RSS

On February 22nd, Crocodiles (ex-Some Girls, ex-The Plot to Blow Up The Eiffel Tower) brought their lo-fi, noise-pop jams to Casa Del Popolo. It was the band’s second stint in Montreal.

Serving as the sole opener, Bleeding Rainbow is a four-piece Philadelphia band who kicked off the night accordingly. Their psychedelic-rock has elements of shoe-gaze and post-punk; more importantly the Sonic Youth influence is ultra heavy. The band, who previously went by the name Reading Rainbow, use two vocalists at all times, which was a little undistinguishable only because the microphones did not seem even at the beginning. The band brought a healthy dose of energy in their feedback heavy set and did a solid job of getting things going. The crowd was not overly enthusiastic but seemed to like the band; likewise, Bleeding Rainbow were not overly enthusiastic on stage but seemed to be having a little bit of fun regardless. The band played for no more than thirty minutes; shortly afterwards Crocodiles hit the stage.

Opening with “Mirrors”, San Diego’s Crocodiles took the stage shortly after 10pm and played songs from their previous albums Summer of Hate and Sleep Forever. By this time, the venue had filled up with less than a hundred people, making it an intimate and cozy club show. The band was ripping into songs such as “Stoned to Death” with no hesitation and not much crowd acknowledgement. Either way the crowd was into it and danced their way through the band’s set. Frontman Brandon Welchez was quite animated in his stage presence, having fun on the popular “I Wanna Kill.” It is extremely difficult to look past The Jesus and Mary Chain comparisons, even in Welchez presence on stage (comparing him it to Jim Reid). During the set, they played some new songs off of their upcoming album, Endless Flowers, and the crowd enjoyed what they were hearing. The band ended their set after fifty minutes, playing one encore in the form of “Hearts of Love”, capping off a cozy and sweaty show (Casa Del Popolo gets really hot, really fast). The sound was decent but at times fuzzy; it matched the band’s noisy, lo-fi approach. It is not the best venue for sound that the city has to offer but it is certainly far from the worst.

The set was extremely short but it was better that way. Crocodiles put on a good show, however it was far from a monumental one. It was a very clear-cut approach in which they came to the city, played songs and left. There was hardly any interaction between the band themselves and the audience. Fans of the band that missed the show should not feel that bad; it was not a life-changing experience. The band may not come to Montreal often but there is nothing spectacular about the band live. It was fun and short, with no real challenge musically; you know their songs and you know how they are going to play them. There was no mind-blowing moments where one questioned how the musician did that or what that sound was. It was a decent show but if you have seen Crocodiles once, it is plenty.

-Alex G

Produced By Melissa Mulligan

Read By Sarah Deshaies

Stories By Sarah Deshaies, Gregory Wilson, Esther Viragh and Daniel J. Rowe

A huge slab of concrete fell from the roof of the Olympic Stadium’s parking lot Sunday afternoon.

The chunk had not caused any casualties nor hit any cars according to CTV.

However, the weight of the fallen chunk has severely weakened the area on which it landed. Firefighters believe it might provoke a secondary collapse of the ceiling of the second lot below.

The Montreal Impact has scheduled its home opener on March 17. As of yet, there is no word on whether this event will force the team to reschedule.

Flickr photo by: MichaelWu

Do you think you can build the greatest and fastest paper airplane in the world?

Last Tuesday was your chance to shine as Concordia hosted the Red Bull Paper Wings Contest.

Audrey Folliot was there.

Concordia’s EV Building Atrium turned into a giant high school classroom as paper planes zoomed over people’s heads in an attempt to break the sound barrier.

Participating students put their paper plane folding skills to work to create the fastest and most original paper plane that can possibly be built in only a few minutes.

Then, the crucial moment came.

The moment when they had to test their airplane on the field and be judged by a panel of harsh individuals.

Their plane was judged on its airtime, aerobatic skills and the distance it could travel before landing.

Many contestants were actual engineering students, but anyone who was willing to participate had the chance to.

To encourage the aspiring paper plane champions, those who signed up received a free Red Bull energy drink from the Red Bull representatives present on site.

Computer engineering student Korhan Ackura said he relied on previously acquired paper plane building skills to get good results in the contest.

“We used to shoot the teachers in the head, so this is the same kind of design, so I’m hoping that this time I shoot distance.”

Others like Peng Xu, a mechanical engineering student, prepared a little bit more seriously than others.

“I watched some basic videos about airplanes just to myself and changed some parts, like I turn this up. It’s a little bit different from others.”

The contest went on for two and half hours and was a huge success.

Concordia’s Engineering and Computer Science Association took part in the organization of the event.

ECA’s VP External Affairs and third-year electrical engineering student Carolyne Gagnon had more details about the way it worked.

“I don’t know if Concordia’s the only school within Montreal that is doing this event, however all schools are allowed to hold the event at their school. Whoever does gets to send three people to Toronto for the National Competition, and the winners from the National Competition get to go to Austria.”

The Red Bull Paper Wings World Championship is being held in Austria in May of 2012.

The winners of the National Competition will compete there against winners from eighty-five other countries.

Concordia held this event as part of the ECA’s Engineering week, and more events are going on throughout the week, so make sure to check that out!

Audrey Folliot, CJLO News