Category
Concert Reviews
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Concert Reviews
HELLYEAH @ Club Soda – 08.24.10
08.30.10HELLYEAH took to the Club Soda stage with the first song on the docket being the band’s self-titled song HELLYEAH; a deliciously self-indulgent slab about stuff they like. They continued to rip out their Texas-style brand of metal with a few deep hooks and char broiled break-downs and those few fans in the audience ate it up with a side of coleslaw. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Sublime with Rome @ Metropolis – 08.22.10
08.28.10“Early in the morning risin’ to the street, Light me up that cigarette and I strap shoes on my feet, Got to find a reason a reason things went wrong, Got to find a reason why my money’s all gone”… Whether it be about lean bank accounts, love for the stage or homage to a talented old friend, the Long Beach punk rock dubsters have returned with a triumphant stride in their step! Needless to say a rowdy Metropolis throng hooted and hollered as the drizzly night boasted Sublime with Rome. It was… Hm, what’s the word I’m looking for… Oh yeah… Sublime! (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Green Day @ Quai Jacques-Cartier – 08.21.10
08.27.10 -
Concert Reviews
Backstreet Boys @ Centre Bell – 08.16.10
08.22.10There are only a few things that bring me straight back to certain “episodes” of my life. Amongst those is the now 17-year-old pop boy band, the Backstreet Boys. In 1994, the Backstreet storm sure didn’t spare me and thousands of other girls all over the world and it seemed this fateful night at the Centre Bell was no different. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Adam Lambert @ International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu – 08.14.10
08.20.10Adam Lambert: a pop singer-songwriter of American Idol fame hailing from sunny San Diego, California. Hot Air Balloon: “the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology” executed with hot air created by an open flame. Well… I’m not sure how they’re related, but who cares, a party is a party right! Adam Lambert popped, fizzled and shimmied all over the International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. T’was a main stream extravaganza! (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Interpol @ Metropolis – 08.09.10
08.15.10Opening with Success, the lead off track from their upcoming self-titled album, Interpol performed a generous seventeen song set on Monday night that featured two encores. Full marks to the jam packed Metropolis crowd, whose adoration and alcohol fueled enthusiasm made this show one to remember, even if most didn’t. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants @ Le Belmont – 08.08.10
08.14.10Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants: Stripped-down, Americana twang-rock bred of seasoned underground conviction and self-aware sensibility. Le Belmont: A tried and true Montreal night spot with flavor and style steeped in the trendy brew of today’s “standard”. Lethal combination n’est-ce pas? Oui… But as life will often teach… Things could always be better. (more…) -
Concert Reviews
Public Enemy @ Club Soda – 08.08.10
08.14.10Twenty years after one of the most controversial records came out and unequivocally ushered in hip hop’s most prolific decade, Fear of a Black Planet felt fresh and new after Public Enemy gallantly took over Club Soda’s stage last week to celebrate the unprecedented album’s 20th anniversary. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
MGMT @ Metropolis – 08.04.10
08.10.10With the Electric Feel of Brooklyn born synthpop sweeping Montreal’s Metropolis, the irreverent dance friendly duo they call MGMT filled the night with ass shaking exuberance and toothy glares. Just the other day I was thinking, “I’m feeling rough, I’m feeling raw, I’m in the prime of my life. Let’s make some music, make some money, find some models for wives”… Then Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden solidified my thoughts with a flashtastic live effort born of psychedelic images splashed across a stare sparking backdrop and soul tickling colors issuing manic highs to a sold out hazy crowd. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Chromeo @ Metropolis – 07.31.10
08.06.10Sometimes you wear a grill, sometimes you wear shades and sometimes you’re so funking slick that your shit ain’t even chrome… It’s Chromeo. Then sometimes you perform at Montreal’s Metropolis for Osheaga in the City and rattle fallopian tubes and testicles as far as the eye can see. Well, till the back of the room at least. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Osheaga @ Parc Jean-Drapeau – 07.31.10
08.06.10Women dawned their skimpiest summer rock gear and guys sported their best shades as the grounds of one of Canada’s biggest & baddest festivals rumbled from seismic audio activity. Fact: Day one of Osheaga brought tears to the eyes of the rock gods that glared down upon a sun soaked Parc Jean-Drapeau. Fact: If you were anywhere else, you missed something great. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
of Montreal @ Metropolis – 07.30.10
08.05.10The Tripster Nation converged on Metropolis last night, as unusual suspects of Montreal (of Athens, Georgia) gigged out in acute cool fashion. Fronter/founder Kevin Barnes’s Bowie meets Skellington manifestation and the band’s Wonka-worthy line-up of stage antics grabbed and shook the plaid-flowerprint-stripes and eyeglass sporting assembly. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
NEeMA @ La Sala Rossa – 07.29.10
08.04.10Montreal muse-turned-musician, NEeMA, played to a half-full house of fans last week at La Sala Rossa as part of Osheaga in the City. Groups of girls up front swayed on the swollen sea of unbridled emotion while rows of boys in the back drank it all in. In between, I puzzled over the enigma that is NEeMA. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Yoav @ Club Soda – 07.28.10
08.03.10A fizzing Club Soda hosted Osheaga in the City as the decadent Montreal festival boasted the electro-acoustic grandeur of Yoav. Complete with 3D imagery, lights from the heavens and more multi-media than anyone could shake a stick at, the night shone, nay, glowed as an elated crowd moved with purpose. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Rammstein @ Festival d’été de Québec – 07.18.10
