Jason Collett @ Il Motore

As always, Jason Collett could be spotted in the shadowy back corner of the bar as soon as I walked in, his eyes fixed on the opening act. Tonight, he and the rest of the small crowd at Il Motore were treated to a quiet, folky set from Daniel Romano, better known as the frontman for Attack in Black and the Daniel part of Daniel, Fred & Julie.

Like Collett, Romano often draws comparisons to early Bob Dylan, and his soulful performance tonight, accompanied only by his brother’s occasional tap on a snare drum, wouldn’t change anybody’s mind. Romano managed to hold the attention of the mostly college-aged crowd even as more and more people filed into the tiny venue. Nearly everyone found themselves seated on the floor, drinking their snuck-in beers in respectful silence as he made his way through his debut solo record, Songs for Misha. The material is a departure from his indie-rock driven work with Attack In Black and speaks more to his collaboration with Fred Squire and Julie Doiron on their album of traditional folk songs. A shy and introspective performer, Romano paused only at the end of his set to thank the crowd and praise Collett on their last night playing together before Al Tuck joins the tour. All in all, his bare-bones style of playing impressed the eager crowd and somehow made the room feel even smaller, setting an intimate tone that carried through the rest of the night.

Wasting no time, Collett hopped onstage and quickly launched into his stripped performance of "Rave On Sad Songs" from his latest full length, Rat A Tat Tat. This was my first time seeing Collett play without his band, and it was a definite contrast to his last visit during the Bonfire Ball Revue tour with Zeus and Bahamas, the members of which have backed him on tour for nearly a decade and recently evolved into solo acts (again, living up to that Dylan thing.) Needless to say, these were two very different shows, even if he was wearing the same outfit. Dubbing this recent stretch of shows the ‘Undressed’ tour, Collett focused his set mainly on his new EP, Pony Tricks, which features reworked versions of old favourites and a handful of new songs.

He gained most of his notoriety as one of Broken Social Scene’s stately elders, but tonight saw Collett jovially telling stories to set up each song and stroking everyone’s ego a little, admitting that the traffic he and the Romano brothers faced earlier in the day driving into the city from the Maritimes made it feel like “you needed to be on the guestlist to get into Montreal tonight,” before proclaiming us “the sexiest town in North America. Full stop.” Il Motore is the perfect venue for all things acoustic, and Collett’s crisp vocals commanded the room, particularly as the material took a serious turn with "Pulling The Sun Down", a new song written from the point of view of a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder.  Striking the perfect balance between heartbreakers and songs about super-toking in the parking lot before a school dance, Collett made sure his set resonated with the audience and proved that his new material can stand on its own. Though a seasoned performer, he still maintains a raw quality in his playing and vocals that perfectly delivered some of his best lyrics to date.

Clutching his Stella and blowing a kiss to the crowd, he ran to the bar for another before closing his show with "I’ll Bring the Sun", eliciting some rare audience participation as everyone joined in for the chorus. This was easily the most relaxed I have ever seen Collett in concert and this show would have been a great introduction for anyone used to seeing him resigned to the back of the crowded Social Scene stage.

Set List:

Rave On Sad Songs

Lake Superior

Henry’s Song

Brownie Hawkeye

Fire

Papercut Hearts

Cassandra

Black Diamond

Bitch City

No Redemption Song

Almost Summer

Pulling The Sun Down

My Daddy Was A Rock n’ Roller

Love Is A Chain

Not Over You

High Summer

Blue Sky

I’ll Bring The Sun