MIRACLE FORTRESS + Laurent Bourque + Caroline Keating @ La Tulipe

By Mike Bresciani - The Lonesome Strangers - 09/18/2008

If you could think of the most perfect song of all time, what would it be?

Everybody has a favorite, one that can make the hair on their arms stand still at any given time… but does such a PERFECT song exist? Music is by all means tailored to varying individual tastes, that being said, my vote would go to "God Only knows" by the Beach Boys. Given the situation, it can put a grin on my face, or leave me in tears. It will certainly be the first song played on my wedding day, and the last song heard at my funeral.

On that note, jump ahead to Miracle Fortress playing live at La Tulipe…

Awjeez, How did they know?

The set kicked off with the tranquil tune "Little trees" while Miracle mastermind Graham Van Pelt then took the song, and had it slowly morph into the Pet Sounds' classic, playing it slower, drenched in beauty, and just a little melancholy. To be fair, it's tough to really botch such a song. In any case, this was clearly foreshadowing great things to come.

Performing towards a moderately sized crowd, the Miracle Fortress gang performed multiple selections from the Five roses LP along with several new, unknown songs. Having been sour on Miracle Fortress due to last October's lackluster "Secret outdoor" solo performance, this year's show was substantially better. The reason behind this phenomenon would be the inclusion of backup musicians & an indoor setting.

To imply improvement doesn't constitute a full-blown turnaround, more of a letter-grade progression on a report card. It may sound harsh, but one might ask for more from a live show, given the excellence of their studio album. It's not uncommon to testify to a band's live credentials, while saying their record is simply adequate. In this case, the tables are turned, and we find ourselves praising a recording, rather than the performers. It is my opinion that they should go hand in hand.

The Five Roses LP is brilliant. With this album, we see Van Pelt capturing Brian Wilson's aesthetic genius for songwriting, melody, and production. While there are plenty of contemporaries borrowing from the Beach Boys manual, putting experimental (Panda Bear) or Psychedelic (Besnard Lakes) spins on such a time-tested formula, we see Miracle Fortress take that sound, and distill it into carefully layered, sublime pop songs that thankfully clock in at under 10 minutes.

The problem faced here, is that the recording is too, shall we say, slick (in a good way). This gives way to a rather large discrepancy between the live show, and the recording. With the large amounts of technology available at one's disposal, Van Pelt gives hope to any kid sitting as his computer, meticulously layering, compressing, and pitch-shifting his way through a pro-tools session. This does, however, make it more difficult to convert that piece of art into a good live show. You don't become a good performer overnight, sitting in a studio. It is this inability that really takes away from the band's sense of authenticity, assuming that its brilliance lies solely on a mixing board or a laptop (which it doesn't).

Although this may have been their primary hindrance, the second nail in the coffin was their bland stage show; they seemed completely indifferent throughout their hour-long set. While this level of apathy may have been lost on a sea of hipsters, it fell over me for a great part of the show. On the flipside, hearing songs like "Hold your secrets…" and "Maybe lately" did resurrect that smile from earlier on. Regrettably, moments like this were few and far-between, which was a real shame.

As someone who was originally disenchanted by the amount of hype surrounding this band, I found myself loving the record despite the fact. However, this show was just a let down… but hey, with the direction the record industry is heading, record sales will thrive once again while live shows become obsolete … am I right ??? 

Preceding Miracle Fortress was Laurent Bourque and his 7-piece band. Formerly of the group "Spark", Bourque & Co. outclassed the headliners in showmanship, drawing many people from their seats and onto the floor. The music was good, no-punches-pulled pop-rock with terrific instrumentation (violins, keys, guitars) and a front-man with recognizably sweet-sounding voice, reminding one of Nada Surf's Matthew Caws. My only beef: musicians with sunglasses. Top hats, leather pants & feather boas are cool, but sunglasses are just ridiculous. Optical hazards aside, they put on a well-rounded, entertaining show.

Early-birds were treated to a lovely opening set by singer/songwriter Caroline Keating. Hailing from the mean streets of Verdun, Keating provided concert goers with 40 minutes of lush balladry and stories set to the tune of a sentimental, yet erratic piano. Although her voice is really quite outstanding, it may be awhile before she shakes the evident Regina Spektor similarities, which may not be such a bad thing.

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