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Fiona Apple @ L'Olympia
Fiona Apple has been performing an impressive string of shows in support of her latest album The Idler Wheel..., which in the eyes of many fans indicates a rebirth for the artist, and also a chance to make up for the time she's missed since her last release seven years ago.
An ambiguous cloud shadowed the Montreal show during the weeks leading up to it: would concert-goers and fans be willing to dish out a whopping seventy dollars (and upwards of ninety dollars for assigned seating) to see her perform after such a long hiatus? Clearly the Grammy Award-winning artist is a phenomenal talent, but that price tag sort of stuck out like a sore thumb. Either way, if one is an above-average fan of any musician there's a good chance they will pay the high price-tag to see them; and for this show, L'Olympia de Montréal was at three-quarters capacity.
Apple took the stage a couple of minutes before 9:00 accompanied by her five-piece band that included guitarist Blake Mills and bassist Sebastian Steinberg—the duo also served as the night's opening act playing a handful of numbers, including a few cover songs. A dim-blue light cast over Fiona Apple as she came out to a hero's welcome and slid right in to the song "Fast As You Can".
The sixteen-song set relied heavily on tracks from her first three albums Tidal, When The Pawn..., and Extraordinary Machine. It was slightly surprising that Apple did not play more material from her latest release, considering it has been getting rave reviews from nearly every paper and blog on the planet. However, Apple aficionados were left absolutely mesmerized by her presence, and by her choice to feature her older material. By the third song "Shadowboxer", Apple had the crowd in the palm of her hand and anything she performed easily pleased her audience.
Memorable moments included the crowd's first proper sing-along to the title track from 2005's Extraordinary Machine, along with new songs "Werewolf", "Anything We Want", and a drawn-out version one of her strongest tracks "Sleep To Dream" from the deluxe edition of The Idler Wheel....
One thing that could have upset a few fans was that Apple seemed more of a front woman to her band than a singer-songwriter seated at the piano. Known mostly as the latter her entire career, Apple played piano for merely three or four songs. This could definitely have been a legitimate complaint for someone who paid a hefty fine to see more of her hammering down on the keys.
On the contrary, Apple's stage presence was quite impressive. She ran around directionless and danced uncontrollably, much to the crowd's delight. It felt more like a rock show, despite the intimate setting. A familiar scene for those who remember the notorious video, Apple performed the majority of the song "Criminal" crouching on the floor, which almost felt nostalgic. The encore was a pleasant rendition of Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe", and her performance ended with a loud ovation from the highly-entertained crowd.
For a person who is not that knowledgeable of Fiona Apple's work (besides knowing all the words to "Criminal"), they would have definitely enjoyed the show. For die-hard pundits of her work, this could have been one of the best shows they have ever seen since Apple treated them to a career-spanning set. For someone who really wanted to see more of the new album and more piano, they could have easily left disappointed. It all depends on how one looks at it. Regardless, Apple definitely brought her best game to Montreal, even if she might be steering in another direction.
July 11th, 2012
Read and Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
Stories by: Alyssa Tremblay, Carlo Spiridigliozzi, Audrey Folliot and Jamie Lee Gordon
2 children and father die in garage fire
A father and his two children died in a garage fire in Warwick, Quebec on Tuesday morning.
CBC News reports that the remains found in the burning garage may belong to the residents of the home. Neighbours alerted fire fighters at around three AM.
A bitter child custody battle between the victim and his former partner may have played a role in the deaths. The father Jocelyn Marcoux had full custody of his children; however, a hearing was scheduled on Tuesday to modify that arrangement.
Marcoux last post to his Facebook page expresses his frustration with the bitter custody battle and with the system.
Police have not ruled out a double murder suicide in this case.
French gunman was to attack Canada, recordings say
Leaked conversations between French terrorism suspect and authorities show that the suspect claimed he was encouraged to attack Canada.
Mohamed Merah, 23 years old, went on a shooting spree in Toulouse last March, killing three Jewish schoolchildren, three paratroopers and a rabbi.
Speaking in French in the recordings, Merah said that the operatives from al-Qaida offered to let him carry out attacks in Canada and the United States.
But Merah said that as he was a French citizen, it would be easier for him to attack France.
Merah would not surrender to the police, and was killed in a shootout after being holed up in his apartment for thirty-two hours.
Police say Merah was a radical Islamist and claimed allegiance to al-Qaida.
Victim’s families were outraged at the airing of the recordings.
An investigation is taking place to verify if the airing violates any French law on the privacy of investigations.
No Fans In The Stands?
