A night fueled by black magic
Steeple, Scarlet Wives and Blackmagic at La Marche À Côté
From left to right : Blackmagic and Steeple
As I walked silently reminiscing my problems, I happened to stop to light myself a cigarette and I percieved in the distance a friend of mine going to tonights show. I screamed hectically and we then joked around and we threaded down to La Marche À Côté. Arriving, I meet the guys from Bad Objection, Evergreens and then proceeded to wish good luck to Blackmagic's trio. Tonight, the bill is promising, Steeple, a young band who can stand their ground, Scarlet Wives, relentless punks who never miss the opportunity to set the night on fire and finally Blackmagic, a band who know just how good they are and aren't afraid to show it. A couple of drinks and cigarettes in, there's a hecticness that settles among the walls of the venue. Rumours are, the sound of the only microphone plugged in does not work well. The show is suppose to start at 10 and now 10:15 is past and beers and laughters are flowing heavier than any sound by the band.
But around 10:30, Steeple, have come to terms with the microphone, and they start out with some smooth songs accompanied by Mathias their guitarist who is quite agile along the fretboard of his beautiful Ibanez. It reminded me a bit of like math, prog rock, of course brought to a much more broad level, way more groovier and public pleasing. Syd their female vocalist fronting the band, reminding me of a certain Amy Lee, sang with a voice that was just so pure, poweful, gliding across the notes echoed in the background. The bassist Adam and drummer Even smashed each song with such exactitude and power, by the time I was done my fourth beer, the place was gone wild, a kid was lauched into the air and hit his head through the roof. Climax was reached at the end, when they surprised the crowd with a cover of In Bloom by Nirvana, where everything just blew up, and the standards where set for the night to come!
A couple of cigarettes later, a couple chats with the others, the consensus was established the night was to be awesome! We hoped things would only culminate from then on but as we came back inside there was a shamble, the mic is just not working and now they were trying to work with two microphones and the shit hit the fan. A couple of concerned people are rushing to get their hands on the console, try to fix up the issue, Scarlet Wives frontman Alice tries to hear herself but nothing works, they are left speechless to a crowd of young adrenalized kids who want nothing more than to party. The band proceeds playing their songs with only their guitars and drums desperatly attempting to be heard along with no success. Music blasted and people moshed their guts out and although no vocals could be issued, the venue was on fire. Pedro their drummer pounded the drums in order to compensate for the lack of vocals, while Unrich on guitar and Anik on bass keep pumping the rumble, as they finished their set looking bummed about the technical problem but at least they seemed very content with the crowds reaction.
Next on, the final act, Blackmagic the band that everyone came to see! One last time, Leanne the singer, pled for anyone to try and finally fix the mics, but ultimately nothing could be done. People were mad, some threatened to break all hell loose if nothing was done. Aldo the guitarist shouts to his bandmates, the show must go on! So here they are starting off with the drummer going full blown Wipe Out drum intro and I just can't believe it, they ramed in with the bass and the guitar coming full sound to shred through some good old surf rock. After this great surf rock revival, they start fiddling about their original songs, and to be frank, it rocked. Listening to their album Dans La Lune avaible on all platforms, I was afraid that the performance would be too melodic and filled with tender moments, but I was wrong. They simply rocked the cabash, riff tearing through the ceiling, the drums clawing their way through our hearts as the singer came in the crowd playing her basslines while moshing a bit with the youngsters. While Scarlet Wives seemed quite destabilized without a mic, Blackmagic succeeded in taking advantage of this by bonding with the crowd, playing covers such as Blitzkrieg Bop, and having everyone sing their songs out loud. For kids who go out to forget their problems and their mid life crisis, being part of such anthemic moment surely brings them a surge of dopamine bigger than any pills could. As they played their last song, everyone in the room applauded and although we didn't want it to end, everyone was drained after such intense pushing shoving and screaming the night away.
Quite frankly the night could've ended badly. At a point people were ready to ransack the bar, if no music could be played. Feedback busted our ears a couple times but ultimately the bands who were there to play lifted the night away. Steeple was a great discovery , Scarlet Wives paved the way for a crazy night and Blackmagic allowed everyone to let madness take over their body and soul. I wish to thank all the bands for making this night an incredible one and hope no one ever has to perform at La Marche À Côté with technical problems concerning the microphones. I encourage readers to go give each band a listen on any platform of your choice although Steeple don't have music out yet, Scarlet Wives and Blackmagic have great materiel awaiting to sooth your ears. If ever you missed this show and want to catch Steeple, they are playing February 16th at Barfly with alongside Evergreen and Roboter. For Scarlet Wives and Blackmagic, dates are yet to be announced but rest assured they surely will be playing very soon somewhere in Montreal.
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