RSS

By Simon Howell - Sound On Sight - 04/04/2009

Some people have a way of making you feel like an asshole - people who seem to use every ounce of their energy radiating good vibes and generally make every effort to be singularly awesome. Andrew Bird is one of those people. While his idiosyncratic brand of string-laden, densely layered indie-pop surely isn't to everyone's liking, his instrumental prowess, boundless energy and lyrical dexterity are, at the very least, noteworthy. By comparison, even impressive performers can seem ordinary.

Take openers A Hawk And A Hacksaw, for instance. Now we're talking about a duo led by one Jeremy Barnes, who used to be in Neutral Milk Hotel, here doing the triple duty of lead vocalist, accordion player and percussionist (using a pedal-operated drum.) He's accompanied by a prodigiously talented violinist, Heather Trost. Their songs, which lean heavily on Balkan folk melodies and are evenly divided between instrumental and vocal works, display remarkable dexterity and passion - but after a 45-minute set of their material, their relative lack of range became obvious.

Not too long after Barnes and Trost left the stage, Bird, along with percussionist/programmer Martin Dosh (who put out a solo record as Dosh last year) and several other crack players, arrived to kick off what would wind up being an incredibly diverse set drawn principally (though not entirely) from his last two LPs, Noble Beast and Armchair Apocrypha. Bird showed off his trademark instrument-swapping skills early - most tracks would feature a violin part (or several) which he'd play live, then loop back only to set the instrument aside, swing his hips to bring his guitar forward and then play a set of chords, without missing a beat. Oh, and he's usually whistling or singing at the same time, if he's not throwing in some keyboard or glockenspiel work. Even more impressive was the fact that these well-worn moves were in support of the Noble Beast material, songs so labyrinthine you'd assume Bird must have hashed out simpler arrangements - instead, every minute pluck and shift in songs like "Not a Robot, But a Ghost" and "Masterswarm" present and accounted for, albeit with a bit more vigor. All of this, even more remarkably, was pulled off with an off-the-cuff feel, with Bird often throwing unexpected curveballs in his vocal approach. By night's end, he was performing alone with a sprightly rendition of Weather Systems highlight "Why?" not having lost an iota of momentum or interest. That, my friends, is what separates the men from the boys.

Tune into Sound on Sight with Simon every Monday from 9PM to 11PM

By Sophia Linhaires - Colour It Indie - 04/05/2009

This was the third time The Presets hit Montreal, after two albums and two previous shows it was nice to see how many people were lined up for the show. When I go to a concert, the first thing I always take note of is the crowd. Though it may sound strange it really does help you figure out what to expect for the rest of the night.  Everyone is there for the same reason; to see a band they like perform live.  For the Presets and The Golden Filter, the crowd was a mesh made up of all types of people. From scenesters to hipsters, club kids, raver kids, indie kids, the college crowd ,goth folk, even old folks. Frankly I was pretty baffled by the sight.

Openers The Golden Filter kicked off the show with an astonishing performance of “Favorite Things”. Penelope, the leading lady looked stunning in her dazzling silver mini dress. If there’s one thing to be said about her it’s that she can really rock the stage. The band played a stellar performance that even sounded better then their recently released album which was already quite impressive. Unfortunately the performance was short lived. I really would’ve liked to hear more songs. Hopefully this will be the start of a new Montreal fan base for the band.

When The Presets came on stage the crowd doubled. It was a tight squeeze in the cabaret that night; a great venue due to the small stage that makes for a more intimate show. Now before I begin to express my feelings on how The Presets did, let me say that this is coming from a fan that has adored the band for the past five years. Yet I never got the chance to really take a good listen to their new album and had just heard two or three songs prior to the show. The guys opened with their hit single “Talk Like That” which really got the crowd moving. But every song after that was a yawn. A really long yawn filled with way too many dépêche mode wannabe ballads and a really terrible remix of their once awesome song “Are You The One”. It was sad to see a band butcher their music like that. I will say that they did play well it just wasn’t at all what I was expecting after having seen them the first time they came to Montreal. It was like watching a completely different band. They didn’t even play any of the old tunes except the one they killed. It was truly a disappointment. Hell the only reason I’m glad I stayed there during that painful display was because I got to meet Penelope on the side of the stage during their last song. I will say that if you did enjoy the latest album from the presets you probably had a great time but for me, it was more entertaining to see people attempting to body surf and failing terribly. Oh that and the seeing an Australian flag in the center of the crowd was nice too. 

