September 12, Heavenly Blue, Chop Sue Me, Caniche 666 and Fielding
Friday September 12, Caniche 666, Chop Sue Me, Heavenly Blue were playing on the same stage at Casa del Popolo to a lot of enthusiastic fans who came for different bands and reasons. A melting pot is the best word I could've used to describe the night.
First of, Fielding. I'll say it again, FUCKING GREAT LIVE BAND. The sound was cool, the vocals and the ensemble was tight, the aggressive picking yet contained was driving me dizzy! Their songs were sweet and electrifying. Together these guys just seem like the happiest of family onstage, a reminder of CSNY onstage back when they could tolerate each other. Their single sounded definitely more assumed and grooving onstage then on digital platform! Having listened recently to Hey Hey, My My the intro to the wield live album of neil young and the crazy horse, I would say this album pictures well the energy of Fielding onstage if you have never seen them. I ensue everyone to go see them live at least once. Plus, you might get the chance to drink a Pabst with them.
Secondly, Chop Sue Me, the band who've engraved their music in my heart back at turbo haus and the blue dog days of the past. Which means, at least a year two. I haven't seen them many times since, so that's how fondly I like them, because I tend to forget bands as I see so much and most of the times I'm so fucking high or drunk I can barely remember being at the show. But their prestation last night was once again, engraved in my heart and soul. Their songs, being heavy but soaked with tender picking, notes and grooves that ensure your mind to float above the stage for the duration of the set. Nowadays so many genres exist, but to keep it simple, their music is like Radio Head's sleepy hypnotic sounds mixed with Nirvana's heavyness and rythms. Sadly one thing I saw, the singer didn't really talk nor introduce the songs and yet they played might I say three new songs or fairly new live songs so I think they would benefit of naming the songs especially with the streaming era where so many songs are heard, having a name attached to em' helps us remember them easier. Plus, where there to be bootleggers, it would be great to have names to put on tapes for the songs. But that, I might have to admit, might not happen anytime soon anymore. Lastly, the bassist's bass is a Belveder Product which is a local brand. Go check out these instruments they are so cool and sound great!
Next up Caniche 666. I hate punk rock sounding french bands. So, I wasn't impressed. At all. Yet, I adored their energy, stage presence and playing. They deliver great content, yet no my type of soup. But, if you like Beton Armé, Villain Pingouin and more french punk bands, Caniche 666 is a great debut and cheaper alternative to go see. Plus, they play way more often than the bigger acts listed above. Their latest release Des Fois, actually had me headbanging in the car, the mix was fucking great and the voice stuck more in the overall sound than other singles they released before. Maybe it's just my ears, but all and all, their act is great and I encourage you to go listen to their new single Des Fois and revisit the rest of their discography!
Lastly, Heavenly Blue. A Mazzy Star shoegaze parade shrouded with Hole's rage and rythm. They tend to dip their toes in melancholy yet the singers voice, in my opinion doesn't really sound melancholic. Their music is what teens now a days adore, the new genre of soft yet hard shoegaze punk rock heavy all in all music. I don't really get it, but with instagram and all the evercoming content and all, I guess kids want to hear music where all genres are blended in one song. So Heavenly Blue is the perfect cocktail for these kids. They follow in the steps of Birds of Prrrey, Poolgirl and might I even say Hole, and Radiohead. Let me explain, their EP High Tea//Dinner Party is very much disparate yet overall it is very esthetically beautiful for the ears and trendy on the songs topics and the whole sounding of the montage. The intro has some banjo sounding arpeggios and melodies mixed with more modern reverb induced chords and a voice that brings you in a field of nostalgia. Yet once we dig in, Lawn brings us more in a Live Through This from Hole vibe. We are subjucted to the singers fantasies of seing a partner being exposed to horryfying humiliation at her side. A product of all the stints men have endulged on women and the societies never ending confrontation between male and female stigma's and inequalities. Then X-Ray brings us to a more experimental Radiohead vibe discerning the insides of the singer while being very ansgty and filled with a tip of rage agains't man or other dilemas. In live all this transfers well yet I found the singer wasn't maybe at her best last night. Her voice, to me personally, sounded like an ongoing ringtone and thus the whole thing wasn't always as charming as what I heard on their Spotify. All in all, this band is to be watched, I wouldn't be surprised to see them at Pop Montreal soon enough and elsewhere in Quebec. Who knows, could they be found in feature of Exclaim or Cult Mtl.
Now this article took a while to be released because I was very much doubting the use of it. As I was listening to a lot of interviews with old writers such as Nick Kent and Jim Derogatis the biographer of the one and only Lester Bangs who was depicted in the Almost Famous movie as the mentor of the young journalist we follow through the movie. All this to say, modern journalism isn't much authentic. Look anywhere and to be a paid writer, one must surely have a degree or a very political and intellectual stance about a subject. Which is great because information now flows from every corner of the galaxy and thus if you are to read a certain journal or else, it's great to have a specific fact verified news. But as the old guys said, what use to power the fanzines and all community journals around the music and other subject of small communities was passion. Pure passion and a will to help see grow a scene. Compared to now where we want to elevate subjects or groups to a stance of uniqueness and highness to differ them from the overall population and groups. What happens thus is, a few writers are sent to dissect few groups at special events and then are usually told to make every word extravagent about the covered subject. What is left, is people who are local and trying to fight for their place up their and thus leaving the rest behind. That leads to individualistic practices and no one is really recognized anymore unless you promise wealth and fame. Meaning, journalists like me who can't afford university and don't have the time and wits for such intellectual wholy knowledge are relinquished as amatures who could possibly write in a dark room their whole lives. Much community acting is needed in the cultural scene and money, experience and acts of solidarity from the big guys up above are very much needed in the local underground scene to help elevate all who are fueled with passion and a will to strive and make others shine. Thank you and have a great day, week, month, year. Love.
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