Montreal summers are well-known for the legendary nightlife, lounging on the finest terraces in the city, and attending the world-reknown festivals that take up most of the three months of the year that aren't spent shoveling snow off of our front steps.
It also presents Montrealers a chance to take a break from stressing about the Canadiens (although that never happens), meaning its time to break out the old Calvillo jersey and spend a night drunkenly cheering on the Alouettes (and their cheerleaders) or heading down to Saputo Stadium to catch a Montreal Impact game while pretending to be a European for 90 minutes, chanting and waving scarves apparently tailor-made for 35 degree weather.
This summer was supposed to be the summer to trump all summers: the Alouettes are always a force to be reckoned with in the Canadian Football League, but with the Impact slated to kickoff its inaugural Major League Soccer season, combined with the start of Euro 2012, never before has the city's soccer interest been so high. For whatever reason, though, hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of empty seats can be seen at both the Alouettes or Impact home games, which raises two very important questions:
1) Where is everyone?
2) Has this city not learned its lesson by now?
We all know what happened to the Montreal Expos, so we won't get into that; and while their relocation wasn't all the fault of Montreal fans, we certainly played a role in it. There's definitely a dose of hypocrisy to this whole story, as we notice the decline in interest (or attendance, to be specific) at the games of these two teams: fans have been clamoring for the return of Major League Baseball to this city. They say that a new era, a breath of fresh air, a rejuvenation of sorts, will create enough excitement to fill whatever ballpark the Expos would ultimately play in.
To this I say: there's a "rejuvination" happening at Saputo Stadium before our very eyes-but where is everyone? Does David Beckham have to be at every Impact game to attract large enough crowds to NOT have to be having this discussion? People complain about the location, citing the same mistake that past Expos' "ownership" made by building a stadium far from the downtown core.
To this, fans reply "if their was a winning team, I'd be more intrigued". To this I shake my head is disgust. The Alouettes won the Grey Cup in 2009 and 2010, have been to the Grey Cup Game more times than any other team in the past decade, and consistently put up winning seasons while also boasting three of the best players in the league at their respective positions: Anthony Calvillo, the Hall of Fame Quarterbac; Brandon Whitaker, the shifty, versatile running back; and Jamel Richardson, the dominant and seemingly unstoppable wide receiver.
So again I ask, where is everyone?
I know this is a hockey town. I know that its easier to have friends and family over, put out some wings, chips, and beer, and watch the game on 90-inch screens. But for the sake of this city's history, it's people, and it's athletes, who have to deal with more pressure than athletes in any other province in this country: go to the games.
Its fun, its worth it, and if you know what your doing, it cost you your entire week's paycheck, nor will you have to leave the house 5 hours in advance to beat traffic.
I hope this is simply an anomaly-despite the Expos debacle, its widely known that Montrealers are passionate about their teams (look no further than the Montreal Canadiens for proof of that). But in times like these, when doubts surface, we must all step up and prove that this is in fact one of the premier sports cities not only in North America, but in the world.
Melvins Lite + Retox @ Corona Theatre
I had the privilege of seeing the Melvins, currently known as Melvins Lite, perform on July 3rd at the Corona Theatre for their recent album and tour. I've seen the Melvins twice before, and each time was memorable for wildly different reasons. Would the third time be as memorable?
Not so great first impressions...
The first time I saw the Melvins was October 26th, 1993 at Metropolis when they opened for Primus (touring for Pork Soda). At the time, I didn't know the band well, but I was a massive Primus fan, and I was stoked to see them for the first time. I guess most of the crowd was there to see Primus too, because they started heckling the Melvins and chanting "Primus!" The band proceeded to play an entire set of feedback and droning noise to drown out the audience. I remember it being pretty terrible; but then again, their antagonistic response made it one of the most memorable shows I've seen. The Melvins must have thought it was memorable too, as they included part of the set on their next album Prick in a song called "Montreal."
Hive inducing?
The second time I saw the Melvins was the last time they were in Montreal at Club Soda September 3rd, 2010. They were touring for The Bride Who Screamed Murder, and had their regular recording/touring dual-drummer lineup. It was a great show, except that I inexplicably broke out in hives about halfway through their set. That can get a little distracting when trying to enjoy a concert. To this day, I still don't know what caused the outbreak.
What would make this third time memorable? Perhaps a plague of locusts?
Retox
There was no plague, but opening act RETOX did feature Locust members Justin Pearson on vocals, and Gave Serbian on drums. Their songs are a mix of punk, hardcore, and metal, and almost all of them are around a minute long. I thought that they were much more interesting live than on record, but after four or five songs, it was getting hard to distinguish one song from the next. Their set ended awkwardly when the lead singer jumped in the crowd, lost sound, got back on stage, gave up, threw his microphone on the ground, and left the stage while the rest of the band finished the song.
