Julian Casablancas + Funeral Party – Le National – Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Usually when an opening band comes on, the crowd is somewhat sparse, talkative and slightly uninterested. However before Funeral Party even took the stage, the crowd was pushed to the front and packed like sardines in a tin can. Chad Elliott’s stage presence was anything but ordinary, as he jumped about and snarled into the Mic, wrapping the cord around his neck and twisting about. He switched with keyboardist who moved on to rock out on an extra set of toms. Elliott not only sang, but he also contributed to the percussion section and he jumped around banging a double-cowbell and everything every other surface in sight with an extra pair of drumsticks. Even though their perfomance was extremely high-energy they didn’t slow down one bit from start to finish. This was one of those rare times where the openers really made you stop and listen and love every minute. We expect to see much more of these guys in the very near future.
Julian Casablancas came on stage in stunning fashion, sporting an incredibly studded, Edward Scissorhands inspired leather jacket and red corduroy pants. Casablancas crooned to the crowd, singing his heart out and gritting his teeth together as he rolled through the best moments of his debut solo effort, Phrazes For The Young. For some added appeal he played one of his Strokes songs, “You Only Live Once”, slowing it down a bit to charm the pants off everyone in the room. After Casablancas bid farewell to the Montreal crowd for the first time, the band quickly came back on stage for a three-song encore, eager to perform some more tunes. Casablancas told the crowd that he was unsure how the following translated to Canada, but they were going to do it anyways. “This isn’t something I ever thought we would do, but everybody loves it. This is the Christmas song.” Finally, they ended the show with the insanely catchy “Tourist” and left the audience satisfied and ecstatic, having played all the fan-favorites. This was the type of show that seemed to have simply flashed by in a matter of minutes because of how good it was. It was short and sweet, and fully enjoyed by all. – Amelia Robitaille
Julian Casablancas
Funeral Party
Photography by David Gosselin
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