Blackmagic, a trip that'll waltz you off your feets.
Two weeks ago, on a Saturday, Rancid Fairy, Booster Fawn, One Trillion Bees, Facades, Clifford The Duke and Blackmagic played at la Sottorena. The next day, Poolgirl played at Traxide with bands such as Birds Of Prrrey, Freshwax, and Heavenly Blue. Tonight, July 12th, Blackmagic, and Poolgirl will be playing with Steeple and other bands to support a great feminist fronted organizations. Now if you are still not convinced about seeing Poolgirl or be Blackmagic, here's my first impression on Poolgirl's live set and my night Saturday spent at the afterparty of the would have been The Patriarchy Show that was supposed to be hosted by Les Insoumises. The Patriarchy Show wasn't forgotten or anything it was simply cancelled due to outside performances and the bad weather not colliding well one another.
First of all, here's my impressions of Poolgirl, a band I'd heard of by name, but never had I peeked into their activities. Here's how it went.
Sunday June 30th, at Traxide, were smoke and sweat cuddled me harder than any girl will ever do. Poolgirl are onstage, twings and flings are heard, my ears are right next to the amps and I realize I've forgotten my earplugs, "Fuck It" I tell myself, there's worst than that in life. I'm fucking high, the sound isn't too great at least not for the vocals, I can't hear what the purple haired fine looking singer sings about. But she's definitively on to something trying to capture the crowd's attention, swirling, laughing with the admirers, responding to comments of adoration and practical jokes, but most of all, she's hypnotizing us song after song. Her bandmates are there holding it all together, allowing for a motherfucking great performance. Fetishwear and Boy Destroyer, two songs that are demoed on streaming platforms, are performed with much intensity, all those fantasies are suddenly much more meaningful than they were when heard through my shitty earplugs. Their renditions are enthralling, the bands roster and act fit exactly what new wave alternative rock is and on stage, their playing and sheer dedication to every note and word emited is simply rocking. Their set lasted around thirty minutes, and although I've no memory of what they played else, I know one thing, once over, I was sad, I wanted more. I felt like a drunken junkie who'd been expulsed of the bar at three in the morning wanting to drink endlessly. I really wanted more, I would've begged, licked the dirty floor, cried if I could've, but all I could do was compliment the girls on their set and go outside to breathe a tad of fresh air and luckily meet people who offered me and my friend some fresh grapes. To put it simply, Poolgirl are one to keep in touch with, definitely go see them play tonight, July 12th!
Now let's go back in time twenty four hours earlier. Saturday night, a rainy day confronts Les Insoumises to cancel their insane Summer Bash The Patriarchy Show, well technically they'd canceled it on the twenty-eight. But Saturday night, the after party featuring Rancid Fairy, Booster Fawn, One Trillion Bees, Facades, Clifford The Duke and Blackmagic still is going on. I'd offer a hand to help out during the day setting up the stage and vendors tables and greet artist supposed to perform, show them around. Now that I'd been without occupation, I truly was wondering how to eviscerate my misery and live another day out of ordeal. Listening to Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen which if you haven't listened to you definitely msut, a thousand ideas came up to me, I could go on a rampage, run away with a girl who'd blow me under the hood while I play guitar and drive full speed trying to reach the end of the world, I could go dig gold across the Ouest or simply ride my car and eventually be towed once I'd be out of gas. One thing that was sure, I'd never be executed and I'd have to be out of my local boring town. So I headed towards Saint-Laurent streets at La Sottorena where the after party would occur. Word was, it had been a fucking hassle to set up, bands clinging on, dropping off, a last minute decision to get up a few vendors, truth be told no one really knows how it happened, all we know are the aftermath of the events. It so happened that the devil was seating the event because as shows started the soundboard broke down, mics stopped, strings broke during performances forcing acoustic spontaneous interludes. But in the end, it was fucking magical, and by the end I was left wondering had I been under some kind of Blackmagic. Upon my arrival, I'd closed my earbuds leaving in the dust good old Billie Holiday who'd entertain me singing the blues about abuse, rape, deception, loss and other sad struggles she came across in her life, while I limped sadly and desperately to the venue. I felt a bit out of my mind and suddenly Alex who works as barmaid at Piranha Bar came out with a friend of hers and brought me back to the present moment . We talked about work, schedules, being tired and being broke. Going in, we met chips with toppings to fill our stomachs and once inside I greeted the mastermind behind the whole event, Marky, Blackmagic's manager, alongside Frederick who helped at the door. I also crossed paths with Aldo who guitars for Blackmagic, Zack their drummer and of course Leanne the modern dark hair Stevie Nicks who sings and plays bass for the band. I got myself a beer and a friendly warm hand suddenly grabbed me and I looked up, it was Joshua front man of folk revival band Booster Fawn. His thin soft haunting fingers sent shivers down my fazed out body almost leading me to an out of body experience. Looking at him, I seemed pale, and he asked how I was doing. For a moment I thought it was the signal to blatter out all the wrongs of life but seizing my mind back, I simply uttered a Yes you? and we chatted about the musicians playing and old habits, Nick Kent the coolest Rock N Roll music reviewer to ever have surfaced on this rock sold planet. I met Yuechang, a rocking hipster John Lennon looking violonist armed with an incredible open minded free spirited soul. He's a real cool cat and he did a bombastic hell of a job gardening Booster Fawn's delicate songs with his strings. A couple of other cats surfaced around, including guys from The Snatchers, Mindfuzz, Conflit Majeur and many others with who'm I shook hands and exchange a thing or two while being fucking banged out of reality.
