It was a few months ago, at Quai des Brumes I believe, when I first caught a local band called The In & Outs in concert. It was not a large room, with only 10 or 15 people, but this trio brought it hard. They rocked our socks off. And our pants. And our underwear. Plus their showmanship was spectacular. At various points during the evening, the guitarist played with a violin bow and a pint glass. Then he was stomping on our tables as he played, kicking off our empty glasses. The bassist and the drummer switched places seamlessly during the last song. These guys put on a hell of a show, pure rock and roll, and I left awestruck. I promised myself I'd go see them again.
Friday night, I finally made good on that promise. They were playing a Plateau bar called Boul Noir. But I was disappointed. Maybe it was the backroom venue, the atmosphere, or the fact that they started an hour late. Maybe it was their attempt to impersonate a lounge act. Maybe I was noticing their awkward Francophone-singing-in-English lyrics. Maybe I was just tired. Anyway, whatever the reason, the magic just wasn't there.
About halfway through their set, the trio became a quartet as a violinist emerged from the crowd. The addition of the violin breathed new life into the act and took their wild riproaring jams to a whole nother level. But still...
Sometimes we experience something so phenomenal and then try so desperately to recreate the experience, recreate the feeling that experience gave us. We can only end up disappointed because all those special elements that were in place will probably never all come together again. The stars will never align that way again.
All in all, the most interesting part of this evening was the opening act, a man named after two cities. Baltimore Washington Brandes came equipped with an acoustic guitar, a banjo, and a full beard. His band, The Unsettlers, will be performing along with many of our other favourites this summer at Osheaga. But here he sat alone on a stool, singing some of his band's stuff and some of his own, in this rich raspy voice. Kind of like Cohen, but rougher, and a little more soulful.
http://www.myspace.com/bwbrandesmusic
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