Concert Reviews

Arriving at the venue not too long before 8:00 PM proved to be just in the nick of time, which was a stark reminder of how much condo developers in Montréal have changed the live music landscape. In light of the recent closing of La Tulipe and the loss of Le Divan Orange back in 2017, both over noise complaints by new neighbours, venues like Bar "Le Ritz" P.D.B seem to be pushing the start times earlier to avoid the same consequence.

Under the soft amber glow of candlelight at The Balcony, Toronto-based collective Lavender Town delivered a soulful night that blurred the lines between jazz and hip-hop. 

The scariest words a music journalist can hear have to be, “Sorry, you’re not on the list.” Which is how my evening began after walking up the steep stairs from Parc Avenue to the will-call window at Théâtre Fairmount this past Friday night. Frantically texting and emailing anyone who could remedy this situation for me, I spent an anxious twenty minutes before doing what I never like to do, but when dealing with a sold-out show it is sometimes the only thing left to do.

20:00h

On Saturday night, Montreal seems to have been injected with hydrogen. Groups of girls wearing pointy heels half-run, half-shuffle along the sidewalk, late for somebody's pre-game or maybe a house party. They stumble, nearly trip, laugh at their gorgeous, impractical choice in footwear, and then continue running towards the crosswalk. 

Amenra took over Studio TD on Friday, September 27th, bringing their atmospheric metal sound - at once referred to as “extreme metal”, “post-metal”, and “atmospheric sludge metal” depending on who you ask (and which album you’re looking at), though it’s probably easiest to describe them as blackened post-metal.

It’s the eve of Libra season and there’s no better way to celebrate than by attending a Liana Flores concert, queen of Venusian themes: flowers, trees, dewdrops and rain, softness, friendship, romance as a way of life. 

Jessica Pratt shone on Wednesday, as she played to a sold-out show at Montréal’s historic La Tulipe. With a brilliantly unique voice which sounds as though she time travelled from the 1930s with its transatlantic quirks, Pratt has been a critical darling, bubbling under the mainstream in the indie folk scene for a while.