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Dandy Warhols @ Le National
It hadn’t been that long since the Dandy Warhols came to visit us here in Montreal, but judging by the size of the crowd at le National the other night, their fans seem to never get enough of this West Coast band.
Entering the charming National theatre, you immediately felt a surreal emotion looking at the stage. This was due in part to the giant Chinese round paper lanterns that hovered above the stage and little did we know at this early time, how they would compliment the band in fantastical fashion.
When the band hit the stage they were in a mysterious shadowed display, leading to a feeling of, "what were we going to hear?" Yet, we had a pretty good idea of what that would be, due to the fact that they were here to promote their new compilation album The Collection Years 1997-2007.
They remained shadowed out, until the chorus of the first song, "Be In", a quite fitting tune to get the show going due to the fact that it is from the 1997 album The Dandy Warhols Come Down.
The light show that ensued was impressive. The lights during "Be In" flashed like crazy and we were even taken back in time to the '80s when strobe lights went wild. Something that is quite impressive is that the whole band plays upstage. Even drummer “Fathead” De Boer was in plain sight at the front of the stage.
At the lead in to the third song, "Shakin’", off their Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia album from 2000, singer/guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor tried his hand at French and I must say, I was thoroughly impressed with his accent. Sounded like he has spent some time with les Français and the crowd ate it up.
However it was the next song that sent the audience into a right tizzy… it was "Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth". Everyone got into the groove, as the big Chinese laterns went bright red.
The band was in fine form, sounding just as they did back in the '90s and although they may be older, they still seem like they can party. Zia McCabe often took a time out from the tambourine to take a swig of beer.
Speaking of Ms McCabe, as Taylor-Taylor would call her, she delighted us with her talents as a musician. Midway through the show she even took on the harmonica when they played "The New Country" and ooo wee, can she play like the best of them. This song has always got me, as it is so different from everything else they do… however they manage to make your conform to country by creating that toe taping effect. It wasn’t until the very end that we finally got to hear their most famous tune "Bohemian Like You", from Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia and they made you feel like it could just go on forever. Everyone jumped up and down and sang every word.
The last song of the night was "Country Leaver" and that it was, leaver that is. They did not play an encore, but still sang 22 songs throughout the show, with no breaks. That is what I call rock and roll stamina and lovers of the craft!
November 15th 2010
Read and produced by Gareth Sloan
Stories by Chris Hanna, Sarah Fangarry, Michael Lemieux and Marcin Wisniewski
News: November 10th, 2010
Read by Sarah Deshaies
Produced by Nikita Smith
Stories by Gareth Sloan, Erica Fisher, Sarah Deshaies
November Horockscope
For November's edition of the hoROCKscope, we suggest you listen to Morrisey's “November Spawned a Monster” to fully substantiate this month's tweet-worthy predictions!
All signs:
The Sun transitions into Scorpio this month, taking emotions to the deepest level. Prepare for its full transformative energy! Power up!
Aries (Mar. 21 – Apr. 20)
Thoughts of travel occupy your mind. Don't let personal problems conflict with work. Luck will happen on a wednesday. Trust your intuition.
Taurus (Apr. 21 – May 21)
Home life will frustrate you this month. Doing things independently will benefit you. Take time to deal with finances. Friday will be lucky.
Gemini (May 22 – Jun. 21)
Avoid serious topics wih family to avoid a sticky situation this month. Don't let personal conflict impede goals. Luck falls on a Sunday.
Cancer (Jun. 22 – Jul. 22)
Savour small things this month. Travel is not wise for your wallet just now. Make plans for future goals. Luck arrives on a Tuesday.
Leo (Jul. 23 – Aug. 22)
Social interaction is ideal for you this month.Take time to contact old friends. Settle any debts to settle your home life. Sunday is lucky.
Virgo (Aug. 23 – Sep. 23)
You will come up with plans to solve inefficiencies around work this month. Travel is ideal, but beware of added costs. Sunday brings luck.
Libra (Sep. 24 – Oct. 23)
Try to cut or curb bad habits this month, you will feel better about yourself. Get out and meet new people. Luck is yours on a Saturday.
Scorpio (Oct. 24 – Nov. 22)
Happy birthday! Be careful with money and joint endeavours this month. Don't push opinions on to closed ears. A Wednesday will bring luck!
