Rah Rah – Green Room – Friday, February 26th, 2010
Gramercy Riffs (not to be confused with American hardcore band Gramercy Riff) took the stage promptly at 9:45 and delved right into their set of straight forward indie rock tunes. While these guys were doing their best to get the night started on the right foot, more and more people were pouring in, perhaps taking refuge from the blizzard outside, but more likely to catch some tunes. The Riffs put on a great set, but ran a bit long, and couldn’t fully shake the Montreal crowd out of their conversations.
It seemed like only five minutes later that Montreal surf rock quartet Black Mystic were on the stage and ready to go. Led by Paul Kasner on guitar and Amy Kasner on vocals, these Montreal youngsters went into their set with barely any sound check so it wasn’t surprising that they had some sound issues. Luckily, throughout the set these issues began to work themselves out and we got to hear these guys in all of their glory. Paul’s guitar was definitely a highlight of this performance, reminiscent of old school surf rock bands like Eddie & The Showmen and The Challengers, and as a whole these guys have a bright future ahead of them.
While everyone at Green Room was chatting away and drinking ample amounts of beer and other liquids, Regina, Saskatchewan’s Rah Rah took the stage and immediately won over the crowd by starting off with fan favorite, “Tentacles”. The party was now at full force, with the band that everyone was here to see on stage and in top form. They played everyone’s favorite songs from their debut album, Going Steady, as well as some new tracks from their forthcoming LP, tentatively titled Breaking Hearts (as was divulged to us in our recent interview with the band). It was pretty incredible to see how effortlessly the members of the band would swap instruments as if it was no big deal, with front-man Marshall Burns the only one staying put with his guitar and microphone. One of the highlights was when drummer Erin Passmore came out from behind her drum-set and took over Vanessa Benson’s keyboard and proceeded to belt out the loveliest backup vocals on “My Guarantee”. The highlight of the night however was the ever popular “Duet For Emmylou and the Grievous Angel”, which had everyone in the audience singing along. To top off the performance Marshall Burns exploded a tube of confetti onto the heads of the delighted fans in the front row. This was a night of Canadian indie music at it’s best and at the very least, a perfect way to kick off a Friday night in Montreal. – Greg Lozoff
Rah Rah
Black Mystic
Gramercy Riffs
Photography by Greg Lozoff
