It’s November 20th. Winter has arrived to Montreal and the cold and snow have begun to creep into our consciousness. A few months ago one of the guys sent a link to a Sean Nicholas Savage video/song on youtube. When I first heard the song I have to be honest and say I didn’t appreciate it. It wasn’t the type of music I would normally listen to. I wasn’t going to base my whole opinion of the artist on the one song, so I searched for other videos of him on youtube. That’s when I stumbled upon his performance at Hog Hog 2013.
Now to quote Shepard Fairey – “I respect passion”. Last week I happened to catch the A City is an Island documentary. It discusses the English Montreal music scene and was being shown at the Rencontres Internationales du documentaire de Montréal. RIDM is Montreal’s documentary festival. Amongst other artist they also interview Mr Savage during documentary. Hugo had mentioned that Sean was playing a show in the near future. This combined with some newly freed up social time motivated me to go catch the show.
Earlier in the week I sent a message the gang telling them I was buying my ticket to see Sean online and offered to pick up extras for those who might want to come along. There was only one person who took me up on the offer initially, our hardcore music junky Hugo. Later in the day others bought tickets and in the end we ended up having almost the whole gang out: Hugo, Dan, Sylvia, Matt, Pierre and myself. I had told them I’d be at the show as soon as the doors opened (10 pm) because I had chosen to pick up my tickets at the show during my purchase.
It was my first time catching a show at the Bar “Le Ritz” P.D.B. It used to be known as another venue until not too long ago. Entry was easy, bartender services were nice and the room itself was basic yet welcoming. Shortly after ten the first group, the SHE-DEVILS got onto the small stage. I had never heard of them and to me they reminded me of some trip hop mixed with a pinch of Lou Reed. Personally I enjoyed the set. They played two or three songs followed by a small intermission.
Up next were NONI WO, another group I had not heard of before. The band sounded like they rehearsed together often. I described them to friends as having a “tight” sound; which is a good thing. Our friend who’s also a drummer, commented that he thought the drummer was really good. The whole band played really well as a group and after a few songs they loosened up and got the crowd buzzing. This was followed by another small intermission.
Last up was SEAN NICHOLAS SAVAGE. Looking typically like he does in his videos, he got onstage with his keyboardist/pianist and drummer. We had crossed Sean a few times throughout the night. When me and my roommate first walked into the bar he was outside by the door smoking a cigarette. Later on, I was taking a piss when he walked into the washroom. I didn’t notice at first until I stepped away from the urinal and saw who was standing next to me. Washed my hands and told him I was looking forward to the show and wished him a good night.
Hugo said he spoke to him before the show while he was walking around the bar. Sean had been in the crowd listening to both bands prior to their set. Now I’m not familiar enough with Sean’s work to have recognized all the songs he played. I believe they played 4 or 5 songs. At some point of their set the crowd shrunk: We assumed it was because some of them had decided to take the last metro home. It honestly didn’t diminish from the atmosphere at all. Sean is an awesome performer both as a front man and as a singer. I thought whoever was managing the sound board that night did a phenomenal job. Every single band sounded great.
My only complaint was that we didn’t get an encore or more songs out of them. Hugo had mentioned that Sean had played a different show the night before. The one review I found said he may have been quite drunk. I can’t vouch for the reviewer, haven’t read any of their other articles. The tickets for the show cost us 5$. Personally I thought it was just an all around great night: The whole gang was out in a small intimate bar and nobody got crazy. We all also all got home at a decent hour.
The highlight of the night for me was the awesome performance of Sean and his band. He definitely sings and performs with passion as do his band mates. Between appreciating the music and the performance we talked about how many artist have been lost to drugs and alcohol. I certainly hope we’ll continue to be able to catch Mr Savage and his band when he’s home in Montreal for years to come. Thanks for a simply great night.
mtl_dokkaebi
