La Luz @ Bar "Le Ritz" P.D.B

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. This, however, is not an Op-Ed piece about the lack of protection by the Municipal government from greedy developers, it is a celebration of the incredible band La Luz, who brought their groovy News of the Universe tour to a packed room up on Rue Jean-Talon. 

As soon as I found a good spot to stand amongst the other La Luzers, an image of a UFO glowed in an illuminating pale green light on the screen hanging behind the stage. As it took flight, a large golden paper-mache sun was paraded around the stage as “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” by Roy Ayers Ubiquity filled the air. Through the whoops and hollers of anticipation from the crowd, the members of La Luz quickly took their places and slid seamlessly into their opening number, the cosmic funky instrumental “Close Your Eyes”, which would set the mood for the rest of the evening. 

Half of their setlist focused on the current album, News of the Universe, playing the album almost in its entirety, 10 of the 12 tracks by my count, with the other half of the setlist culled from an equal number of tracks from their back catalogue, that they would weave in and around the new songs. Given that lead singer/guitarist Shana Cleveland is the only original member and the only one who was on any of those previous albums, it says something about the musicianship of her current bandmates that you could not tell which songs were from which era. This current line-up of Audrey Johnson (drums), Maryam Qudus (keyboard), and Lee Johnson (bass), definitely bring their own talents to the songs and help them discover new territory. While the foundation of surf rock and 60s girl group vocal harmonies is still present, the overall sound of the band has evolved with each passing album, and now contains as much California desert psychedelia and space funk.

Throughout the performance, Shana would talk with the crowd in such a way that it felt like you were chatting with an old friend who had been away for a long time, but the friendship hadn’t missed a beat. Seeing as it has been six years since La Luz were last here with a dazzling show at L’Escogriffe, that description seems rather fitting. Whether it was the proclamation of her love of sleep, looking for assistance in identifying “the old castle that goes on forever” in Montréal that she spotted on the drive-in, or shouting out the band’s tour manager, Stephanie, she has the ability to put an entire room at ease. 

In addition to the lovely banter and great music, the visual effects were an excellent added bonus, matching the projections with each song, creating each into its own private little party. The liquid mercury visuals dancing to “Loose Teeth” or the ominous night clouds, glowing as they swirl across a full moon during “Blue Moth Cloud Shadow” or my favourite, the psychedelic dandelions exploding around the heavy, trippy sounds of my personal highlight off News of the Universe, “Dandelions”. 

Then, as if that was not enough, there were also moments of choreographed dance moves between Shana and Lee, when Maryam let her freak flag fly with the synths spiralling around the stage during “Call Me In The Day”, an excellent early song from the debut EP, Damp Face, before being re-recorded for 2013’s It’s Alive album. And I would be remiss not to mention the two large inflatable green aliens that were thrown into the crowd during an amped-up version of “Strange World” that really got the show rockin’ at about the quarterway through. 

They ended their set with a fabulous one-two punch of “Always in Love” off the latest record, and “California Finally” from 2018 Floating Features. Shana would return for an encore solo performance of “Blue Jay” before being rejoined by the band for the ultra-funky jam “Moon In Reverse” and maybe the most quintessential La Luz song in their catalogue, “Sure As Spring”. 

Given how much this band has been through in its relatively short existence, it is refreshing to see how much joy there is in their performance and in the relationships they have with each other and with their audience. They seem to have found a groove that is so powerful that the sky's the limit for them, so don’t be surprised if they do find a UFO to take the next step into the stratosphere. Here's to looking forward to the next time they touch down in Montréal and fingers crossed that they can be booked in a bigger room that is more fitting for a band of this talent.