Sagittarius (Nov. 23 – Dec. 21)
Don't try to impress others with big spending this month. Romance may flourish from group activity. A Monday will bring luck this month.
Capricorn (Dec. 22 – Jan. 20)
Tempers will rise if you are too hasty with choices this month. Romantic opportunity presents itself through travel. A Monday will be lucky.
Aquarius (Jan. 21 – Feb. 19)
Ask true friends to help with your ideas this month. Travel could bring romance. Don't react to pushy people. A Wednesday will be lucky.
Pisces (Feb. 20 – Mar. 20)
Unexpected expenses may crop up, take heed to their seriousness, be firm. Learn new skills to help get ahead. Luck will fall on a Wednesday.
-Trixie Sixx
Saturday, Nov.13 - FAR*EAST MOVEMENT WEEKEND on CJLO
Yes, that's right! The Far*East Movement, with their Billboard number one single and all, gave CJLO the V.I.P. treatment and accepted to speak to not one but two of us!
1- Beginning at 8 p.m., with SUITE DELIGHT, you can hear DJ Solespin's interview with FM's Prohgress.
2- Then at 10 p.m., Mike Vo hosts BEATS FROM THE EAST, featuring an exclusive interview with Kev Nish!
This is gonna be bonkers!!!
So, as usual, be there for 4 hours of Saturday Night Mayhem on CJLO!
Gord Downie And The Country Of Miracles @ Le National
Fame and artistic talent are tricky things to manage. Consider the case of Gord Downie, who has both. He's the lead singer of the Tragically Hip. Maybe you've heard of them. Or maybe you're not from Canada. Gord, however, is no simple Canadian semi-alt-rock megastar. He's also a poet.
I don't just mean in the lyrical sense, though his lyrics are perhaps more poetic than your average semi-alt-rock band's leader. He's also published a volume of his poems, Coke Machine Glow (Vintage Canada, 2001), which was packaged with his similarly-named debut solo album. He's very fond of exploring things with a certain wistful, nostalgic Canadiana to them. He also likes puns like "In Violet Light" and "The Night Is for Getting" and stuff.
Well, apparently, he also yearns for small shows again. The Hip now draw pretty sizable audiences no matter where in Canada they play. Which is well and good, but our Gord-o needs more—in this case, more in the guise of less, which is to say, Le National Saturday night was somewhat sparsely attended, and it's hardly surprising for a band called Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles and not The Tragically Hip.
The show was a strange mix of things both Tragically Hip, and not. As with Hip shows, there was no opening band. As with Hip shows, there were two full sets, plus an encore. As with Hip shows, there was an active, participatory crowd, and Gord was full value for strange musings and absurd song introductions.
The only problem there was that there were maybe 200 people in the room instead of a couple thousand, and as a result, one or two drunken assholes who wouldn't shut up managed to get everyone a little on edge. Of particular note was one guy who kept—and I mean kept, he must have pulled this shit at least a dozen times—shouting at Gord, asking him where "Scotty" was. The guy was pretty big and inebriated, so I understand why no one really took him down a peg, but it was sad to see a sweet concert semi-ruined by a single motivated asshole.
That being said, though, it was a sweet concert. Downie, though eschewing anything from his Hip repertoire, played a good selection of songs from both Coke Machine Glow and his new album, the raison d'etre of the tour, The Grand Bounce, and the crowd seemed to roar with approval at each new song it recognized, particularly if he drew out the pleasure slowly, as with the "Who here's been divorced? ... Have you ever been to Vancouver?" bit that introduced "Vancouver Divorce."
At the end of the day, Gord's still got it. The genius art installation that provided the show's visuals, comprised of a projector, a glass pan full of liquids and cut out paper shapes that he carefully placed together to form landscape scenes was honestly the coolest thing I've ever seen at a concert; a sort of visual inventiveness that made the whole evening something to remember, and the tunes, though not quite as viscerally new, were nothing to scoff at either. That being said, I can't wait until the Hip roll through town...
-Alexander Manley
Devin Townsend @ Petit Campus
There aren’t enough people who know the name Devin Townsend, but most of those that do would probably make the connection to Strapping Young Lad while the rest would think of his solo project. Tuesday, November 2nd of this year, I went to see Devin Townsend live on stage in Montreal at Petit Campus. There were three other bands that night, but I don’t want to say anything about them. To be fair, I only wanted to see Devin and while I was early enough to catch the opening acts I spent the time mingling with friends in the crowd and taking names of people I thought I’d like to keep in touch with. I was lucky enough to get to meet Devin in the backstage area - it wasn’t very much, just more of a “hi how are you” kind of deal, but when he came on to the stage it was worth it….
