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By Mike Bresciani - The Lonesome Strangers - 09/18/2008

If you could think of the most perfect song of all time, what would it be?

Everybody has a favorite, one that can make the hair on their arms stand still at any given time… but does such a PERFECT song exist? Music is by all means tailored to varying individual tastes, that being said, my vote would go to "God Only knows" by the Beach Boys. Given the situation, it can put a grin on my face, or leave me in tears. It will certainly be the first song played on my wedding day, and the last song heard at my funeral.

On that note, jump ahead to Miracle Fortress playing live at La Tulipe…

Awjeez, How did they know?

The set kicked off with the tranquil tune "Little trees" while Miracle mastermind Graham Van Pelt then took the song, and had it slowly morph into the Pet Sounds' classic, playing it slower, drenched in beauty, and just a little melancholy. To be fair, it's tough to really botch such a song. In any case, this was clearly foreshadowing great things to come.

Performing towards a moderately sized crowd, the Miracle Fortress gang performed multiple selections from the Five roses LP along with several new, unknown songs. Having been sour on Miracle Fortress due to last October's lackluster "Secret outdoor" solo performance, this year's show was substantially better. The reason behind this phenomenon would be the inclusion of backup musicians & an indoor setting.

To imply improvement doesn't constitute a full-blown turnaround, more of a letter-grade progression on a report card. It may sound harsh, but one might ask for more from a live show, given the excellence of their studio album. It's not uncommon to testify to a band's live credentials, while saying their record is simply adequate. In this case, the tables are turned, and we find ourselves praising a recording, rather than the performers. It is my opinion that they should go hand in hand.

The Five Roses LP is brilliant. With this album, we see Van Pelt capturing Brian Wilson's aesthetic genius for songwriting, melody, and production. While there are plenty of contemporaries borrowing from the Beach Boys manual, putting experimental (Panda Bear) or Psychedelic (Besnard Lakes) spins on such a time-tested formula, we see Miracle Fortress take that sound, and distill it into carefully layered, sublime pop songs that thankfully clock in at under 10 minutes.

The problem faced here, is that the recording is too, shall we say, slick (in a good way). This gives way to a rather large discrepancy between the live show, and the recording. With the large amounts of technology available at one's disposal, Van Pelt gives hope to any kid sitting as his computer, meticulously layering, compressing, and pitch-shifting his way through a pro-tools session. This does, however, make it more difficult to convert that piece of art into a good live show. You don't become a good performer overnight, sitting in a studio. It is this inability that really takes away from the band's sense of authenticity, assuming that its brilliance lies solely on a mixing board or a laptop (which it doesn't).

Although this may have been their primary hindrance, the second nail in the coffin was their bland stage show; they seemed completely indifferent throughout their hour-long set. While this level of apathy may have been lost on a sea of hipsters, it fell over me for a great part of the show. On the flipside, hearing songs like "Hold your secrets…" and "Maybe lately" did resurrect that smile from earlier on. Regrettably, moments like this were few and far-between, which was a real shame.

As someone who was originally disenchanted by the amount of hype surrounding this band, I found myself loving the record despite the fact. However, this show was just a let down… but hey, with the direction the record industry is heading, record sales will thrive once again while live shows become obsolete … am I right ??? 

Preceding Miracle Fortress was Laurent Bourque and his 7-piece band. Formerly of the group "Spark", Bourque & Co. outclassed the headliners in showmanship, drawing many people from their seats and onto the floor. The music was good, no-punches-pulled pop-rock with terrific instrumentation (violins, keys, guitars) and a front-man with recognizably sweet-sounding voice, reminding one of Nada Surf's Matthew Caws. My only beef: musicians with sunglasses. Top hats, leather pants & feather boas are cool, but sunglasses are just ridiculous. Optical hazards aside, they put on a well-rounded, entertaining show.

Early-birds were treated to a lovely opening set by singer/songwriter Caroline Keating. Hailing from the mean streets of Verdun, Keating provided concert goers with 40 minutes of lush balladry and stories set to the tune of a sentimental, yet erratic piano. Although her voice is really quite outstanding, it may be awhile before she shakes the evident Regina Spektor similarities, which may not be such a bad thing.

