RSS

With plastic ivy, photo negatives and polaroids dangling from the ceiling, Ivytide hit the stage at Theatre Fairmount on Saturday to an adoring home crowd. Celebrating the release of their latest album, portable darkroom, the room was in ultra-high spirits with groups of young girls erupting in screams whenever singer, Nathan Gagné, directed his flirtatious lyrics to their filming phones. 

Ivytide formed after Gagné sought out guitarist Jamie Synette, and bassist Kyle Ruggiero, to be in his live band following the release of a solo EP in 2017. With vocals reminiscent of Still Woozy and Frank Ocean, and indie pop/R&B inspired instrumentation, Ivytide’s steady flow of singles and album releases have earned them a growing following locally as well as internationally. On their latest album, portable darkroom, the songwriting is reflective, nostalgic, and grapples with themes of transition, loss, instability, carrying relationship baggage, and growing older. The album has a 90’s/2000’s feel with its opening track “vacant” setting the tone of the album with a moody guitar part comfortingly evocative of Samantha Ronson’s Mean Girls hit “Built This Way.” 

At Theatre Fairmount, Gagné and Ruggiero were outfitted in matching pink jumpsuits covered in autographs and messages from their fans, which they offered to the merch table for further signatures at the end of the show. Their stage presence mirrored the audience’s excitement and glee as they bounced around the stage, encouraged loud singing, and taught the crowd vocal parts to sing along to many of their songs. Before launching into “détours,” Gagné, Synette, and Ruggiero performed coordinated, robotic movements along to a background video of street signs while a track emulating the voice of a GPS rerouting someone through traffic played over the speakers to the great entertainment of their fans. Midway through their set, Gagné invited their opening act, Anna Justen, back on stage to perform a song they said they had just rehearsed backstage. Her angelic voice complimented Gagné’s in such a beautiful way that afterwards several voices in the crowd cried out for them to sing it again. 

Throughout their show, the crowd dutifully sang the words to their songs, most notably during “moving song” where the audience’s singing was an accompaniment to Gagné’s throughout. If the ecstatic energy of Ivytide’s hometown release show for portable darkroom was any indicator of where their new album will take them, their show at Theatre Fairmount captured a potent snapshot of the tide of acclaim headed their way.

Angela is the host of The Spacious Astrology Playlist, a weekly playlist of music inspired by the current astrology transits, Fridays 4PM-5PM

SXSW had a different feeling this year as artists pulled out of the festival in support of Palestine; Raytheon, a weapons company, had events at the festival, and though the rest of the artists came because of the opportunity SXSW provides them, some expressed that they do not support the US providing weapons to Israel and demanded a cease fire.

We landed in Austin Wednesday. The first event we attended was a networking event hosted by M for Montreal. Whenever M for Montreal hosts an event outside of the city they always have some Canadian treat for those in attendance and this year they did not disappoint, with Beavers Tails for dessert! Right after I went to the Pop for Montreal showcase which was adjacent to the event. There I discovered Montreal artist Hanorah who has a soulful sound and put on a beautiful performance. I couldn’t believe I never heard of her! Next was indie group Sorry Girls. The last performance I watched, and the reason I went to the showcase, was to see Janette King, a friend of The Limelight. It was so good to see a familiar face in a different city. She set the stage with roses and dim lights and began her performance which was soulful, sensual, she performed her newest track Nah Mek Me Fall which has a Caribbean dance feel to it.

Thursday I went to see The Beatbox collective from the UK. This is a crew that beatboxes sounds, beats and sketches. Each Beatboxer, Bass 6, Ball-Zee, Hobbit and MC Zani bring their own sound from Hip Hop, House and Pop. It was an amazing show, my mind was blown!

Friday I went to see Ho99o9, a group that Andrew our metal director and Allison our station manager attended. They mentioned that they blend punk with hip hop so I wanted to see what they were about. When they got on stage there was who looked witchy and a little scary and one dressed in a suit. Their sound had a heavy punk sound that they sung and rhymed over. It was a different sound for me but I got into it. What got me during the performance was that in between songs they would play classic tracks from Frank Sinatra to Crystal Waters, almost as if it was to balance the craziness of their performance. I found out later that a few of my friends know Ho99o9 so I felt good knowing I got to experience these artists and their unique style.

