Concert Reviews

Nicolas Jaar is an electronic music producer, whose vast experimentations make him difficult to categorize anymore concretely than that. He is of Chilean heritage, a detail which is pronounced in his musical style. Latin rhythms and his own Spanish lyrics often feature, but only to intersect with Eno-esque ambience, Villalobos-inspired techno and microhouse, downtempo dance music, and hints of dubstep. His releases are gorgeous and intricate, masterfully woven together from disparate fragments. The compositions feature exquisite piano stylings, scattered percussion, glitches and scratchy silence, an industrial noise-flavored saxophone, occasional beats, and Jaar’s own stunning baritone voice, soaked in heavy reverb.

After weeks and weeks of playing songs of his latest LP At What Cost, and falling in love with GoldLink's unique sound, I came to expect not a show, but a house party from the D.C rapper. Luckily for me and the sold-out crowd at L’Astral, he came through.

On September 24 Montreal was treated to a synergic evening of R&B, thanks to the predestined combination of Rhye and Charlotte Day Wilson. The sold-out show kicked off with an opening set by Wilson, whose blossoming popularity was palpable in the crowd. The lineup outside le National was abuzz with stylish 20-somethings chattering not only about the evening’s main act, but also its opener. 

The theme of the current Guns N' Roses tour is “Not in This Life-Time”: no one, not even the band members themselves, thought they would reunite. Millions of fans wanted to see the group back together again, but it seemed there was "nothing left to do, too many things were said”, to quote another famous rock band. So, when it was announced in 2016 that they would be playing The Troubadour, Coachella and proceeding on a worldwide tour, I was beyond excited for the prospect of a live performance. The question remained, however, whether they would make a stop in Montreal, after the infamous 1992 riots, where the Olympic Stadium was trashed by angry fans following shortened sets.

Wednesday, May 17 brought us the return of Mellevon to the stage. After a year of being absent from touring, Mellevon brought some newer elements to the table, with their stage and presence.

Upon arriving on stage, it was obvious they changed their image is as a band, went going a more industrial metal look for showmanship, with black vests and corpse paint on their faces. The most interesting thing to note is their new stage setup where they had old-school CRT televisions displaying visual counterparts with the lyrics on them, which was pretty sick to see.

Having growing up in a city whose main claim to fame is the promise of a stable career in government, running into old high school friends in Montreal has become quite the common occurrence. This past Wednesday, I once again found myself running into an old pal from my hometown. Like most instances, the encounter took place at a bar. Unlike other occasions, however, I was there to take part in their album launch.