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Cotton Mouth – Casa Del Popolo – Wednesday, December 9th

December 10, 2009 in Show Reviews

Last night was a showcase of Montreal in all it’s glory. Casa Del Popolo played host to three great up-and-coming Montreal band’s on the day of this year’s first big snowstorm.

To start things off on this snowy night was the first of three Montreal bands to play, Intensive Care. Led by guitarist Nadim M and singer/keyboardest Phillipe M these fun-loving Montrealers mixed elements of prog, funk and straight up rock to captivate those in attendance for a good forty five minutes. The guys seemed to get more comfortable as the set went on, dealing with a few sound issues along the way. They managed to pull it all together for the highlights of the set, a cover of the Disney classic “Under The Sea” and “Treasure Hunt”, a song dedicated to a little blond guy in green named Link (not Zelda!). While the set seemed a bit lengthy for an opening act, it’s safe to say most people in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

Next up was The F in Fresh (not the Effin Fresh even though they were pretty damn fresh). Led by the adorable and talented lead singer Chelsey Walsh, these guys put on a really fun and entertaining set. What was kind of refreshing about this band was that there was no guitar or bass, simply two keyboards, a drummer and a singer. While most indie bands nowadays opt to have some guitar and bass in their music, it’s nice to hear someone doing something a little different. This band’s true selling point however is lead singer, Chelsey Walsh, who’s quivery yet powerful vocals along with her stage banter really give this band it’s appeal.

Finally, it was time for the main event, Montreal’s Cotton Mouth. I have said before that seeing a Cotton Mouth show is like getting two bands for the price of one. While the project is led mainly by singer and multi-instrumentalist Martin Horn, he has all three members of Montreal trio Parlovr as his backing band. Though the sound wasn’t quite as good as they would have liked the band managed to put on a good set, playing a bunch of really catchy tracks from their debut self titled EP. Their unique sound is generated through the use of two vintage synthesizers, a Roland D-10 and a Yamaha CS-10. The former sounds really nice, but it is the Yamaha that provides the backbone for these songs, played expertly by Louis Jackson. Although everyone seemed to be having a good time, nobody seemed to have as much fun as guitarist and synth player Alex Cooper who at one point had a friend in the audience come on stage and he promptly climbed onto his shoulders and played out the rest of the song perched high above the crowd.

What was nice to see on this snowy night in Montreal was that there were a good amount of people that bared the elements to make it out to this show. And let’s face it, Casa Del Popolo is just about the coziest place you can be. – Greg Lozoff