Hey Ocean! @ Pop Montreal (Photo Credit: Ming Wu)
The second day of Pop magic began promisingly enough: a trip to Marché Maisonneuve saw us equipped with the right ingredients for some creativity in the kitchen. Yes, Fall! Yes, pumpkin pie!
Leaving our culinary masterpiece at home to cool, the next stop was CBC headquarters for a free show featuring Think About Life. And here the first real fail of the week: we weren’t among the fortunate few (very few) people to make it into the showcase. Think About Life makes the kind of music that you can’t help but shake your boot-ay to, but we’re still unsure as to what kind of dance party could have gone on with a mere forty bodies. We can all take a look when the show airs on November 8th on Bande à Part.
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thinkaboutlife
The silver lining to the evening’s initial disappointment was that there was plenty of time to line up for the rumoured-to-be-sold-out Fever Ray appearance. After scoring some stamps on our wrists at the Metropolis to guarantee later entry, we then scooted over to Club Soda to catch most of Hey Ocean!’s bubbly, sunshine-inspired set. Ashleigh Ball has powerful voice that was well complimented by playful guitar riffs and some groov-ay bass. Definitely catch this power pop quartet live if you’re looking for a warm pick-me-up to stave off those cold weather blahs.
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/heyocean
Dashing back across the street to the Metropolis for Fever Ray, we had the fortune of meeting a friend with some awesome connections. The result: VIP seating directly above and to the right of stage. The thunder of “If I Had a Heart” opened the show, antique lanterns flickering in eerie unison with the thumping in our chests. Fever Ray took the stage decked out in an enormous hairy shroud that in the dark seemed akin to a costume from Where the Wild Things Are.
The crowd went crazy for “When I Grow Up” particularly, and looking out over the rolling sea of jiving bodies was enough to make us feel suddenly like Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut. Until the very last seat-shaking vibrations of “Coconut” we spent the concert in a state somewhere between terror and awe. It was brilliant.
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/feverray
Stumbling out of the Metropolis, we brushed past Win Butler and several Montreal semi-celebrities on our way to the Metro. Shortly thereafter we arrived once again at the lovely Il Motore, in time for Young Galaxy’s set. Why this show wasn’t sold out, we will never understand. The band was outfitted with matching face paint, Catherine McCandless wearing a flowered headdress and the most amazing shiny black pants. The set, made up of mostly songs from their sophomore release Invisible Republic, was gorgeously executed and Il Motore’s sound system once again helped to deliver an excellent musical experience. Despite its tiny size, the audience—including many friends of the band—clapped and cheered heroically and a spirited chant for “one more song” brought out 2/5 of the of the band for a pleasing acoustic performance to calm the end of the night.
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/younggalaxy
Day two met its end with and long stroll down Rue St. Laurent for “chow mein” complete with gourmet Kraft peanut butter sauce. Disclaimer: this is a snack that one should never eat in the daylight.
Bagels and fun times,
L and C
