FRINGE 2015: Beat Sexü at Le Divan Orange

It was Thursday night. June 18th. While you could hear the loud raindrops outside on the streets of Montreal, the music pouring in was much louder inside Le Divan Orange.

Of the three bands scheduled to play on stage, the headliner, Pif Paf Hangover, went on just a few minutes before midnight. The six-year-old band - composed of Maxo, Jo, Frank, and Manu - are all experienced musicians. With that kind of street cred, you'd know Le Divan would be a full house. Their rendition of songs from their 2014 EP Curry Love, was quite pop-rock-electro-funk-whatshouldwecallit kind of sound… Their performance was on point.

While calling Montreal their home in recent years, Pif Paf actually hails from the town of St-Jérôme, just northwest of Montreal.

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The evening's second second act was Human Human, a band composed all of high school friends from St-Bruno-de-Montarville, a tiny town located south east of Montreal in the South Shore. All dressed in super-tight business suits for their performance, they are all about the rock n’ roll energy, and the Brit Pop, and the Chill Wave, and the…

Oh wait I totally forgot where I was going with that last sentence. Their break-loose/feel-free music tends to give away that vibe, I guess.

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And then, the opening act. No one had a clue when they were supposed to start since the online listings don't match. Eventually the band we're talking about started playing at 9:45.

That band was called Beat Sexü, and their name had everything it promised to deliver. The members were donned in gold and glitter, projecting psychedelically remixed footage from old educational documentaries in the background, and gave a stellar performance that should be worthy of a full house at the Metropolis. All that for a crowd of less than two dozen. After all, they were tasked with the hardest job of motivating a half empty room (or half-full, whatever way you wanna look at it) of Montreal concert-goers who had no idea who they are.

In their own words, Beat Sexü is "... un cocktail sexy inspiré du dance-punk, du disco et de l’électro-rock. L’expérience live comprend également l’amalgame de charmantes vidéos rétro qui complètent de façon exquise l’effet Sexü”. In other words, it is a one-of-a-kind sexy cocktail drink that gives off a very fascinating sexü effect. Interesting.

The bandmates are Jean-Étienne Collin Marcoux on vocals and drums; Maxine Maille on vocals and keyboard; Jean-Michel Letendre Veilleux on vocals and guitar; Symon Marcoux on bass; and Antoine Bordeleau as the projectionist. With the exception of Antoine who is based in Montreal, all of the members are based in Quebec City, On top of all that, this band is considered as giants in the Quebec CIty's underground music scene, headlining Le Pantoum, a refurbished loft-slash-studio space located on St-Vallier. Opened since 2012, the space is dedicated to promoting and bringing together Quebec City artists.

They are dynamic, plain fun to watch, and quite democratic. They even let the crowd choose between listening to one of their latest songs or a cover of a current Quebec City band. That’s the thing - they are definitely on the way to being Champions of their Local Scene. Among all their other individual projects and engagements, they’ve been working hard on a collaborative cover album with Quebec City's underground artists. That's definitely something to look forward to.

Not bad for a band born out of a misunderstood joke in the span of three days in early 2014. No kidding, just look 'em up.

Their EP, "Première Fois is now on Bandcamp for free if you want to take a listen.

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Frantz-Patrice Séïde Cameau is part of CJLO’s Official Fringe Team covering the sights and sounds from the 2015 St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival.

You can contact Frantz by via email: lobster.mtl@gmail.com