Melvins Lite
Melvins Lite is a new configuration of the band featuring Roger "Buzz/King Buzzo" Osborne on guitar/lead vocals, Dale Crover on drums, and Trevor Dunn on double bass (hence the "lite" version of the Melvins). For those who don't know, Trevor Dunn is an incredibly prolific bassist, best known as being a frequent collaborator with Mike Patton as part Mr. Bungle, Fantômas (also featuring Osborne), and most recently as a new member of Tomahawk.
The show started with Dunn alone on stage playing the bass intro to "Eye Flys" (the first song from the Melvins first album Gluey Porch Treatments) using a bow. Audience applause greeted Buzz and Dale as they joined on the particularly slow and sludgy opening number. They extended the introduction to around 10 minutes, which tried the patience of one particular concert-goer who started whooping and yelling "enweye!" (let's go, hurry up, come on!). It was at this moment where I had visions of that first show at the Metropolis: this was going to turn into an hour-long free-form feedback show. Just in time, thankfully, the main part of the song started, and my fears were allayed.
Just like their new album Freak Puke, the show started slow, had small interludes of weirdness, but otherwise, it rocked. As expected, they concentrated heavily on the new album, but also included interesting renditions of tracks from their increasingly large back catalog of albums. New songs "Mr. Rip Off" and "Baby, Won't You Weird Me Out" were particular highlights, as was the surprisingly good cover of the Paul McCartney and Wings song "Let Me Roll It."
My favourite part of the show was their rendition of the "A History of Drunks" from A Senile Animal. The double bass added an interesting touch to song, which didn't hamper the driving catchiness of it. The music then deviated near the end to a slow jam before picking up where it left off and when it ended, I found myself grinning from ear-to-ear.
Buzz Osborne, wearing what can be best described as his space muumuu (as my friend Michelle succinctly put it), was his usual surly self. He had little interaction with the crowd, but he made up for it with his guitar playing and distinctive singing. Also, hands-down, the best hair in rock ‘n roll.
Dale Crover, wearing what looked like a sleeveless Danish soldier jacket, is in my opinion one of the most underrated drummers in rock. Amazing chops.
Trevor, dressed like geekier version of Angus Young (shorts, short-sleeve dress shirt, tie, taped-up horn-rim glasses and a ball cap) was impressive on double bass; his reputation as a talented bassist is well-deserved. Switching between using a bow and using his fingers, he added a unique twist to the usual Melvins sound. He may be the best bassist the band has ever had, and I hope that this album and tour is not the last we hear of him.
The show ended with "Shevil" from Stoner Witch, and there was no encore, nor did I feel there needed to be one. I walked away quite happy.
I saw the Melvins and it was memorable for the music and the performance, and not for some other event that overshadowed it. And at least I now know it wasn't the Melvins that caused me to break out in hives.
July 9th, 2012
Read by: Aisha Samu
Stories by: Aisha Samu, Carlo Spiridigliozzi, Niki Mohrdar and Gregory Wilson
Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
2-year-old drowns in Laval backyard pool
A 2-year-old girl drowned in a backyard pool in Laval on Sunday, reports CBC news.
Paramedics on the scene tried to resucitate the child before rushing her to the Cite de la Sante Hospital.
It is not known what led to the drowning.
This is the 41st drowning in Quebec this year; 12 more than at the same time last year.
Experts blame the increase in warm weather.
The last accident occured last Wednesday when a 16-month-old girl died in Kirkland.
Following the accident, Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc encouraged people to take precautions when going in water.
Security questions at hospitals after man commits suicide
Security in Montreal hospitals is once again in the spotlight after a man commited suicide on Sunday morning.
According to the Montreal Gazette, a 50 year old patient jumped to his death from the 9th floor at Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital.
Police have ruled the death as a suicide and the hospital has opened its own inquiry.
This is the 3rd major incident in Montreal hospitals over the last 3 weeks resulting in the deaths of 3 patients.
Nurses unions are blaming all these incidents on under-staffed departments and over-worked nurses.
Student groups critical of McGill & Concordia
Student groups are criticizing Montreal's two anglophone universities because of over spending on security.
In a report by the Montreal Gazette, the universities spent $500,000 extra on security during the student walkout last spring.
The FECQ and FEUQ called the extra spending wasteful and a poor management of public funds since both universities weren't as affected as francophone ones.
The universities meanwhile deemed it necessary to protect against vandals.
Flickr Photo by: Viola Ng
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