Some wicked fuse action

Posted on January 20, 2008

A few months ago, I went out to see my favorite band, Do Make Say Think, play at Le National. I took my friend Alain out for his birthday. It was a last minute decision, and seriously, I don’t even know why I hesitated about going out for that show. It was late when I finally decided to get on the Metro and actually go to the show. I figured I might miss the opening act but that was no big deal. More often than not, the opening act isn’t all that great. Hesitation to go to this show here would’ve been a massive musical missing-out.

However, hesitation is usually how it goes these days when it comes to going out to shows in Montreal. First of all, ticket prices are often an investment for shows in this city. The stupid charges added to the often reasonably-priced  tickets, then added up to a few more dollars of taxes and bogus delivery charges (even when you choose to pick them up at the event) really add up to something around $30 more often than not. Yeah, it’s not that bad really. But if you’re a regular show-goer like myself, you might find yourself pretty broke at the end of a few months of sweet shows. So I guess you kind of have to pick and choose which shows you’ll actually go to. Even though my live experiences with Do Make Say Think have been pretty damn close to orgasmic, I came pretty close to choosing not to go to this one.

Yeah, yeah. I’m rambling. To get back to the opening acts, they’re often a shitty tease that makes you stand an extra 2 hours at a show. And shows here in Montreal, they sometimes start on time, sometimes not so much. I’ve seen myself traveling for like an hour to get to a show and get there just to find out that I had totally missed out on what I wanted to see. You think you can give yourself a half-hour’s loose time for the band you want to see, but really, you can’t. This means having to stick around and twirling your thumbs (se tourner les pouces) impatiently until the main act actually comes on.

My point with all this rambling is that this time around, the opening act was just as great as the show I was there to see. If this was the case with all shows, I’d be the happiest cat in Montreal. And really, I was lucky to even catch it since my decision to go was last-minute. Turns out the show was running late. Thank god for that.

The opening act was Sandro Perri. At first listen, it kind of sounded like a bit of Chad VanGaalen mixed with… some terribly awesomely talented Sandro. I was so impressed. There are several different ways to discover a new artist. As of late, it’s by listening to the CBC Radio 3 that I make most of my musical discoveries. Sometimes, a friend’s tip will get me turned on to something new. Never EVER had I experienced such a “love at first listen” at a live show. I’m a very picky girl, especially when it comes to music, and somehow, this man managed to break through the thick judgmental shell of mine and made me love him dearly right away (musically I mean).

Apparently, Mr. Perri is also known as Polmo Polpo and the disco king they call Continuous Dick. He also plays with a few other band including The Great Lake Swimmers. From looking at his website, this guy is definitely keeping himself busy with a whole bunch of musical projects. This constant busy-ness also speaks pretty loudly as how freakin’ talented the man really is.

So, a few weeks ago I started browsing around the sessions available on the CBC Radio 3 website and found some really interesting ones they call Fuse. This show, recorded in front of a live audience, is basically the blending (or fusion) of two different musical acts. There are some really interesting ones on there. I stumbled upon one with Patrick Watson and Torngat on the same stage. And today, I found this one with André Ethier and Sandro Perri. The sessions are pretty cool really. Of course, you have to put it into context of two artists who aren’t really used to playing with each other, and sometimes I find that the two bands don’t really come out to their full potential playing together. But it’s interesting to say the least. I really love the interviews and hearing how the bands interact with each other while being interviewed. These two guys though, I really enjoy how they share the different musical tasks on the show. It’s great. Have a listen. It’s fun!

It’s by listening to this session that I really got to hear and understand some of the brilliant lyrics that Sandro puts to his songs. More particularly, I’m talking about the song City of Museums in which I was struck by the words “When dreams are soup, we are two spoons”. I probably don’t listen to lyrics on albums as much as I should… especially being a writer and a literature aficionado. Sandro’s got some really pretty songs and absolutely dreamy and beautiful lyrics to them. He’s got a few shows coming up on Toronto, which you should totally attend if you happen to be in the area. I sure wish I was.