Devin has a habit of making his presence known and felt when he’s on the stage. He’s more animated than any physical comedian I’ve seen, his facial expressions reflect the mood of every one of his songs and he converses with the crowd not just during the set, but during his songs (he made it a point to give a hug to a guy in the crowd because he looked “bored”). Halfway through the concert he stopped to remind the crowd about the “stereotypical metal show traditions” he wanted everybody to participate in. He wanted us to clap our hands, to ignite our lighters and to “start a fucking mosh pit right here”. Finally, at the end of the show, he let us know that he was going to walk off the stage in an attempt to fool the audience that the show was over with the intention to have the audience entice him back on the stage for an encore, which he was very happy to deliver.
As for his music, I’m not a hardcore fan of Devin Townsend so I’m not able to identify or list off every track he played, but I know when he played songs I really enjoyed which made me very happy. The first song he played that I recognised was "Christeen" early in the set, and I went nuts. As the night went on, he played other great tracks such as "Bad Devil", "Earth Day" and several tracks from the classic Ziltoid the Omniscient album. The reception in such a small venue (Petit Campus) was better than the reception for other bands in larger venues, which showed the dedication of the audience to this man! Throughout the set you could feel the energy of his music as it progressed through his styles and the evolution he brought with him from his days with Strapping Young Lad to his later solo work. I believe him to be a musical genius in the world of metal and, being of Canadian heritage, a pride of the country as well.
In the end, this was one of the best concert experiences I’ve had to this date and I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to meet him backstage for a little impromptu meet and greet. Yes, I know I could have gone to the VIP showing but I missed out, only to meet him one-on-one in the back. Happy? Very. But at the same time, who’s dumb-assed fucking idea was it to play Vengaboys, Aqua and Outkast over the PA right before Devin’s set?
- Burnt Offering’s Cecil
Bonobo @ Le National
Bonobo succeeded at bringing jazz underhandedly to the masses Saturday night at Le National. I don’t think I’ve personally ever seen jazz (which is really Bonobo in a nutshell… except for the DJ) so well -eceived by a group of twenty-something hipsters. Le National was packed to the rafters, and I barely was able to navigate my way through the haze of pot smoke (most appropriate for this show) to the balcony. I arrived late (missing Thunderball, the opener) and Bonobo was just starting his/their first song, with the relatively recent addition of Andreya Triana on vocals. It was a more R&B or hip-hop vocal style that wasn’t my bag, but the show was riding more on the strength of the live instrumentalists more than anything else. Apparently I was alone in this feeling, though, because the crowd was bananas for this girl. For me, though, her “American Idol” stylings left a lot to be desired.
The band, on the other hand, was professional, tight, and gorgeously balanced. In addition to Bonobo on decks, there was a synth player, a guitarist, a dummer on a very full and very beautifully mixed (kudos to the sound guy) kit, and a three-piece horn section with sax/flute/clarinet, trombone, and trumpet. The result was a lushness you wouldn’t normally get on a typical Ninja Tune show- which would involve, normally, just DJs and sometimes vocals.
The crowd seemed to be at home with every single track Bonobo threw at them, and was more responsive than any group I’ve seen in awhile in Montreal. At the top of the set were the two songs with vocals, followed by several with only instrumentals involving some very hot solos from the horn section and drummer that successfully revved the crowd up even more. There were some songs that just bordered on the heavier, grittier sound that I wanted more of, but they never quite went there. Some breakbeats peeked out too, but they never formed the basis for songs, and for the most part, Bonobo stuck to a pretty formulaic, loop-based set. Very rehearsed, very structures, and almost predictable, but still quite gorgeous sounds.
Bonobo’s chill-out ambiance left the crowd wanting more and after the last two songs heralding the return of Andreya Triana and a loop pedal, they came back like troopers for a couple of encores.
If you dug early '90s Ninja Tune, Bonobo hasn’t changed his sound much from those days. There was no hint of anything very modern or experimental, but it felt very comfy, like an old Zero 7 or Funki Porcini record. Check them out next time they’re in town if you need a classic downtempo trip out party.