After way too many cigarettes trying to grasp my mind back, I went inside and word was, the Allen and Heath sound console had broke down. Blackmagic weren't glad about it, acoustic sets with no amps not even microphones? Nah FUCK THAT, said Leanne. But after giggling, mingling, the soundtech had it working again! So now, Rancid Fairy, a blond dyed hair singer-songwriter boasting an icredible gentle dazing voice held up a set of a couple songs enchanting us all, calming and soothing everyone's mind, thus allowing for the incredible night to start off real slow and soft. It was perfect, mellow and temperature accurate vibe allowing me to forget all my troubles along with the actual time. In fact by the end of the set, I had no idea how long I'd been there, it felt like waking up from a unexpected afternoon nap. Although not many were there for the first set, those who were there can definitely state they saw a unique promising talent.
Booster Fawn were up next on stage. A breath of humid air, a giggle and back inside I was with the urge to piss. Luckily, Josh came up to me asking me if I would accept to film his set, to which I agreed to instantly. So the set started, real slow, real fucking smooth, heroin spiking kind of smooth I'd say. he performed songs from Dreams Made Of Snowflakes which is avaible all over the streaming platforms and he also played a new song if I'm not wrong. Rancid and Booster Fawn's sets could've been off 'd as very similar, but what set Booster's set apart is Joshua's scene experience. It brought an edge to his performance as he wasn't afraid to take up space on stage and be very intimate throughout the performance which I believed allowed for the now growing audience in the room to step up closer to stage and pay more attention to what was going on. It very much felt like a private little intimate concert. What really revolutionized the Fawn experience for me was the addition of Yuechang's violon, the subtraction of electric guitar, drums and bass. Dylan revolutionized the folk music landscape years ago by going electric, in the process fans got angry claiming he'd let down his audience, the folk tradition and some went to claim he'd murdered America's Soul. Well Booster Fawn fucking ignited La Sottorena's crowd and showed us a gentle warming side to his Cohenesque music by taking elements out of it and reducing the ensemble to a simple voice, acoustic guitar and electric violon. As much as Josh's regular band adds lots of dynamics and a certain excitement to the Nebraskian compositions, having Yuechang come in and gently lay down pad like notes along his violon, I saw a much more Leonard Cohen side to Joshua's music which was very soothing and in my opinion enjoyable too. By the end of the set I believed I'd reached a meditative state allowing me to reach Nirvana, the whole experience was transcendental. I then rushed to the bathrooms and got myself another beer filled with gluten thus reminding me how intolerant I was but also how drunk I was becoming.
Quick peek at the weather quite shitty actually, I smoke inconsiderable amounts of cigarettes which'll might one day lead to cancer and suddenly a rumble is heard inside. Loud noise, fast paced sizzling on fretboard. What the actual fuck is this, I run inside and One Trillion Bee's are on, a prog like mathematical technical instrumental band are raging. Worse than legal technicalities concerning product guarantees, their music I would label very complex to say the least. More people have arrived and the average in and out of the venue occurs, many concert attendees are glued near the stage flabbergasted by this intriguing music that is echoed onstage. The guitarist who plays in Steeple also, kept issuing funny innocent statements in between songs, announcing he doesn't and won't sing, telling us how happy he was to be able to play onstage. But never did he utter a word on how complex their music was, showcasing how agile One Trillion Bee's were on their respective instruments. Playing such polyrythmies at dazzling speed was no out of the ordinary task for the trio, hell it even seemed a casual thing for em' just like Christian people who go to church every Sunday. Although their music might not be considered mainstream music or people pleasing pop music, they managed to impress everyone in the room and by the end of their set everyone who was there was in awe. The band roused a folly that had yet to be and every one who was tired before was now fucking cocained with adrenaline. Thus the bar was raised once more for the next act to come.
