It’s Almost Summer: Jason Collett at Petit Campus – 2008-04-18

Posted on April 19, 2008

I don’t know if you guys ever experienced this little thing I like to call musical memory. The way I see it, sort of like muscle memory: from listening to a particular album over and over in a specific situation, it seeps into your brain in such a way that every time you listen to that album or artist again, it gives you that vivid sensation of being in that moment all over again.

There are a handful of artists whose music is powerful enough to bring me back to very intense musical memory experiences. The Dears’ No Cities Left brings be back to the time where I used to bike through Chinatown every day to get to work. The Arcade Fire’s Funeral reminds me of my fist year taking the Metro and going to McGill. Jason Collett’s Idols of Exile strikes a chord that brings me to the time when I used to bike down to the canal on beautiful sunny summer days to go visit my friend Jon. That album is to me an intense reminder of wonderful times and gorgeous Montreal summer days. It was a great album, but after the summer was over, I moved on to new musical conquests.

This year, Jason Collett released his fifth album, Here’s to Being Here on the famous Canadian label Arts & Crafts. I can say without the shadow of a doubt that this is a truly groundbreaking album on Collett’s part, let alone probably one of the best albums to have been released in the Canadian music scene this year. His music is ripe and his lyrics have a way of letting you slip comfortably into the stories he so beautifully tells.

Last time he was supposed to play here was with the Montreal Jazz Festival of 2006, when he was meant to open for the Dears at The Metropolis. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make it to that show, which was a real bummer. When I heard he was coming back to Montreal, I bought my tickets right away. They’ve been stuck on my calendar since January. Needless to say I’ve been waiting to see him live for quite some time now. I have a long history of being disappointed by shows I’ve been looking forward to this much. However, this wasn’t one of them.

Last night was my first time at Le Petit Campus down on Prince-Arthur. I must say I was impressed by the great-looking and intimate venue. The sound was amazing, in such a way that even though the music was loud (like most concerts) it didn’t make my ears want to bleed, even as I was standing in the first row trying to capture a good picture of handsome Collett.

The show was simply amazing. It took a while to warm up the crowd, but after Collett broke out into little stories about vacationing in Northern Ontario and swimming all day from rock to rock in a gorgeous river, the crowd was completely taken; at least I was. He was clearly happy to be in our sexy city and gave a wonderful performance, which reflected same.

He played a first set with the band, joined by the steamy Peter Elkas on guitar. Then, the band stepped off for a little break while Jason Collett kept on playing a delightful set on the acoustic guitar. I was entirely seduced by this tall drink of water, who clearly doesn’t need a band to exploit his musical talent to its full extent. He was charming to say the least. The third set brought in his accomplices once more. This set was energetic, decadent and unbelievably sexy. I never realized how… for lack of better words, sexy, his music is. Rolling on the floor, bringing himself to his knees before curving over with his guitar on top of him Jimi-Hendrix-style made my knees so weak, I couldn’t even bring myself to reach for my camera. Usually, folk-ish music doesn’t have that kind of effect on me. I’ve never been much for the lumberjack type, but if he wasn’t proudly sporting a wedding band, that man could eat crackers in my bed anytime.

The show was hot, the music was fantastic, and everyone in the room couldn’t help themselves from dancing. When it was over, the crowd begged for more, even after the first encore, but to no avail. Collett gave us all he had in a generous hour and a half of flawless and excellent performance, testifying to his great talent.