Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra – Ukranian Federation – Sat. June 5th, 2010
After a sold-out show on Friday night, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra played a second night right here in their hometown to a dedicated and close following. The band, being a Godspeed You! Black Emperor side project, contains numerous members Godspeed members including Sophie Trudeau on violin, Thierry Amar on upright bass and Efrim Menuck who leads the band on guitar and vocals. Rounding out the lineup are Jessica Moss, also on violin, and David Payant on drums. They began playing promptly at 9 pm to a rousing ovation and continued playing for over an hour and a half. Even though the audience was seated comfortably the room was excessively hot and humid even before the band took the stage.
After nearly every song Menuck would ask the audience if they had any questions, and made an attempt to answer them. Most of the questions included trivial matter, such as his favorite color, whether or not the band was planning on buying shoes in the near future and if his volume could be raised. He repsonded with equally mundane answers, with a sense of sarcasm and humor.
As for the music, the band played with exceptional passion and power with the strings shining brightly and bringing a little extra value to the band’s sound. Menuck’s vocals are certainly something unique. His somewhat thin and yelping style is one rarely heard today, as he sings with his tongue nearly always reaching out of his mouth. “Collapse Traditionals” was a mix of plucked violins, screeching guitars and a deep, rumbling bass line to create an almost dreamy and distant vibe. “Godbless the Dead Marines” had Thierry Amar plucking some steady, hard chords on the upright bass and contained some great slides courtesy of the violins.
They brought the show to a close with “13 Blues for 13 Moons”, which featured Menuck singing to his fullest, pushing out every last note to the point of near exasperation and shortness of breath. Immediately after the final note, the audience jumped to their feet to give the band a standing ovation, and a good 3 minutes of steady cheering and clapping. The band came back on to play “There’s A River in the Valley Made of Melting Snow”, capping off an excellent two night’s of shows in Montreal. It was definitely good to see these guys back in the spotlight. – Amelia Robitaille
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Photography by Amelia Robitaille
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