THE BEDOUIN SOUNDCLASH @ Metropolis

By Emily Kerrigan - On The Rocks- 11/25/2007

Sunday, November 25^th 2007 brought some serious talent to Montreal’s Metropolis. Bedouin Soundclash put on one heck of a show. The venue was packed and full of energy from the get-go, and the band managed to cater to the musical taste of both the young and old.

The show started off on a high note, with vocalist Jay Malinowski taking center stage. As usual, Eon Sinclair strutted his stuff on bass guitar, with Pat Pengelly adding some sweet percussion on drums. They played music from all three of their albums (their first record, Root Fire, was released in 2001, with Sounding a Mosaic and Street Gospels released in 2004 and 2007 respectively). Although they kept in touch Root Fire, they concentrated on their last two albums, playing their popular breakthrough single, “When the Night Feels my Song,” and saving “Walls Fall Down” for the very last song of their set. They stuck to recreating their recognizable style, a constant throughout their albums, complete with reverb and glottal stops. The performance was so dead-on that anyone there could have mistaken it for listening to the actual album, minus of course, the pumped fans and the extra touch, a keyboardist, appearing for several songs throughout the show. The instrumental addition gave certain songs a bit more flavor and intrigue. Besides their own material, Bedouin Soundclash also did a cover of The Ramones’ “I Want to be Sedated,” mixing it into their own original song, “Saint Andrews.” This went over well with the crowd, boosting the already enthusiastic atmosphere.

The music was clearly the determining factor of the performance’s amazing outcome, but the great set and lightshow definitely helped.  The set was relatively simple, consisting of large white boards with a black palm-tree silhouette printed on top. The lights were aimed at the boards to create different colour contrasts and effects. The whole thing was pulled off with the utmost accuracy, complete with strobe lights flashing to the beat of the music (when appropriate, of course). Everything about the show was easy on the eyes and easy on the ears, and kudos definitely go out to the people who orchestrated the whole thing. The musicians were the stars that night, but the sound and lighting technicians did their part and made what would have already been a great show into a fantastic one.

To everyone who was unfortunate enough to miss this concert, condolences to you. Just be sure to catch Bedouin Soundclash the next time they are in town -- if their performances are as consistently amazing as this one was, you will not be disappointed.

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