Royal Canoe + The Elwins + APigeon @ La Sala Rossa

Presented by Indie Montreal

Has anyone out there heard of Indie Montreal yet? It is a great local organization that promotes indie bands from all over Canada. On October 30th I went to their showcase at La Sala Rossa with headliners Royal Canoe supported by The Elwins and APigeon.

APigeon opened the evening for us. She was supported by a backing vocalist, a live drummer, and pre-recorded electronic tracks. APigeon is a vocalist that explores the range of the human voice. She is a bit of a genre bender, with electronica, pop, and even folk influences showing in her music. I personally found some references to pow wow type singing and dancing, although I'm not sure if APigeon has ever been to a pow wow. Might be a coincidence. As an opening act, she was a bit of an interesting choice, because I don't think her music was peppy enough to pump up a crowd. It's more smooth and introspective. I look forward to the day when APigeon is a headliner however, because she seems to be an artist who aims to create a theatrical sound experience, not just sing songs on stage.

APigeon

Up next were The Elwins, a lovely group from Newmarket, Ontario. The Elwins can be classified as indie pop-rock, and extremely danceable. They put on a great show with lots of energy and enthusiasm. My favourite song of the night was the Beyonce-inspired "Countdown". The Elwins also declared themselves very happy to be in Montreal, and enjoyed eating steamy dogs and La Belle Province, which happens to be my favourite hamburger joint.

The Elwins

Best of the West Interviews the Elwins!

Royal Canoe is from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and they recently won Independent Album of the Year at BreakOut West's Western Canadian Music Awards. I would classify them as an electro-folk rock band. Their sound reminds me of a really funky whale song; the whole time I felt like I was underwater being engulfed by 3D sound. Beyond their melodious, pulsing tunes, Royal Canoe is also highly quotable. The front man Matt Peters had the following gems to share about Halloween, "There must be like 45,000 different Halloween parties happening in Montreal tomorrow night. How many people will end up staying at home and watching Mad Men though? I would do it. I hate options" and the merch table, "People act like Winnipeg is the only cold place in the world, but it's not true. Buy our sweaters Montreal, I want you to be warm."

Royal Canoe

My only beef with this whole show was that the changeovers between bands were a bit long for my taste. Royal Canoe is a six-piece band with a lot of pedals and key boards and miscellaneous technology to set up, but I still think the in between times could have been shortened.

The city of Winnipeg is very present in the work being created by Royal Canoe, and it's actually one of my favourite things about this band: they know where they came from. Make sure to check out their video for "Exodus of the Year", a raw yet loving look at the town these boys call home.

--Sarah Stupar hosts Best Of The West, a show about the region of Canada you're unfamiliar with, every Wednesday at 9 AM on CJLO!