Phoenix @ CEPSUM
Imagine the greatest of ironies: a French rock group from Versailles travels across the ocean to the most populous French city in North America, gets booked at a French-language University by French promotion, and plays their American Grammy-winning album to a sold-out majority-French crowd…in English. Such a paradox might confuse objective observers, but for montrealers, it is the music scene. And it is exactly what took place on October 21st, 2010 at the Complexe Sportif de l'Université de Montréal.
Phoenix, the ever-popular group currently transcending the indie paradigm, made their most northern stop on their five-continent world tour in Montréal. The show was more crowded than usual for Phoenix, most likely due to their increasing cultural status and spots on late-night TV, commercials, movie soundtracks, and their Grammy win in January of this year. The group’s pulsating popularity put them in their prime, providing the perfect pretext for a powerfulperformance, quintessentially delivered that Thursday night.
After having pumped the crowd with a well-received set, Canadian opener Tokyo Police Club yielded the stage to Phoenix, representing a symbolic transition between two indie ambassadors from different generations. The first song punched out was "Lisztomania," a favorite of any Entourage addict or Rock Band enthusiast with taste. The Red Bull-injected crowd mumbled the words as best as possible under the conditions, especially considering the North Pole temperature setting and the resulting involuntary huddling at the expense of personal space. The stadium setting allowed for the sound to permeate through the crowd quite easily, each beat resonating through connected joints and elbows. Frontman Thomas Mars (lucky mate of acclaimed filmmaker Sofia Coppola) held the vigor of the crowd, through both his mannerisms and youthful style. This youthful influence seems to be quite dominating throughout their latest album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, a quality transcribed directly to the show that evening.
What most concertgoers seemed to recognize Phoenix that night is that they were entirely consistent. Consistent in delivery, beat, rhythm, and energy. Their songs flowed together in a manner that wasn’t too erratic for the eardrums and equally cadenced for moving feet. Though the grand majority of the songs sounded relatively similar, the crowd proved engaged and engrossed. With the devoted beat in the background, the true star of the evening proved to be the amazing lighting. Normally not the highlight of the show, it is remarkably true that the production team of the Phoenix troupe deserves a big award of their own. Red, white, orange and other colours in a star shape were on unapologetic display at all times during the show. The intense rainbow prism fulfilled the sight senses of everyone in the crowd, immediately making the live show the preferred alternative to albums, mp3s, and headphones.
The instrumentally-heavy "Love Like a Sunset" was played almost entirely in darkness, engulfing the crowd in a heavy trance that prepared them for the emotional ballad "Countdown (Sick For the Big Sun)" that revived the intense lighting and vocals by Thomas Mars. The next tune, "Rome," was performed as an exemplary Phoenix hit, displaying the great talent that has been carried on SNL, the Late Show, and in the soundtracks of CSI, Cougar Town, Vampire Diaries, Royal Pains and much more. This mainstream attraction is easily justified considering that every Phoenix song has a special “soundtrack-like” attachment, begging to be used as a backdrop for a scene of an enthusiastic high school geek getting his first date or young moon-bound lovers off to elope in the city.
Showing that Phoenix is polyglot in every sense, Mars broke the English-heavy setlist to cover Johnny Hallyday’s "La Fille Aux Cheveux Clairs," instantly recognizable to the Montréalais and Parisiens in attendance. It was sung by Mars from the middle of the stadium, surrounded on all sides by concertgoers with iPhones, Blackberries, Nokias, Androids and digital cameras, eager to post this sweet French melody on Youtube, Tumblr, Twitter, or to receive the well-coveted Like from their friends on Facebook. The last song played for the encore was their biggest hit, "1901". This recognizable tune united the show goers beautifully, pushing the propelling performance to the brink of a perfectly played payoff.
If a theme is to be derived from this review of the show, it is that Phoenix is entirely culturally relevant. They represent the current evolving indie music scene and the dominate sound that is played both on stations like CJLO and mainstream Billboard Hot 200. Their show in Montréal headlined their talents and relevance, unabashedly. If there is ever a time to follow a band in their prime, it is now and it is Phoenix.
CJLO News November 8th 2010
News read and produced by Drew Pascoe
Stories by Chris Hanna, Marcin Wisniewski, Michael Lemieux, Sarah Elfangary
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