Squalor - Foufounes Electriques - December 22nd 2008

Band : Squalor

Venue : Foufounes Electriques

City (country) : Montreal, QC (Canada)
Date : December 22nd 2008

Grade : 3/5

Setlist :

n/a

Comments : First Squalor show in over a year, and also my first show at the Foufs in almost a year and a half. Glad they're back ! The new bass player really fits in the sound of the band. A pretty usual concert, no big surprises, it is almost if last time they played was last week or so. Good and loud as usual.

Extra : video

S.Cibo - Le Cagibi - December 12th 2008

Band : S.Cibo

Venue : Le Cagibi

City (country) : Montreal, QC (Canada)
Date : December 12th 2008

Grade : 3/5

Setlist :

n/a

Comments : Headliner of the evening, my friend Stephen played tonight his very first solo show for his 40th birthday. Accompaining himself on the guitar, Stephen played 4 of his own songs (Stephen, can you give me the name of the songs you played?), very sincere and touching. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Hi My Quiet Tsar - Le Cagibi - December 12th 2008

Band : Hi My Quiet Tsar

Venue : Le Cagibi

City (country) : Montreal, QC (Canada)
Date : December 12th 2008

Grade : 3/5

Setlist :

n/a

Comments : Well, it was more a Thisquietarmy show tonight actually, as Eric was playing the guitar instead of keyboards. But it was not quite Thisquietarmy either as Eric did not play any of his songs and improvised a couple of tracks instead... I really enjoyed the second piece, despite the very annoying group of three girls who started to be very noisy sorting their spare change during the concert.

Stochastique - Le Cagibi - December 12th 2008

Band : Stochastique

Venue : Le Cagibi

City (country) : Montreal, QC (Canada)
Date : December 12th 2008

Grade : 3/5

Setlist :

n/a

Comments : First show of the evening for this celebration of my friend Stephen's 40th birthday at Le Cagibi. I think this was also Françoise's first show ever as Stochastique. I am definitely more familiar with her visual work (the animated short film "Sous Le Microscope") and did not really know what to expect. A very nice start of the evening, with lots of interaction from the audience (who was invited to speak in a microphone) while Françoise was manipulating these frequencies to make sounds/music/drones...

Mercury Rev - Cabaret Juste Pour Rire - December 8th 2008

Band : Mercury Rev

Venue : Cabaret Juste Pour Rire

City (country) : Montreal, QC (Canada)
Date : December 8th 2008

Grade : 4/5

Setlist :

Snowflakes In A Hot World

October Sunshine

Holes

Black Forest

Funny Bird

People Are So Unpredictable

Diamonds

Tonite It Shows

Tides Of The Moon

Dream Of A Young Heart Girl

Opus 40

The Dark Is Rising

Senses Are On Fire

Comments : A really great show on a very cold day here in Montreal (we had something like -20°C today). The band seemed really happy to be here and gave a much better concert than last time I saw them at ATP back a few months ago. 

Extra : Holes (video)

Dean & Britta - Cabaret Juste Pour Rire - December 8th 2008

Band : Dean & Britta

Venue : Cabaret Juste Pour Rire

City (country) : Montreal, QC (Canada)
Date : December 8th 2008

Grade : 3/5

Setlist :

n/a

Comments : I had no clue who the opening act from Mercury Rev was before tonight. Actually not until my friend Amaan told me that they were indeed former members of Luna : Dean Warenham and Britta Phillips. A nice show with a great cover of Serge Gainsbourg's Bonnie & Clyde at the end.

Raw Madonna - The Pound - December 5th 2008

Band : Raw Madonna

Venue : The Pound (UnPop Montreal)

City (country) : Montreal, QC (Canada)
Date : December 5th 2008

Grade : 3/5

Setlist :

n/a

Comments : I remember Raw Madonna from last year's UnPop festival at the Zoobizarre; the singer was playing the harp in speedos wearing rabbit ears then... well tonight he played the trumpet wearing reindeer antlers. Another pretty good performance, very twisted as expected; I really like them actually. Very nice people also. I wish they would perform more than once a year.

Extra : video

Ratchet Orchestra - Hôpital Général Juif - December 1st 2008

Band : Ratchet Orchestra

Venue : Hôpital Général Juif

City (country) : Montreal, QC (Canada)
Date : December 1st 2008

Grade : 3/5

Setlist :

Jungle Drums

Fib

Unconditional

El Is A Sound Of Joy

September

Love On A Faraway Planet

Soak

Wish

Comments : Tonight was the first time I went to see a concert in a hospital (still used as a hospital to be more accurate) and the first time I saw a band of 28 musicians playing together on stage as well. A nice jazz concert held in a quite odd venue, with a pretty interesting line-up featuring ex-members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Hangedup... Sam Shalabi was also supposed to be there but wasn't.