Amos Lee @ Metropolis

Walking down Sainte-Catherine towards Metropolis on a Tuesday evening in unpleasant weather doesn’t do much to psych someone up for a concert. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the venue to see a bustle of people eager to see Amos Lee. Not knowing much about Amos Lee, I was still a little skeptical and hadn't fully made my mind up yet about his music.

First off, Metropolis is quite spectacular. As you first walk in, the interior design makes you step back to take it all in. It’s no wonder Pollstar regularly rates Metropolis one of the 100 best concert venues in the world. It complemented the performance significantly, in terms of simple ambiance.

Throughout the performance, I don’t think there was one person that was not fully encapsulated by Amons Lee's music. He's figured out a concept that has eluded many others in popular music today: simplicity, in its most organic form. As he did his set, there were no extravagant light shows, or any clutter of instrumentation and effects. There was himself backed by a simple, but very solid, rhythm section, which did a great job of framing his main talent as a singer-songwriter. His stage presence could be looked at in two ways. On the one hand, he didn’t seem to exude much effort. On the other hand, he took advantage of the music he was playing. It seemed like he becomes fully taken back by his music, and that’s what ends up moving him. You could say it's more of a spiritual performance than one that is fabricated for the pleasure of an audience. This kind of performance, in my opinion, is harder to reach than one that his fabricated, and in the end it is much more applauded by the audience.

Amos Lee's smooth vocal delivery and organic sounds are something many have come to identify him with. With his good looks and vocal ability, he could have easily been swept up into a mainstream bubble of music. However, I, along with many others, am very happy that he’s chosen the road that may be harder to travel on, but for which he won't be forgotten.

-Rex Elroy Clifford Bell hosts Rex's Barn Sessions on Tuesdays from 2-4pm