Pop Montreal updates

[petronia]

The xx: what one would expect I guess! There were the usual ushers and such but it was relaxed, sit-down kids well-behaved with plastic beer cups in the concert hall, talk never loud enough to interfere with the music. I'd have said it's a generational thing, that everyone is used to all venues being mixed-purpose and mixed-audience, but I'm told by out-of-towners it's a Montreal thing, too... The most jarring aspect of the gig was actually hearing all this intentional mega-reverb in a space designed to eliminate the effect. But the light show was v. good and the xx nicely served by a cool, dark, spacious, and well-designed environment to suit their cool, dark, spacious, and well-designed music, so score one for the Pop Montreal peeps there.

The crowd really seemed to love the band (it's their third time playing here, successively larger venues). Musically it was pretty much like the album, nothing left-field, except the two vocalists have become much more self-assured and learnt to convey sexiness without sounding desperately depressed XD which bodes well for a sophomore effort. That and I think they plan on using their Mercury $$ to build a studio. Was too tired for the after party but was told that there was a lot of awesome old-school garage and two-step, and all of four ppl on the dancefloor.

Didn't arrive in time for Zola Jesus but Warpaint was all right - dark with multiple moments of sonic loveliness, needed punchier song structure. You can get fairly far with a band of three attractive young women and a dude guitarist.

Mount Kimbie: bumped into Sach from Passion of the Weiss (the only music blogger I know from the weird non-Internet place) and mutual friends, then (apparently, according to him) everyone he knew ever; some crossover space of local dubstep DJs and hip-hop heads and techno types and indie film studies dudes having been activated or delineated by the band... granted the same could probably be said of Four Tet. It was one of those gigs where one didn't know how the live act would come off but would be OK with holding up the wall with arms crossed, if it came to that - though it didn't. They were unfortunately insistent on playing their songs qua discrete songs, that is to say not as tracks and not as instrumental jams (even when the one slung on a guitar for "texture"), at the end of each of which they stopped and said "thank you", so the music was guaranteed to cut off just as one was getting one's groove on. XD; But a very successful night out, otherwise.

Puces Pop: was it always this expensive? I suppose so. /weepz Got a flower necklace made of felt, a cardigan brooch, a black skirt and gray t-shirt (late autumn is the best time of year for minimal post-post-modern Cayce Pollard-ian utilitarianism). I also have new glasses I'm rather pleased with: they're black lacquer-ish Chinoiserie lotus cutouts on the outside and translucent deep red lucite on the inside. From a distance they look bog-normal but with these two slashes of lipstick red, like tail lights on a black car.

Comments

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

but I'm told by out-of-towners it's a Montreal thing, too

Is that because Montreal loevs indie bands and doesn't have an Establishment keeping them out of the classical performance halls?

except the two vocalists have become much more self-assured and learnt to convey sexiness without sounding desperately depressed

Whoo for continued personal development

That and I think they plan on using their Mercury $$ to build a studio

Whoo for taking your career into your own hands!

at the end of each of which they stopped and said "thank you", so the music was guaranteed to cut off just as one was getting one's groove on

XD.

Do your glasses make everything look red?