Tune into Colour It Indie with Sophia every Monday from 12PM to 2PM

By Christine Lariviere - The Lonesome Strangers - 04/17/2009

On April 17th I threw on my well worn, black t-shirt bearing a lightning bolt down the front -a shirt that has survived countless brutal slams in the pit and has been soaked in buckets of other people’s sloppily spilt beer. Wearing this shirt out could only mean one thing: I was going to a metal show.  

I shimmied my way through tons of metal fans and eventually planted myself by the stairs at CEPSUM.  Sitting by the stairs during the show would allow me to witness numerous people tripping and sometimes falling while they attempted to navigate through the darkness as they traveled up or down said stairs, often juggling a few beers to boot. Note to CEPSUM: light the stairs better. More importantly, this spot also allowed me to witness a truly fantastic metal concert.  A concert that would showcase old and new personal favorites including Children of Bodom and of course the headliners, Lamb of God.     

Finland's Children of Bodom played right before Lamb of God did and paid great homage to their loyal Montreal fans saying (in broken French), “Yesterday we played in Toronto.  But we think you’re a better crowd, right?” This was followed by a sea of horns and intense cheering, of course. Also, they continuously told the crowd to, “make some noise” and “drink it up,” adding in an impressive amount of expletives while doing so...perhaps the most I’ve heard from any one band.   

The band played almost ten songs –a large set for an opener, which put the fans into a frenzy.  Suffice to say that crowd surfing, moshing and cheering were in abundance.  During their set they played several crowd favorites including “Hellhounds On My Tail”, “Bodom Beach Terror”, “Blood Drunk” and “In Your Face”.  However, “In Your Face” was played in a tempo that was a bit too fast for my taste, but this may have been an intentional means to pump up the audience.  I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.       

Additionally, COB’s set was rife with audio samples, creating edgy introductions to their songs.  A particular favorite was extracted from cult classic film American Psycho. The oft quoted, sadistic lines uttered by Patrick Bateman are as follows, “All I have in common with the uncontrollable and the insane, the vicious and the evil, all the mayhem I have caused and my utter indifference toward it, I have now surpassed. My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone, in fact I want my pain to be inflicted on others” …intense.

Richmond, Virginia’s Lamb of God, on tour promoting their February-released, sixth studio album Wrath, took the stage and played a few more than a dozen songs.  The third song they played, “Walk With Me In Hell,” off their 2006 release Sacrament, compelled loads of fans to jolt out of their seats and into the pit.  Other crowd pleasers included: “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For”, “Ruin” and “Laid to Rest”, which the band introduced by saying, “You may have heard some shitty version of it in a video game.” (That video game being, Guitar Hero II.)    

Like Children of Bodom, Lamb of God appeared to vibe off Montreal’s audience quite well.  “This has been a great way to end our Canadian tour. You are singing louder than anyone else.  Did you have a good night with Lamb of God tonight?”  They also dedicated one of their songs to “everyone (they) drank a beer with at Foufounes.”  This was a sure way to connect with the audience, whose vast majority, I can safely assume, has at least once or twice ambled through the bar’s iconic, giant-spider gate. 

For their last song, Lamb of God asked for a circle pit.  Montreal fans responded by immediately flooding the floor at CEPSUM, erupting into a mass of black t-shirted bodies, flowing in a counter-clockwise motion.  The friends I was with yanked me down the flight of stairs I had seen so many people stumble on, and into the screaming, vibrating, electrical current of the pit.  It was there that my lighting bolt t-shirt got drenched in other people’s beer and other people’s sweat.  If the music hadn’t yet convinced me that I was at an excellent metal show, it was this.     

