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Still Woozy fans braved the biggest snow storm of the year to see their show at le Ministère, and they got their money’s worth. Despite the one-hour delay, the young energetic crowd really enjoyed both Victor! and Still Woozy’s  performances.

It has been a surprisingly dynamic and engaging first tour for Still Woozy. Sven Gamsky, the man behind the act, is a 25-year-old musician from Oakland, California. As of the end of last year, he had only released about ten songs, and has only been doing shows for two years. This was his first tour in Canada, and he delivered. I now understand why it sold out so quickly. He is definitely one of the best discoveries of 2018. Even though Gamsky makes all of his music out of his garage, he manages to create his dreamy universe with very sophisticated guitar, bass and synthesizer. 

When the show began, the crowd was instantly hooked. He aligned three very catchy songs and danced his way around the public. When he started signing “Goodie Bag”, his biggest hit, which became a Spotify sensation last summer, people screamed the lyrics. He played it once more at the very end, with Victor! and some of his musicians dancing along. Needless to say, the show was funky, festive and energetic.

I was pleasantly surprised at Le Ministère that night. I was expecting a somewhat mediocre lo-fi band, but I rediscovered an artist whom I didn’t know much about (especially since he had only released a few songs), in the best way possible. In his 2019 tour, he played new music, presented good lyrics, and a powerful voice. His live performance of “Habits” and “Vacation” were especially compelling.

I also appreciated his rendition of “Still Beating” by Mac DeMarco; I recognized the singer’s influence on Woozy’s music throughout the night. He reminded me of Homeshake and Steve Lacy. 

Hearing his new songs, all I could think was that I’d like to hear a full album from him. Hopefully we’ll hear more Still Woozy in 2019.

Victor!, whose full name is Victor Cervantes, was very excited to open for Still Woozy, as this was his first touring experience. The 18-year-old singer from Chicago was accompanied by his best friend, who was DJing for him. 

You would think that 18 years old is young to participate in such a show (le Ministère only allowing an 18+ crowd), but the entire audience was around his age. It  seemed like there were only Concordia students that night. So when Victor! finished his show with a song about online dating, called “Tinder Song”, as he swiped through the app and improvised live on stage, people got excited. That was originality got the audience talking, some of them opening their Tinder trying to find him or to have their account appear on stage. His song “Virgo”, a funny revenge story against an ex-girlfriend of the same astrological sign, was particularly entertaining, involving the audience.

Although his first songs had questionable lyrics and had similar sounds, all supported by a slow-paced R&B beat, he became more comfortable towards the second half of his show and made the audience dance and sing along. The last songs had much more complex rhythms and sounds. They made me realize why an artist like Still Woozy would want him on his show. He clearly has a promising career ahead of him. 

All things considered, it was worth walking in minus 30 weather and waiting: the public left very satisfied. Next time we see Still Woozy it will surely be at a larger venue. 

Hosted by Alexandre Denis

Stories by Alexandre Denis

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LOCAL

The controversial Royalmount development in TMR has hit its first major roadblock. A Montreal City commission recommended the development be put on hold until further review.

In a press conference this morning, Mayor Valerie Plante said she is ready to work with the developer to fix the project. She highlighted the need to consider the impact of the project across all of Montreal.

The megadevelopment was approved by TMR despite its potential side effect on neighbouring communities. Critics raised concerns over poor public transit access and increased traffic in the surrounding area.

NATIONAL

Quebec cultural spaces will receive millions of dollars from the federal government. Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez announced funding for four Quebec City organizations to improved their facilities.

Youth Theatre Les Gros Bec will receive almost 4 million to buy a new larger venue. Another two million will go the Meduse arts coop to renovate their spaces and purchase new equipment. Ampli de Quebec and Maison Leon-Provencher also received smaller sums.

Funding for these projects comes from the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund as part of the Liberal Government’s  ten year commitment to investing in the arts.

INTERNATIONAL

Premier Legault is celebrating the end of his first World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Legault used this opportunity to promote the province to international corporations as well as other nations. One of the CAQs major campaign promise was to attract more business to the province.

Notably, Legault met with leaders of the controversial GNL Quebec project. The Quebec government recently came under fire when it announced it would not do a global environmental assessment of the natural gas pipeline.

Photo: Kaya Martin

A$AP Rocky’s “Injured Generation” tour took to Place Bell on Sunday night to treat fans to a stadium show based on his 2018 album TESTING.  

