Polica - an intimate groovy evening

Polica

Le Petit Campus, Montreal

21-04-2016

I found out only a few days before the show that Polica was coming to town and even though I hadn't listened to them since their first album came out and I had never seen them live, I decided to buy a ticket right away for this concert in such a small venue that is Le Petit Campus. I liked their sound back then so I thought it would be great to see them live and I'm happy that I went.

That evening I got in the venue really late just before they started playing and I was lucky enough to be right in front of the singer. Their performance was a mix of synthpop, trip hop, robotic tones and great electronic beats to dance to. From my position on the floor, I could clearly see the singer play with her synthesizers boxes which contained a circular touchpad to modify the sounds coming out. Moreover, using her modular she was changing her voice a lot from a more robotic sounding voice, echoing sound and her beautiful natural voice which is perfect for the songs they are playing. The beats were made stronger and interesting by the addition of 2 drummers which played a crazy "solo" during the second to last song of the main set which accelerated greatly the beats of the song and the crowd loved it.

Speaking of the crowd, I can say that everyone seemed to dance to the beats throughout the whole set at the same time as the singer who was dancing to the beats and rapped on some of the songs. Everybody I could see seemed to appreciate the songs and the general performance. The singer wasn't really looking at anybody but the back wall on most songs, but she spoke to the crowd between some of the songs in French.

For the first song of the encore, they played a song that someone in the crowd yelled that they wanted to hear and the singer was happy to accept right away which was nice to see.

overall it was a really good performance in a small venue and lasted 60 minutes. It gave me such a good impression that I bought their latest vinyl which I rarely do.

 

 



Savages - mosh pit extravaganza

Savages

Corona Theatre, Montreal

02-04-2016

It was my first time seeing Savages live since I couldn't make it during their first tour because of sickness while I was in Los Angeles a few years ago so I didn't really know what to expect and I found out soon enough.

I was standing in the front row at this show even if I got in pretty late, but I quickly found out that I was really lucky to be standing slightly to the left of the stage since most of the right side started a huge mosh pit almost as soon as the second song started. Getting too old to participate in this type of dance form and I usually just want to dance where I'm standing or listening to the band and with mosh pits around it's always hard to do so since I always lookout for potential hits. Anyways the whole moment stopped later in the show when the singer asked people to move closer to each other to avoid this and then she walked on the crowd and later bodysurfed for a while which was cool to see how she trusted the audience for a long time.

The band which consists of 4 women gave an incredibly hardcore performance with their post punk songs and attitude. The energy level of the songs and the singer were really high which gave more fuel to the crowd which enjoyed hitting each other and participating in the show. Only a few rare songs like Adore Life would calm people down...a bit.

Each member of the group had her own personality or way of playing in the band which was totally different from the bandmates

The singer was singing loudly and screaming sometimes, interacting with the crowd by going around and touching people, walking on the crowd and giving anecdotes.

While the guitar player gave a performance without giving away any emotions and seemed cold or really focused on her playing skills only looking at her guitar and standing still while playing during the entire set. The only moment she moved for a few seconds was during the last song to play near the drummer and came back to her previous spot after 1 minute which was funny in a way.

Watching the bassist was an entire different story since she was always dancing to the beat of the music, she seemed to really enjoyed the moment and the crowd, but she kept her eyes closed during the entire show which is quite unusual.

Finally the drummer was the person I watched the most during the show other than the singer since she played really hard by hitting her drums like crazy and she was always smiling while playing and at the crowd between songs.

The sober or lack of mise en scene really helped to focus entirely on the music itself. No need for extra fla fla when the music goes right through you with such intensity and loudness which sometimes made it impossible to hear the singer.

The encore interlude was actually played by the guitar player and the bassist who jammed until the singer and drummer came back on stage which is unusual, but way cooler as a fan!

The show was great, intense as was the crowd.

A must to see - Half Moon Run + Emilie & Ogden

Emilie & Ogden

Metropolis

Montreal 01-04-2016

 The opening act for the first of four sold out Half Moon Run show was Emilie & Ogden, her harp.

I had listened to her album 2-3 times since she released it in 2015 and I thought it was a good album, but seeing her live was something else. I never thought I would say this, but I quickly realized that a group with the main focus is the harp can actually rock really hard with the help of her drummer and her bassist.

Her performance was splendid on the harp, her voice sounded perfect, the bass was loud, Ogden was top notch and it was a show to remember as it was heavy and intense.

The crowd seemed to really appreciate the show as well and everyone was cheering hard after each song until they saluted us goodbye only to come back at the end of the Half Moon Run performance like she told us she did during her previous tour with them where she was shining again.

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Half Moon Run

Metropolis

01/04/2016





The first of four Half Moon Run shows at the Metropolis was an event to remember and to share with others. From the moment the group stepped on the stage to the last second of the show, the crowd was supercharged as if a boy band was playing in front of them and girls were going nuts except that everyone was going nuts, loudest I've seen a crowd, and it was a rock band from Montreal playing for us. The band was obviously really happy to be here in front of this crowd at home with their parents cheering and dancing from the VIP section. I've rarely seen so much excitement at a show from the crowd. I felt quite old with the college kids that formed 95% of the crowd.

The members of the group are excellent musicians and it was easy to appreciate it through the solo performances that they were giving each one at a time during the songs that they played sometimes with their guitars sometimes with the harmonica or the keyboards, but they were also joined by numerous other musicians who were playing violin, cello, traverse flute, piano and keyboards. Speaking of the soloes on harmonica and guitar, I can say that they were intense and had a huge reaction from the crowd. There was even a moment when the singer started playing with his mouth on his guitar while on his knees and it was something to remember.

Half Moon Run is playing with 2 drum sets on stage at all times and it can be heard during the whole show and really brings the beats and the songs to a different level of energy.

These showmen played 21 songs last night that ranged from intense rock, to folk rock, dance-electro, fast and slower songs to bring intensity down a little bit only to restart strong.  The singer had a great voice, but I couldn't see him much to their setting which placed the singer behind the speakers on the left of the stage, unfortunately,which was the only issue I had last night during this amazing set.

Setlist:

Scenically they are doing great things with the lights using LED posts, colorful lights and intense spotlights that basically made me close my eyes as they blinded me, but as a whole the lights enhanced the songs. They highlighted the crowd often with main lights to see the reaction. Moreover, Half Moon Run surprised everyone with 5 seconds of an intense blast of white steam coming from the top of the stage towards the crowd which was quite impressive and gave me no time to react to take a picture since I was frozen for a few seconds.

They finished the show with everyone on stage and including Emily (without Ogden) to sing the last song with them. It was a really nice moment to wrap things up and say goodbye.

A show to remember for sure!