After blurry moments trying to contain all the gluten I'd ingested, I ran back near the stage and exchanged with a guy looking like Billy Preston mid-career and he in return complimented my 70's looks. Facade are about to embark and as they start, the mics don't work which causes trouble since they wanted to sing along. So they resign to funk out the place with grooves that enlace our hips into uncontrollable rythmes. But as soon as the mic's starting working that's when the real magic happened. The band redeemed themselves by playing a killing infectious set that left an indelible scar on my mind. Don't ask me waht they played, I couldn't keep track I was enthralled in dancing and simply jumping and enjoying the set. I can tell you one thing, it was groovy, fastpaced, very cool guitar fingering melodies were heard and every musician in the band displayed an absolute mastery of their respective instrument. I was reminded of those sixties mod pilled fueled nights were youngsters danced convulsively to the bands speed fueled rythme. The only difference on Saturday was that Facade needed no junkies pills to achieve such feat. To put it simply, Facade is a blend between Les Colocs, Vulgaires Machins or even Octobre's french rocking up tempo high spirited music and live performances and les Louanges new indie alternative hip beat making. Listen to Jarry Longueuil by Facade for a Les Louanges type of song but for a more rocking beat, Buzzé which came out on Facade's Spotify June 14th is a good reference and a great track. Their avaible discography on streaming services is in general very much consistent in creativity and quality but I do believe Facade's force lies in their live performances. I truly believe this band is one that good liven up festivals such as Festival D'Été de Québec and I wish for them the best. I recommend anyone to go see them next time they play.
Now after hefty talks with other spectators about how fucking good the night has been up till now, it's time for Clifford The Duke to come up stage and showcase his talents. I've heard lot's on the artist but never had I listened to him. I went, bought another pack of cigarettes, talked with a art enthusiast and another studio nerd and then we headed back inside. I like to judge new coming artists by their live performances because now a days the studio works is accessible to everyone and a good studio album is something everyone can have with a little effort and the right people and knowledge. So Cliff, to me, could've been the big red dog I saw on TV as a child which was recently ruined by the live action movie. He could've been Cliff from Metallica, heck he could've been an alien and I wouldn't have asked any question. Turns out he's a Tracy Chapman sound guy all alone with his guitar and a Jean Basquiat punk sounding artist along with his backing band. Le Torrent who dwells in Conflit Majeur on a regular basis, lended a hand as bassist for The Duke and he did a fucking great job I have to say and such was every musician onstage simply fantastic. The band embarks onstage and roll into their first number but after a while strings break and the guitarist announces he has to go change his guitar strings. So Cliff orders all to leave him alone on stage. He talks a lot, gets us enthralled in a narrative, allowing him to toss off the stress he has, realizing he's about to play solo acoustic songs. Meanwhile I'm passing the fuck out standing up almost falling while struggling to stay awake, meanwhile a girl keeps yapping how much she like Cliff and he thanks her. Finally when he embarks on his solo improvised set, I'm knocked off my feets, not because I fell asleep but because of the beauty of his tender voice. All alone on stage, he's got a soft voice, a la Tracy Chapman, the theme of those songs he played also reflected on how miserable or hard life cand be when things don't go our way. He'd recently lost his job and altough he could now be artist full time, the money deficit caused him a stress and I bet he'd love to drive a Fast Car, escape life's hardships and make it as a full time artist like many of us would. He played us a couple acoustic songs, soft as a dove and with such beautiful reflections injected in the lyrics it was truly impactful to witness. Although he seemed out of his comfort zone, after partaking in this, I hope he'll be encouraged in playing more acoustic sets for those who'll see him in a near future. Once his guitarist came back, the drummer and bassist clammed on and punkier, heavier, more angst numbers were screamed onstage. His set was quite a long one filled with engaged lyrics, themes we all could relate to, and truly every minute was a blast and it fueled me up for the last band to come amidst the late hours. Listening to him on Spotify, his song Running From The IRS reminded me of 2000's icons Blink-182 and so did Soulful Eyes and other songs on his latest release titled I've Loved, Hated, Known You Since High School. Yet once again, I believe a lot of the production heard on streaming platforms such as the backing vocals weren't transfered on stage but nonetheless the set and his personality on stage remain quite the entertainment. I do believe he ought to push his Studio work a tad more towards a unique direction to help him distinguish himself and I believe having a backing chorist would bring the final touch to his already incredible live sets. But else than that, I think Clifford The Duke is one to keep eyes peeled on because he has great talent and makes great use of it.
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