Tune Into The Lonesome Strangers with Mikey every Wednesday from 2PM - 4PM

By Joshua Mocle - The Kids are So-So - 09/04/2008

It’s always a great feeling when you attend a performance by a band you know will revolutionize popular music as we know it and will leave an indelible mark on music history. When something is just THAT good, it tends to transcend a normal concert. I would imagine that over the last year or two, a lot of the world’s music fans have been discovering this zen feeling about Gainesville, Florida’s Against Me! However, this reporter has felt it for close to six years now, and their latest performance in Montreal does nothing to dampen my resolve that these quickly rising folk punk maestros will, in the near future, become recognized as one of the most relevant musical acts of the last thirty years.

All of that having been said, there were a few outstanding things wrong with the other acts who performed at Club Soda on the evening of September 4th.  The most notable thing wrong with Brooklyn, New York’s Japanther was their complete absence from the proceedings. Evidently this dynamic and beloved (at least by me) indie pop duo have become the latest victims of the US/Canada Border Authority. For years, bands wishing to cross the international boundary between the United States and Canada have run into problems meeting the often strict and somewhat arbitrary requirements necessary to do so and, as if often the case, have been forced to cancel appearances when denied entry into the country. I believe I speak for most music fans (and certainly most Japanther fans in this city) when I say that whenever this happens it “sucks giant donkey balls.” C’est la vie I suppose.

As a result of Japanther’s absence, Burlington, Ontario’s Saint Alvia (formerly known as The Saint Alvia Cartel) were given an extended opening slot. I must admit that it’s unfortunate that the band decided to change its name AFTER all the promotional materials for this tour were printed and distributed, but that’s pretty much the only non-negative feeling I have towards the band. Prior to their appearance this time around, I was under the impression that Saint Alvia was a ska band (given their presence on Montreal’s own Stomp Records that’s a pretty reasonable mistake to make.) However, I was unfortunately surprised to observe a band very uncertain of their own modus operandi and their performance suffered severely as a result. The term “Jack of All Trades, Master of None” could very easily be applied to the band and their own mish-mosh of punk/ska/reggae/emo. The unfortunate part is that they do appear to have their hearts firmly inside of what they’re doing and they have the intensity required of any band that desires to play venues other than their parent’s basement. However, they really just need to pick one genre and work on refining that before they attempt any kind of genre melding (don’t get me wrong, I’m a strong advocate of musicians not sticking to established genres for the entirety of their career, but a basis does need to be made that can then be branched out from first.)

Which leads me to Against Me! Since I listen to an ungodly amount of music during my day to day life, I don’t usually feel comfortable declaring a “favourite band.” However, when sufficiently pushed, 9 times out of 10 the band I will award that “illustrious” position is none other than Gainesville’s favourite folk punk ruffians. However, given that this was my fifth time seeing the band play live, I was admittedly not expecting much from the performance. Don’t get me wrong, I was certainly expecting to be entertained, but after the band’s lackluster performance at the Warped Tour this past summer, I was beginning to think that perhaps my teenage idols had begun to settle just a little too comfortably into the stable mainstream existence granted to them by the popularity of their first major label release, 2007’s New Wave. Needless to say, I was horribly incorrect in this assumption (or, even if I wasn’t, their performance wasn’t affected by it.) Playing for a little over an hour, the band hit tracks from their last four records with the heart, personality and intensity that I’ve become accustomed to from the band with their no nonsense attitude shining about as brightly as the youthful grins plastered on their faces. Most importantly, when a band’s catalogue expands to a certain point, their desire to perform their older material tends to wane. This is usually a problem given that die-hard fans generally always want to “hear the old stuff” and are not averse to making their desires known in a public setting. The most common solution to this conundrum usually results in a band playing their old stuff, but doing so void of any real heart or good intention other than shutting up a few naysayers. However, despite the fact that some of the songs they performed are at least eight years old (“I Still Love You Julie” and “Walking Is Still Honest”), the band clearly still holds true to the sentiments expressed in their older material and is just as comfortable playing them now as they were eight years ago, which I personally think is a great (and incredibly rare) thing to see.