Later, I went to BBC Presenting, a UK showcase at The British Music Embassy held at the Sheraton where was two stages were set up outside. It was one of my favourite venues at the festival. Once again I was joined by our metal director Andrew to see Crae Wolf. She is described as rock and fantasy meets drill. Crae Wolf came off stage, told us her name and that when she says Crae, we say Wolf making it sound like Woof! The crowd loved it. She told us that she loved vampires and werewolves and you can tell by her goth style. She put on a great show, rapping singing over drill and rock beats. I had the pleasure of meeting her after her performance, not only is she a great performer and cool artists, she is very down to earth and humble.

Next I watched SANITY known for encapsulating a distinctive blend of Hip Hop and jazz. Her flow was smooth and her story telling was flawless. This was my favourite performance and discovery of the festival. She is now an artist in rotation on my show.

Overall the festival had so many artists to discover, I enjoyed that there were shows where the genres crossed meaning I got the see some of them with other MDs on the trip.

Amrew Weekes aka Lady Oracle is a co-host of The Limelight, Saturdays 6-8 p.m.

‘Does Casa del Popolo have a generator?’. ‘Does it have A/C?’. These were notions that certainly went through spectators’ minds as they ran into the venerable show bar during a fierce electrical storm that left parts of the city in a blackout. At thirty degrees plus humidity, Casa’s ventilation would be put to the test, hosting three indie rock outfits whose high energy would push the system to its limit. It was worth it.

With roughly 40 to 50 people in attendance, there was enough room to comfortably pick a spot while holding much-needed liquid refreshment as Montreal garage-pop band The Wesleys took to the stage shortly after 9pm. Hot off the release of their self-titled debut album in March, The Wesleys took no time immersing the crowd in their brand of freshly vintage indie rock. Keeping banter to a minimum, the quartet set an impressive precedent, with a capable drum and rhythm section that served as an anchor, allowing room for riffing and harmonies associated with classic DIY surf and punk styles. Casa del Popolo’s unique - albeit restricting - stage usually means bands have to be creative with their presentation, which may have been why bass player Quentin Chisholm was positioned firmly front and centre, though it seemed in keeping with the band’s collaborative spirit, sharing in vocal responsibilities and otherwise free-handing musical duties, a through line that would be prevalent with the following acts.

Charlottetown, PEI’s Absolute Losers came next, lauding The Wesleys while referring to them as a ‘real rock n’ roll’ band. Yet the trio of brothers Sam and Josh Langille, along with drummer/vocalist Daniel Hartinger brought their own spirit of crushing indie pop to the stage, standing firm in their own rock essence while delivering effortless power hooks, mostly from their latest release, At the Mall. Though Absolute Losers’ unassuming and proficiently tight set may have run counterpoint to their looser, flashier predecessors thatevening, they proved to be terrific ambassadors of the rock n’ roll tradition as well, with Sam Langille pushing his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose with the microphone after jostling and bobbing through half their performance – as rock n’ roll a move as I can remember. Drummer Hartinger unassumingly served as the bands’ fastener, adeptly pulverizing his kit while contributing to splendid harmonies, key to the bands’ overall energy and sound.

By the time Montreal-via-Charlottetown contemporaries Prism Shores hit the stage, it was apparent that the crowd had begun to wane, with body heat catching up to the venue’s overworked ventilation system along with a 10:30 start time on a Wednesday evening. Thankfully, the headliners pushed through, working to keep their audience enlivened with songs from their well-received 2022 record Inside My Diving Bell as well as new music from a forthcoming album this year. Apart from a brief technical issue to address a frenetic G string, the band deftly traversed from their signature sonic evocations to an edgier, urgent sound (potentially due to a lack of space for a keyboard), which served as an irresistibly alchemic soundscape complimenting the two previous acts. Guitarist Jack Mackenzie and bassist Ben Goss divided the burden of vocal duties on songs like “Tennis Shoes” and “Acrobat,” buckling down under quickly rising temperatures, no doubt due to the combination of lighting and moving bodies appreciating the high-energy set.

With a trifecta of up-and-coming Canadian talent, the evening proved to be a rewarding showcase for a crowd seemingly satisfied with what they witnessed; an unadulterated, melody-driven mixed bag of styles indicating that what’s old is new and that ‘real’ rock n’ roll is alive and well, even in the dog days of May.