A$AP Rocky is the most popular member of Harlem rap collective A$AP Mob that began to gain popularity in 2011 after the release of his debut single “Peso” and his Live. Love. A$AP. mixtape. The rapper has since gone on to become a fashion icon in the music industry, and has also been featured in several movies.

Rocky’s show started when his hype men, wearing one piece lab coats and disturbing face masks, asked that the crowd follow their every command, whether this be to smile, frown, or laugh. The stage décor focused heavily on caution tape, black and yellow safety hazard signs and testing cars: a theme that Rocky encompassed for his newest album. As “A$AP Forever” began to play to the crowd, the New York rapper ran onstage and began rapping. He was dressed in a red jumpsuit topped with a yellow vest, complemented by Bred Retro Air Jordan 1s and a face mask that can only be described as a crash test dummy mask that could have been made by Hannibal Lecter himself.  

Shortly after rapping to various of his newest songs, Rocky requested silence from the crowd and paid homage to his late friend and fellow Mob member, A$AP Yams. He dedicated his next song to him. When “Yamborghini High” wrapped up, Rocky left for a wardrobe change while his unreleased song, “Babushka,” played for fans while they eagerly waited for his return.

As “Gunz N Butter” began playing and the curtain dropped, Rocky performed over 30 feet in the air on top of a floating car. The cars were covered with fashion brand stickers such as Gucci and VLONE while also being covered in crude graffiti. The artist showed no signs of uneasiness while overlooking the crowd, and continued to dance and rap while maintaining his swagger. As he made his way down from the car and onto centre stage, Rocky used a soundboard to introduce his next song, “Distorted Records.” With a camera on top of the board that projected onto the screen with special effects, the artist’s DJing looked more like a video game than a mixer. From there, he continued to play “Fukk Sleep” and “Tony Tone,” interrupted only briefly to do 10 push-ups at the instruction of the female voiceover that narrated the night.

When the stadium went dark, an old school anti-drug commercial ran on the screens. Those in attendance chanted for Rocky who reappeared in the middle of the smiley face stage. He laid on the floor, as his red jumpsuit contrasted the yellow background, and sang “LSD”: his hit single from At. Long. Last. A$AP. However, the crowd’s energy was at its highest when Rocky asked if he could get into some of his wilder songs. At his request, a massive mosh pit opened up and exploded to the first chord of Rocky’s Skrillex collaboration “Wild for the Night”, making any fan who had bought seat tickets wish they were on the floor for such an occasion.

When Rocky finished playing three songs in which he was featured on,  he sent the crowd into another frenzy with his track “F**kin’ Problems.” Finally, the rapper left the final song choice up to the crowd. When their cheers indicated that “Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2” was the one they wished to hear, Rocky played one final song for his fans and apologized for having taken so long to come back to Montreal. He thanked the crowd for their beautiful energy and bid them farewell – until next time.

LOCAL

The freezing cold and the snow did not deter protesters from participating in the third annual Women’s March on Saturday. 

The march in Montreal was one of the many marches that took place  around the world in solidarity with the thousands who marched towards the White House in Washington, D.C.

CBC reports, since its inception in 2017, the march has become an annual event where women come together to highlight issues of misogyny, transphobia and racism.

NATIONAL

The federal government is facing a lawsuit from B.C’s First Nation community to stop open-net salmon farming on their lands.

According to APTN news, The Dzawada’enuxw (za-wah-day-nook) First Nation of Kingcome wants Canada to remove 10 salmon farms from their traditional waters located in the Broughton Archipelago northeast of Vancouver Island. The claim argues that the federal government authorized fish farm licenses without their consultation or consent.

The DFN has had a no open-net fish farms policy for 30 years and have been actively protesting against the government for the past three years.

The Dzawada’enuxw community is also against the open-net farms because of the risk they pose to the already low salmon stocks.

INTERNATIONAL

It seems Australian baby formulas are a hot-ticket item in China these days.

According to BBC, Australian police confirmed they had busted members of an “expansive” criminal gang which specialized in stealing baby formula for illegal sale in China.

The stolen goods are valued at more than 700, 000 thousand dollars.

Australian baby-formula nicknamed, “white-gold” for its healthier contents is so sought after in China, it sells for over $100 a tin.

Unfortunately, for the criminals, the case was brought to police’s attention due the baby-formula shortage the Australian public was experiencing.