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Photo: Kelly Christin Sutton

“You guys are ready to fucking yee-haw!”

It wasn’t a lie when Kacey Musgraves made that exclamation near the beginning of her show at MTELUS over the weekend.  Despite bitter-cold temperatures (a situation Musgraves also colourfully expressed concern and sympathy over), it couldn’t keep down the palpable excitement of an audience hungry to hear their country queen.

Musgraves was in town to promote her third and latest album, Golden Hour, which arrived like a soothing balm during a tumultuous 2018.  Filled with lovely hybrids of country and atmospheric pop, the album’s crossover appeal made it connect with seemingly everybody, from the CMAs and the Grammys, to even left-of-centre publications like Pitchfork.

The venue was packed (don’t discount Quebecers love of country music), with a diverse crowd of young and old, couples and families, hipster and cowboy chic.  Shimmering synths and a vocoder served as an intro to the show before leading into Golden Hour opener “Slow Burn.”  The audience was hooked from the get-go, already singing along to every lyric.

After performing several tracks from the new album, Musgraves and her band launched into “Merry Go ‘Round” from her debut album Same Trailer, Different Park, to no less a rapturous response.  Despite being about the “itty-bitty town in Texas” Musgraves hails from, audience members took her words to heart that it could be about any one of their hometowns too, as their voices were perfectly in unison when Musgraves got them to carry the chorus near the end of the tune.

For most of the show Musgraves alternated between the more traditional (yet no less idiosyncratic) country music of her first two albums and the crossover pop of Golden Hour, with the crowd showing love for both phases of Musgraves’ oeuvre.  One minute Musgrave and her band were performing Golden Hour’s swooning title track, the next her band were fully rocking out on Pageant Material cut “Die Fun.”  There was even a stripped-down portion of the show, with Musgraves’ band assembled in a family hoedown setting to perform acoustic versions of songs like “Oh, What a World” and “Love Is a Wild Thing.”

The swaggering beat of “Velvet Elvis” got things up-tempo again, with Musgraves remarking "I know yee-haw is having a moment now, but it's here to stay.”  Musgraves was clearly having a ball, especially after donning an appropriately diva-like coat to perform Gloria Gaynor’s disco classic “I Will Survive” (more apt than ever in our times) as a duet with opener Natalie Prass.

It took until nearly the end of the show for the appearance of what is perhaps Musgraves’ signature song, “Follow Your Arrow,” whose message of staying true to oneself elicited a wild response from the already ecstatic audience.  The huge sing-along sans Musgraves during the final chorus showed the impact of putting an artist in just the right venue to elevate their performance to wonderous heights.

While Golden Hour closer “Rainbow” seemed to bring an end to the show on a poignant note of maintaining hope during tough times, Musgraves quickly abandoned the pretense of the show being over and went straight into “High Horse.”  A four-on-the-floor barn burner and easily one of 2018’s best singles, Musgraves and the crowd danced with jubilant energy as the song brought the show to a rousing finish. All night the audience demonstrated their belief that Musgraves could do no wrong, and Musgraves proved them right that frigid January night.

Hosted by Alexandre Denis

Stories by Alexandre Denis

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LOCAL

A proposal to equip SPVM officers with body cams is facing resistance from both police and City hall.

An SPVM report indicates a high cost in equipping all officers with cameras. They also claim their one year pilot saw no benefit in having officers wear the cameras. Concerns about the privacy of both officers and citizens were also brought up.

The leader of the opposition Lionel Perez believes the city should go through with the project. He claims a need for better oversight and believes it will increase public trust.

NATIONAL

Francois Legault has faced harsh criticism after claiming there is no Islamophobia in Quebec. The statement was said a few days after the anniversary of the Quebec city mosque shooting. Legault has opposed calls to make January 29th a day against islamophobia in quebec.

His office later clarified that he did not mean islamophobia was nonexistant in quebec. Rather, that it was not widespread.

However, data from Stats Can show that hate crimes have risen sharply in recent years. These crimes predominantly target black, jewish, and muslim communities

INTERNATIONAL

Two former French police officers have been found guilty of the rape of a Canadian tourist.

The crime occured in 2014. The victim Emily Spanton was out drinking at pub when she met the officers. They then brought her back to police headquarter where she was raped. She said three men were involved, though the third was never identified.

Officers Antoine Quirin and Nicloas Redouane face 7 years in jail. They will also need to pay a fine to Spanton of approximately thirty thousand canadian dollars.

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.