The impression I’ve always gotten from the band was that it was never their intention to “change the world” or “revitalize punk rock in the mainstream” or any of the other various hyperbolic intentions that wordy reporters (myself absolutely included) have pasted onto them. However, where Against Me! truly shine is in the fact that their ego-free attitude and overall good intentions are hardwired into not only their music and their live performance as well, and that alone sets them well above their peers. I’ve enjoyed watching them grow and progress as a band for years and I can honestly say I’m still excited to see where they go from here. Many people view the place that the band is at now, at least commercially, as the height of a band’s career. However, rest assured, if any band can prove that notion embarrassingly incorrect, it’s Against Me!  

Tune Into The Kids Are So-So with Josh every Sunday from 2PM - 4PM

By Ricky D - The Naked Lunch - 08/06/2008

Some are calling it the concert of the summer: Radiohead somehow managed to cram a good 35,000 fans into Park Jean Drapeau Wednesday night (that’s more seats that you can fit in the Bell Center). Even Coldplay, whose latest album brought them to the top of the charts for the very first time, managed to only sell 19,000 tickets the week prior.

Anyone who has ever been to a Radiohead show knows they are in for something great. Perhaps the only complaint one could make was due to the rain that just wouldn’t stop pouring down on the crowd on that very grey and dim day. However,  frontman Thom Yorke took a moment to apologize, saying “We’re sorry about the rain. It follows us around.”

They kicked off the set with “15 Step,” the first song on the new album and followed it up with “There There.” Johnny Greenwood’s guitar sound soared through the crowd with a hypnotic feel while Yorke took center stage throughout.

The first set was slow...maybe too slow with songs like “All I Need” and “Iron Lung.” However, it soon became clear that the band was just teasing its audience as they slowly picked up the pace. Soon after, they ripped into “Nude,” their first top 40 hit since “Creep” back in 1995. However things haven’t changed much for the band's live performance since then. This was my third Radiohead concert and it became obvious to me that the band was still loyal to its fans as I sat and watched what was to become a 25 song setlist.

Coming in at number ten was “Fake Plastic Trees,” off 1995's The Bends. It was at this point that I no longer paid any attention to the rain and cold and reminisced back to my high school days when The Bends became a life changing discovery that opened me up to a whole new world of music.

The shows' visuals  were eye popping. Each member was given his own big screen which made up the backdrop. This, accompanied by the Wednesday night fireworks at Laronde, made for some great eye candy. To top it off, we were treated with not one but two encores. The first set including “Bangers and Mash” and “Karma Police,” while the second set gave us three more songs finally ending with “Everything In It’s Right Place.”

Radiohead's seventh album, In Rainbows, released as a digital download for which customers chose their own price, outsold all of their previous, conventionally released, albums combined. The band continues to push boundaries and take their audience to unexpected places; always changing their sound and experimenting in new ways. Whether you love them or hate them, you have to respect them.

Tune Into The Naked Lunch with Ricky every Thursday from 10AM – 12PM

By Jackie Hall - Bridge the Gap - 08/05/2008

Who needs to see Rancid two nights in a row?  Apparently, lots of people do. As H2O played their set on night two, their frontman, Toby Morse, asked the crowd, “Who here saw Sick of It All open last night”? His response back from the crowd was a roar loud enough to make it known that at least half of the audience on night two had been at the Metropolis the night before. I was one of those dorks yelling at the question to prove that I was a true Rancid fan like half of the crowd. The funny thing is is that I was there more for both of the openers.