07.24.10The Plains of Abraham fell dark to the grind of Rammstein’s Rammlied. As a commanding German drawl shared the words “Wer wartet mit Besonnenheit, der wird belohnt zur rechten Zeit. Nun das warten hat ein Ende, leiht euer Ohr einer Legende. RAMM – STEIN! RAMM – STEIN!” Err… Maybe the Festival d’été de Québec didn’t know quite what it was getting itself into. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Drake @ Metropolis – 07.18.10
07.24.10From high school basketball star Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, to neo-Canadian super kid gracing Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment, Aubrey Drake Graham, better known to the music world as Drake, has grabbed the pop-hop world and Montreal’s Metropolis by the horns. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Social Distortion @ Festival d’été de Québec – 07.17.10
07.23.10Whether poised on the stage of the seediest venue or held high upon the outdoor podium of the Festival d’été de Québec, Social Distortion delivers a commanding presence shaved with the edge of experience and the tenderness of a broken heart. Come one come all and bow before the leaders of the old school. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
The Black Eyed Peas @ Festival d’été de Québec – 07.16.10
07.22.10Stand-up comedian Dave Attell once referred to The Black Eyed Peas saying, “I turned on the television last night and saw this really hot chick and three cool looking urban dudes and thought… What is this? Is this porn?!” No Dave it’s not porn, but it did leave baby making bits tingling and ears ringing sweet hooky beats at this year’s Festival d’été de Québec. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Rush @ Festival d’été de Québec – 07.15.10
07.21.10A calm swell grows with blistering intensity. Note after note layers itself in perfect harmony with the audio tide that fills the open land. Adrenaline levels slowly rise leaving a scent of yearning bite in the warm breeze. The Festival d’été de Québec rises to it’s toes, awaiting the lavish break of well-crafted audio bliss. Finally the progressive gallop unleashes it’s roaring climax… And oh what a Rush. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Loco Locass @ Festival d’été de Québec – 07.14.10
07.20.10On September 13th, 1759 a farmer by the name of Abraham Martin ceded his land to a pivotal battle of the Seven Years’ War. With fewer than 10,000 involved in the deciding hour, French and British troops led by Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm and General James Wolfe spilled blood over the fate of New France. On July 14th, 2010 Québec’s nationalist hip-hoppers Loco Locass once again waged war on The Plains of Abraham, as the Festival d’été de Québec bared witness to the french language in it’s finest hour. “Attention, on va maintenir la pression, C’est plus qu’une impression, On r’met tout en question, Sinon, y’a régression, Vitale est la mission, Même si on s’fait chier en chicanes de cons, Ostie qu’ça tue l’action!” (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Crowded House @ Metropolis – 07.13.10
07.19.10“Dull, dull grey, The color of the times, Cool, cool space, That I still hope to find, Far beyond the veil, The sounds of whispers and moans.” Now in the silver year since their formation, Aussie-Kiwi band Crowded House continue to woo crowds and bring houses down with twenty-five years of songwriting and touring the world under their belt. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
William Fitzsimmons @ Festival d’été de Québec – 07.11.10
07.17.10The damp night left a sticky stroke to the dark wood furniture. An old Philips radio sputtered warm washes of Fabergé folk through the cozy room as scratchy radio ads for the Festival d’été de Québec dampened the soothing serenades. “There are words inside my bedroom, Scribbled all across the wall, Saying something bout the way that, You won’t talk to us at all.” He felt the fragile touch of home slipping away. The slippery slope of life’s ups and downs splashed him with black gold and violent drops of rain. We struggle and stride, yet we ultimately fight the factual current of shadows and dust till the very end. Is the sharp angle of life meant to encourage falls, or impart the virtue of foresight? The heavy door shut with a baritone exhale as the shitty porch light rattled with laughter. The gravel crunched under his hard soles, his tired grip caring for the canvas bag in tow. He stood on the curb as the brick tickle trunk containing his life peered over his shoulder. Labored breaths turned to sighs and dry eyes turned to sadness for all that was and all that will never be. Approaching headlights lit his frown and he quickly gathered his belongings. He opened the taxi door and settled into a slumped mess, cradling his pondering face with a trembling hand. “So… Airport huh. Taking a trip?”, throated the cabby. “Something like that” he whispered. “Hm… What’s your name son?” “William… William Fitzsimmons” came the back seat reply. “Nice to meet you William… My friends call me Sparrow.” The highway lines sped by fluidly as puckered thoughts burned his stare. “You know what… Forget the airport, just keep driving.” “Sure… Your dime, your direction.” A journey to ease the soul he thought. A journey to somewhere, featuring The Sparrow and the Crow. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Wolf Parade @ Le National – 07.09.10
07.15.10Rebellious and still charming; precocious but raw; intense but tender, Wolf Parade gave a guided tour through the expanse of indie punk-rock at Le National last week for many ecstatic fans. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
Iron Maiden @ Festival d’été de Québec – 07.09.10
07.15.10“We fought him hard, we fought him well, Out on the plains we gave him hell—Run to the hills, Run for your lives, Run to the hills, Run for your lives.” The crystal howl of the night sky found refuge in Bruce Dickinson’s exhale, as new wave British heavy metalists Iron Maiden looted & plundered the Festival d’été de Québec’s ears with burning nostalgic fury. (more…)
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Concert Reviews
The Flaming Lips @ Metropolis – 07.07.10
07.13.10Psychedelic, provocative, delirious, magical – The Flaming Lips put on yet another monumental show at Metropolis last week, an explosive spectacle replete with elaborate party favors and strange dancers in orange jump suits. (more…)
