that they were stranded in the snow all the way back in Toronto, and would not be making it to Montreal for their set. However, any disappointment I might have experienced on my way to the show was short-lived, and the concert by Montreal’s Joey Bird, Kelly Elizabeth, and Frown Line now ranks among one of my favourites I’ve seen locally.

The opening slot was filled by Montreal-based singer-songwriter Austin Pigott, who goes by the stage name Joey Bird. “I’m shy, and I’m nervous,” the singer admitted to the crowd between songs. A last-minute addition to the night’s lineup following Burs’ cancellation, Bird performed a solo set on voice and electric guitar. This opener was an excellent way to set the tone for the rest of the night, with a slightly timid, but never underwhelming brand of singer-songwriter folk. The combination of electric guitar and voice can be challenging, with the guitar sometimes taking over and drowning out softer voices like Bird’s, but the performance did not suffer from this at all. Bird more than stood up to the slightly distorted guitar, and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. It had all the good qualities of a basement show at a party, and the songs were quite lovely. Halfway through this first performance, my friend pointed out that our view of Bird was framed between the heads of two lovers in front of us.

The night’s second act was Kelly Elizabeth, who captivated the audience with her introspective and tender brand of folk. The set began quietly with minimal instrumentation, and I was struck immediately by the singer’s voice, a low, almost conversational whisper reminiscent of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval.

Later, when the drums and a slightly distorted lead guitar kicked in, there remained throughout the performance a kind of gentle quality to Kelly Elizabeth’s voice and stage presence. Admittedly, her voice was sometimes drowned out by the full band accompanying her, but never without reason. The instrumentation boasted creative chord progressions and a real ability to build tension while mostly maintaining the softness that made the songs so compelling in the first place. On a few songs, the singer performed solo on her acoustic guitar. For the most part, however, every instrument was carefully and progressively incorporated, everything in its own time. 

At this point in the night, I was beginning to worry that I was getting too cozy to fully appreciate the performances I was hearing. The lights were dim, the music had been, up until then, quite soothing, the weather outside was quiet and snowy, and the couch I was sitting on was very comfortable. I was terribly and unmistakably sleepy. I did not have to worry long, however -  only until Montreal rock quartet Frown Line walked onto the stage. The energy in the room shifted quite a bit, going from lovely and reverberant to the boisterousness one has come to expect from a performance at La Sotterenea. It was impossible not to get my second wind from Frown Line. The songs were an exciting balancing act between upbeat, complex guitar solos (sometimes with fun, twangy pedals!) and lead singer/rhythm guitarist Annika Devlin’s crystal clear voice. The band’s stage presence was both understated and playful, with two of the performers bursting out laughing in the middle of a song while still staying perfectly on beat. I was also especially struck by Frown Line’s creative use of rests in their songs, which gave their music an almost math-rock quality at times. That being said, Frown Line is quintessential Montreal indie rock, and it felt good to end the night in familiar territory, with such a beautifully performed set.