In a Montreal spring, many days you look up, sure it’s about to start raining, the sky dark, and atmospheric pressure pressing down on you so much you almost feel under the weather, but the clouds never open, and that release of rain is never found. This was the case on Monday, May 13th, when Ride came to Fairmount Theatre with its equally pummelling guitars and abrasive sound. 

The Oxford band found early success with their breakout debut Nowhere (1990), which garnered critical and charting acclaim and is still considered one of the most important shoegaze records released. Shortly after, in 1992, Ride released Going Blank Again, another beloved classic of the genre. The band released a few more records before disbanding in 1995, and finally reuniting in 2015, abandoning fans’ nostalgic wishes for them to continue in the shoegaze tradition and embracing broader rock sounds. 

First up on the bill was local band Karma Glider. The band is fronted by Susil Sharma and features Jean-Philippe Bourgeois (bass), Jean-Philippe Godbout (drums), Charlie Neufeld (guitar), and was joined by Wesley MacNeil on keys, who you may know from fellow Mothland outfit Nightlunch. The band played mostly off their excellent 2023 record Future Fiction (#4 most-played release on CJLO last year). Karma Glider makes noisy indie rock, with a bit of a shoegaze bent, that was more on display in their live performance than their recorded music. The set was brash and energetic, with plenty of impressive guitar playing from Sharma. Later into the set, Sharma mentioned the next songs were from an upcoming EP. One of the songs, “Sugarcane” strongly utilized MacNeil for a more synthy sound. 

Between sets, I talked with a local musician who told me that Karma Glider went drastically over their allotted time, which made sense, as it was creeping towards 9:00 PM, with another band to go and Ride set to play at 9:15 PM. With that, Philadelphia’s Knifeplay entered Fairmount’s wide stage, saying they’d be playing a shortened set due to time constraints. Knifeplay ended up only playing two songs, though, as a shoegaze band, both songs were well over five minutes. Knifeplay, which TJ Strohmer started as a bedroom project, now performs as a six-piece, crafting beautiful, slow tunes, layered with distortion. Despite their short set, Knifeplay certainly wowed Fairmount, with their packed stage presence and room-filling guitars. After their second tune, guitarist Johnny Klein leaned into the mic to say “We have merch in the back” and the band promptly left the stage. Ouch… but fair. 

After a brief break, the lights turned down and recorded drum instrumentation began, the LED lights behind Fairmount’s stage lit up to say “RIDE,” and the crowd started cheering. The band entered the stage and launched into “Peace Sign,” the opening track off of their 2024 album Interplay. The band played through a few more tracks from Interplay, solid rock tunes, with less of the drony shoegaze sound the band originally became renowned for. But then, the iconic drum beat started and the venue knew it was time to go back to 1990 for, in my opinion (and that of resident CJLO shoegaze expert, Omar of Hooked on Sonics), the song we were waiting for – “Dreams Burn Down.” Cellphones went up in the air and the crowd started singing along to this classic. When the song finished, guitarist and vocalist Mark Gardener simply said, “That was a shoegaze song,” before going into the next track. 

He did this a few times throughout the show, likely poking fun at the recent renaissance the genre is having. This Fairmount show consisted of mostly the demographic you’d expect for a band that’s been at it since the early 1990s. Unlike the Duster concert of a few months earlier, which was packed with teenagers shoulder to shoulder against the barricade, this audience was around the band's age. However, there was certainly still a fair share of eager high schoolers and college kids packed up front. It’s safe to say that Ride hasn’t hit it big on TikTok the way some of their peers have, which is a shame, as their early output is some of the best of its genre. 

Ending off their set with their most famous song “Vapour Trail” and then the similarly-iconic “Seagull” and “Leave Them All Behind,” the audience came alive again, singing along to “Vapour Trail” especially loud. 

Some highlights off their new album included “Monaco” and “Last Night I Went Somewhere to Dream,” which had the audience dancing to the catchy rock tunes. Interplay sounds almost nothing like the seminal Nowhere and Going Back Again, but live, somehow it works. While, yes, you could tell the audience was rearing up, clamouring to hear their favourite classic shoegaze songs, the band’s no-fucks attitude and technical skill made even the new stuff feel pretty great. 

Aviva Majerczyk is the magazine editor at CJLO 1690AM. She is also the host of The Alley, a folk-rock show airing Fridays at 11:00 AM.