The Barr Brothers @ Cabaret La Tulipe

The colorfully lit stage at Cabaret La Tulipe was just as crowded as the venue itself. There were several uncommon instruments sitting on it, including a harp, a hand-made electric tackle box guitar and its accompanying string bow. The venue was filled with faces ranging from the young to the quite old, all of whom were seemingly excited to be in attendance. This concert marked the second release of The Barr Brothers' self-titled debut album. “You know those Indian restaurants near Jean-Talon that keep their grand opening sign up for more than a year?” he quipped, “They were our inspiration.”

The band consists of Andrew Barr (drums and guitar), Andrés Vial (keyboards and bass instruments), Sarah Pagé (harp) and Brad Barr (guitar and everything else). Brad and Andrew grew up in Rhode Island and spent a decade in Boston prior to their move to Canada. In Boston, they also played with Marc Friedman as part of an avant-garde jazz trio called The Slip, which still currently plays shows there periodically. Following his newly engaged brother Andrew, Brad officially relocated to Montreal in 2004. Pagé was Brad’s neighbour; she was added to the group after they became familiar with each other’s music through connecting walls and eventually started playing together. The acoustics of the harp were a notable addition to the otherwise predominantly folk and blues aesthetic of the music and added an airy quality to the gentle string plucking and poetic lyrics.

The Barr Brothers’ set largely consisted of tracks from their re-released album, with a few pieces of newer, more up-beat material towards the show’s end. Despite the soothing mood imparted by the band’s instruments, the crowd was lively and engaged; they cheered, clapped and laughed loudly along with the band. The floor was packed with throngs of fans eager to dance as much as was socially passable within such a genre. “Mon francais n’est pas très bien,” Brad added later, “How do you say ‘you guys blew our minds tonight’ in French?”

It is safe to say that the feeling was mutual. Their set lasted just over an hour and a half, with the band returning for an encore performance beckoned by the audience’s deafening applause. Their album, The Barr Brothers, was officially released on September 27th on Secret City Records.

-Maryana K