Night One: August 5th

The Brains took to the stage at 8pm sharp. The Montreal psychobilly trio generally play to a crowd of no more than one hundred people. On this night, they played to a sold out crowd at the Metropolis, although the venue was a little over half full during their set. No matter, the crowd ate them up, as most of the kids in the crowd were no more than 18 years old and therefore, very open to new bands. I myself was surprised at the quality of their set (I’ve only ever seen The Brains at venues like Café Chaos). The sound at the Metropolis made them sound better live than they do on record. Rene Garcia’s voice was so smooth and deep during songs like “More Brains” that I felt like I had been ripped off every other time I’ve seen them, as this was surely how they were supposed to sound live.

At 8:45pm New York hardcore legends, Sick of It All took to the stage.  I had interviewed the singer prior to their set and already had an idea of some of the songs they would play. For those of you into hardcore, SOIA is probably the best band you could ever see. Even after 20 years of steady touring, these guys have got it. The energy in the air is so thick you could slice it with a knife. The only thing damping the parade is that stupid barricade at the front creating a divide between the band and the audience. The best way to see these guys is with a stage of the right size for stage diving, truly.  However, I’m still far from being disappointed, so much so that I barely notice that my body is beaten and bruised.

Next up is Rancid. I’ve only seen them once before at Vans Warped Tour in 1998. I loved this band at that age, and left that show feeling ripped off that they had only played a 30-minute set. Well I obviously don’t have the same enthusiasm I did a decade ago, but I still enjoyed the majority of the set. Almost half of the songs were off of And Out Come the Wolves, which is my second favorite release of theirs after Let’s Go. The problem with the setlist was that half of the crowd was too young to know this album well, or like my pestering better half, too old to have really gotten into it.  So while I was partying my butt off, my conjoint insisted that we take off soon ‘cause he was bored.

Needless to say, mixed reviews on this one, depending on whether you are a fan of the band’s third full length or not. Highlight of the night: Matt Freeman’s bass solo during “Maxwell Murder.” This solo on the album is amazing; the live extended version was so exciting I felt I wanted to marry the man just so he could teach me to be half as good as he is.

Night Two: August 6

I had been hoping my father would be coming with me to this show. He loves Rancid,  but he doesn’t want to come because he says he’ll feel like everyone is staring at him because he’s old. My father is in his mid-fifties, and I think it’s awesome that he loves punk rock; most people’s dads are boring old fuddy-duddies. Oh well, I must write this review alone.

I missed the opening act, the Alley Dukes. They are a local rockabilly band that has announced that this will be their last show, thankfully. All of their songs are written in a style typical of a teenage premature ejaculator, with every tune named after a female body part or sexual act. They were funny the first time I saw them at Murphy’s Pub (now O’Hara’s on University street), and even then the first few songs were funny but I was bored after half an hour. I was not going to put myself through that again.

H2O’s turn. Another New York City act, belonging to the NYHC family, but with a very different sound. I think they have that early to mid-nineties California sound, but they define themselves as having a more eighties Washington DC sound, like Dag Nasty. It is a bit the same scenario as the night before; a lot of kids didn’t know this band, but accepted them with open arms. I was happy that they played a lot of their older stuff that I knew.  They just released a new album on Bridge 9 Records in May, and I was certain that their setlist would consist mainly of songs unknown to me, but it seems they’ll be saving that setlist for their upcoming headlining tour. They were awesome, tight, and full of energy. However, I’m impartial. I am a SOIA fan and had spent all my energy the night before, so I had little left to give to Toby and his gang.

Once their set was done we ran into some buddies who run the Hardtimes.ca site.  If you like hardcore or metal and haven’t heard of the site, I suggest you check it out. They’ve only been up and running since January, and already have over 100 interviews and live clips on there that they’ve filmed (including a ten-minute clip of the H2O set from this show). Anyway, we compared notes on the interviews that we both had with the band and realized we were all too old and tired to handle another late night, so we went home.  I was sure that Rancid would be playing pretty much the same set again. I’ve heard that they mixed it up a little more, but I cannot contribute any first-hand knowledge to this end.

All I can say is that for $20 a night, it was still worthwhile to go out to both nights. The openers were great, the headlining act was great if you dig every album they’ve ever done, and the ambiance was fabulous.

Tune in to Bridge The Gap with Jackie every Tuesday from 8pm – 10pm