Tune into The Lonesome Strangers with Christine every Sunday from 4PM to 6PM

By Cory Alder - Rock the Plank - 04/26/2009

You may not remember MTV's Spring Break 1996, but I do. I remember it because it happened back when every CD I owned was a favourite, and I knew all their track lists by heart. The moments that sunk in during this time will stay with me forever. Like sitting in front of the TV watching the live performance of "Glycerin" on MTV, with a rain-soaked Gavin Rossdale heroically standing strumming his Fender Jazzmaster in the middle of a monsoon. He delivered his masterpiece to an equally soaked crowd eager to see his band Bush perform at MTV's Spring Break party location. I know I'm not the only one who remembers this moment. It is touted by some as the most romantic concert experience ever aired on television.

While Bush was panned at the time for sounding too much like Nirvana, they nevertheless built a huge following in North America before un-officially disbanding in 2002. Gavin had another band two years later called Institute, but it is his 2008 solo album WanderLust that has him on the road right now and enjoying the most success since 1999's The Science of Things.

Opening the show was Suzie McNeil, a Toronto-based singer who first grabbed attention by making it to the final four on the CBS show Rockstar: INXS. More recently she can be seen performing her song "Believe" on commercials for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver; it was this song that got the biggest response from the crowd, as many sang along. For the most part however the audience was indifferent. There was probably more attention paid to snapping camera-phone pics of her notably revealing skirt than to her music.

Gavin Rossdale and his band took the stage amidst a frenzy of smoke and strobe lights. The other four members were posted near the rear of the stage looking more like "hired guns" and less like band mates; all eyes were on Gavin. They kicked off the set with a couple of tracks from the new album and another one from Institute, all of which were warmly received by the audience, but it was when they launched into the opening riff of the 1994 hit song "Machinehead" that the show instantly attained a serious level of intensity. The at-first timid fans jumped up and down with Gavin. I felt like I was in the music video--I was driving a motorcycle really fast through crowded city streets, Gavin was rocking it, Mark Wahlberg had just carved "Nicole 4 Eva" on his chest, and somehow everything made perfect sense to me. I was also very pleased with myself that I happened to have my camera out filming when he meandered into the Talking Heads’ "Once in a Lifetime" mid "Everything Zen". He suggested we ask ourselves "how did I get here?", and for the life of me I can't imagine what I did right to be right there right then with my camera rolling.

I was absolutely thrilled that he played some of the classics, but I was sort of feeling guilty about enjoying them so much, and I was beginning to suspect (judging by crowd reactions to them) that most everyone attended in hopes of hearing a few choice Bush cuts. It's bad enough that 90's music has found its way to classic rock stations, but I couldn't bear to have one of my heroes as a teen become a relic just yet. My proudest moment came as I looked around to see people singing along to his newer songs-- especially  "Forever May You Run" and "Love Remains the Same", the latter used to promote the movie Nights in Rodanthe and finding its way onto the mainstream charts.  

The encore brought it all home for me. In a way that closely resembled his Spring Break performance thirteen years ago, Gavin, completely drenched in sweat this time, strode out alone to center stage wielding his trademark Fender Jazzmaster guitar (making its first appearance of the night) and started into the super-mega-hit "Glycerin". Sweat poured down his guitar and spattered the front row of captivated fans, and I don't know if it was all of the Gavin pheromones or what, but the crowd was completely overtaken by the urge to make out with each other and sing along. It's hard to be down on a show that so closely resembled the "most romantic concert experience ever aired on television". Sure the new songs don't have the impact of that first batch from 1994, but it's like his song says: “Everything will change. My love remains the same.”

Tune into Rock the Plank with Cory every Thursday from  2PM to 4PM