Andrew W.K. + Biblical @ Foufounes Electriques

I have lived in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and travelled solo through the Middle East, but for some reason, since moving to Montreal four years ago, I have been terrified to set foot in les Foufounes Électriques. I didn't even know it was called Foufounes until the night of the show. I always just thought of it as "that place on St. Catherine's that seems like it's seen a lot of knife fights." That's probably not fair. If you have never been to Foufounes it's actually pretty impressive on the inside, meaning huge. It has that sickly sweet bar smell and gives off an air of stickiness.

The opening act was slated to start at 8 p.m., and they started not far off from that. As a former stage manager, I was delighted. I love shows that start on time. It was a group called Biblical from Toronto. They describe themselves as "Heavy rock, proto-metal, rock, stoner rock."

Biblical was a really solid opening act. They got on stage, they rocked out, they had a good sound, and they spoke a little bit of French. Their music was danceable and I was feeling pumped. They didn't demand energy from us, they created energy for us. Towards the end of the set though, I started to notice the roughness in the vocals and they got a bit pitchy, but I would see them again. Also, if anyone out there is interested in writing a rock musical based on the Old Testament, they should look into collaborating with this group. I think it could work.

Soon it was time for the main event! I could see right away that the crowd was psyched to be there. Some people had brought their own smiley-faced beach balls and streamers. The show started off with air raid sirens and the voice of Andrew W.K. echoing through the room telling us that we were about to have the best night of our lives! To focus on the happiness! To remember that were all there to have a good time together! And to get fucking wasted, of course. The rallying cry of the evening: This is not a performance, this is a PARTY!

And it was.

I was really impressed that just two dudes, two mics, and one keyboard could produce that much energy. Andrew W.K. sang to pre-recorded back tracks and yet still managed to put on a better show and have more stage presence than some five-piece bands I have seen in the past. This guy could work a room, and he was really successful at emanating this positive vibe. There was a mosh pit, but even that was like a mosh pit of brotherly love. There was some crowd surfing, but it was mostly a core group of guys doing the heavy lifting.

Towards the end of the night one guy ended up stage. Andrew W.K. was really nice to him, hugged him and let him hang out a bit. I guess it was his birthday? They had a high five marathon that was pretty epic.

Later in the night we counted down from 99 and I have no idea why. On the last song of the evening another crowd surfer ended up on stage, and then eventually a whole bunch of people just climbed on stage and rocked out.

Overall, I had a good night. I was totally sober the whole show but I still enjoyed myself, and I think that's the mark of a good show. I would go see Andrew W.K. again and I would recommend his show to anyone because it's entertaining. You don't have to be a fan to have a good time. If you are stressed or need to blow off some steam and you have a chance to see Andrew W.K., do it. You will dance it/mosh it out! My only complaint is that a lot of the songs sound a bit the same, but if I was drunk I probably wouldn't have noticed.

The night was capped off by the most wonderful discovery of all: there is now a Boustan on St. Catherine's. Try the Kibeh.