Chicks on Speed @ Club Soda

I cannot believe I was oblivious to this collective until last night! Chicks on Speed, who stem from Munich, stormed into Montreal, apparently much too late. Fans of this DIY/electroclash/punk group’s previous work told me that they were huge about 7 years ago with the hit “Wordy Rappinghood”, which just made me grin from ear to ear. The general opinion, though, seemed to be that going to see this show was more like caving in to a bout of nostalgia then being spurred on by knowledge of Chicks on Speed’s recent work.

The night was part of the little-known “Les Escales Improbable” festival, which runs in September of every year. This year it involved audio installations, theatre, performance art, opera, street art, and music, at the Old Port, Lion D’Or, Monument National, and Club Soda. It ended on the 10^th of September.

Opening for Chicks on Speed was Montreal DJ Cherry Cola who slayed the room with bass-heavy beats and my own nostalgia trip new wave track, “Eisbar” (thanks for that!). The crowd was thin and ticket stubs showed that they were offering 2-for-1 tickets after a presumed lack of interest. The DJ set’s end cooled the steamy dance floor and, after two cigarettes, Chicks on Speed were still not on stage. After a few technical glitches with the projector, though, they appeared unassumingly on the stage. Being an international collective of artists, the members are disparate, and this show involved two of the Chicks, Nadine Jessen and Melissa Logan.

Jessen’s amazing dance moves on top of the DJ table with gratuitous use of jazz hands was one of the highlights of the show for me. The awkwardness of the entire setup, with Sharpied banners, shiny space-age homemade costumes, and grainy video of the Chicks dancing with their reggaeton friends, was beyond endearing.

The aforementioned reggaeton tracks left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The Chicks immediately rectified the situation with an audio-visual remix treat involving a LOT of ass-slapping. Each slap was on hyper-bass boost, and the kids in the crowd didn’t know whether to dance or to laugh.

Altogether, the Chicks on Speed were beautifully awkward, and their multi-media setup was crafted with expertise. Hopefully on their return to Montreal the dance floor will not be so under-populated.