Nightwood + Modernboys Moderngirls – Divan Orange – Thursday, January 21st

As I was flipping through a newspaper while sitting in the Divan Orange on Thursday night, waiting for the show to start, I came across another article about Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff, and let’s just say that after making somewhat of a good impression a while ago, he’s really put himself in hot water. Anyway, I thought about first impressions, and for many people, Modernboys Moderngirls and Nightwood were trying to make a good one, as they both were on tour supporting their new LPs.

After a waiting around a little bit in the very relaxed atmosphere of le Divan, the first band was up.  At The Break Of Don started the night with what I would describe as “honky tonk, truck driver blues.”  Much of their set could bring to mind the music of The Grateful Dead.  The set flowed nicely as the band joked around between a set list covering themes from death to trucking.  Unfortunately, the music grew tiring by the last song, and it looked that way for the band as well.  Fortunately for both parties, they left on a pretty high note.

Next up were the two main bands, with Toronto’s Modernboys Moderngirls hitting the stage first.  MBMG has one of those instantly likable sounds when initially listening through their recently released album.  The music is fast and crisp, intense and exciting, and they were able to keep the music exciting and judging by the sweat the entire band had going on stage, it was easy to see how much energy these guys bring to the stage.  During the set, the band played songs from their I Might As Well Break It LP like the Clash-esque “Missmybabygirl,” “My Baby Says Boy, Don’t You Ever Go,” before ending with the uplifting “Happily Unsteady,” where Nightwood’s Amber Goodwyn and Erin Ross joined the band on stage for some guest vocals.  Overall, a good set, with great drumming by Brett Millius, as well as some very fierce vocals by Akira Alemany.

Nightwood finally took the stage acting as headliners for the night.  This IS their city (we’re in Montreal…), after all.  The band consists of Amber Goodwyn, Erin Ross, and Jeremy MacCuish (also of Cotton Mouth and Parlovr), on guitars and drums respectively.  The set list consisted of songs off their new LP Carta Marina, which is mainly an LP about the ocean.  I should admit off the bat, that on first listening to the studio versions of the songs, I didn’t fully “get” their sound.  This is not to say that their sound wasn’t good, but I guess sometimes you need a live performance to truly capture the magic and charm of the music and the band themselves.  Starting with “Heavy Magic is Coming,” the band started slow before letting the guitars rip.  For live performances, this band scored big points and made a great first impression, as they brought an intense energy to the stage, and played some of their more interesting numbers, such as “The Bright Girls of Summer,” “Maritimer,” and “Skeleton Crew.” the highlight of the set, however, was the powerful “Gretta at the Window,” which included a brief whistle from Juan Carlos Rivas of MBMG.

My photographer Laura had mentioned to me early on, that sometimes the concert experience truly defines a band, and whatever I was missing from listening to their LP, was made up for in Thursday night’s show.  – Jordan Ghetler

Nightwood

Modernboys Moderngirls

At The Break of Don

Photography by Laura-Chanel-Lespérance

Tags: Divan Orange, January 21, Modernboys Moderngirls, Montreal, Nightwood, Toronto