Concert Reviews

NADA SURF + Rogue Wave @ Cabaret

By Mike Bresciani - The Lonesome Strangers - 03/10/2006

There’s something so rewarding about seeing a show on a Friday night in Montreal. The week’s gone by and the countless amount work you put into those last five days just reinforces that sense of accomplishment. That is, unless you’re majoring in Communications studies, in which case you’ve probably learned nothing during the last 120 hours. Even so, one would like to think that this show has been in heavy anticipation, especially after spending a week analyzing useless films, discussing abstract art and learning about the deeper meaning behind De Certeau’s idea of “Railway Incarceration”… fun stuff.


BUCKFEST 5: Starbuck & Les Impuissants @ Le Playhouse

By Johnny Suck - Turn Down the Suck - 02/11/2006

Most of the time, the reason why I go to a show is for the music; other times I go to be cool, and every once in a while I go to see a 500-pound man swing a jug of water from his cock ring. The latter was why I made my way over to Le Playhouse on Saturday for Buckfest 5.


CONTROLLER.CONTROLLER + OK GO @ Cabaret

By Katie Seline - Wrong Side of the Bed - 02/02/2006


EVAN DANDO + John Kastner + Elizabeth Powell @ Main Hall

By Alex Huynh - Losing My Edge - 02/08/2006

Nostalgia being the obvious theme of the soirée, there was another common thread among the three artists on the bill: they were to be accompanied only by their own guitar. Often, this works great because of the added emotional resonance, the effect of a song laid bare and naked. Other times, it can simply be boring. With three sets with the same spartan layout, the risk of the latter ran dangerously high. Thankfully, nostalgia can be a powerful weapon.


CURSED + Cancer Bats + Commando + Compton @ La Sala Rossa

By Angelica - BVST - 01/06/2006

After three long months of hibernation, I decided that seeing Cursed with Cancer Bats at La Sala Rossa would be the perfect antidote to the winter blues. Maybe I should have stayed home. Cursed were brilliant, of course, but I had no doubts about that. It's just too bad that they’re a hardcore band. If they weren't, perhaps going to their shows would be less about defending the scene, and more about rocking the fuck out. But I’m getting ahead of myself.


FEIST + Paso Mino @ Metropolis

By Christie Van der Burg - Black Tongue Radio - 01/17/2006


THE DANDY WARHOLS @ Spectrum

By Antonella Fratino - The Siamese Libertines - 12/02/2005


NADA SURF @ La Sala Rossa

By Cara Ventura - Classified - 10/11/2005

There is something to be said for having the uncanny ability to tell a story with a song...

...and here comes the Weezer comparison (“in the second sentence?”, you may ask. Yes). Pinkerton was a painstakingly written album. The ups and downs of love and life -- dare I say high/lows -- were documented with an ingenuity and heart-on-sleeve mentality that was at once explorative and concise. The balance is devastating. As a side note, the album is so personal -- and the poor initial reception was taken so personally -- that Rivers Cuomo and company never perform tracks off of said album live.


JAMES BLUNT + Sarah Blasko @ Café Campus

By Trevor Kiernander - Ones and Zeroes - 10/31/2005

Please take this review with a grain of salt, as I am fully aware of the star power that this artist has recently garnered...


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