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Fool’s Gold – Le Belmont – Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

July 22, 2010 in Show Reviews

I believe that everybody can agree with the fact that set times are a pain in the behind. It is an unwritten rule amongst concert goers that if a show is to start at a certain time, chances are that it will probably start later. Much later. Bands are hardly ever punctual. Neither are crowds. Upon arrival at the Belmont this Tuesday, I was pleasantly relieved. The Tony Castles were supposed to go on at 8pm. Although I arrived forty-five minutes late, and although all the members of Fool’s Gold were accounted for, the opening band had not even showed up yet! So I set out to buy some gum and let time pass a bit.

When I got back to the venue, I was slightly confused. Someone had taken the stage, but I had no idea who he was, nor did the ticket girl. It was most definitely not The Tony Castles. If it were the Tony Castles there would have been more than just the lone musician on stage playing an acoustic guitar. In any case, it was not the least bit difficult to adapt to this minor line-up change. Later on during the set, we found out that this was Baltimore Washington Brandes’ solo project, Deer Ashes, Dear. He had spontaneously taken the stage, considering The Tony Castles would be a no-show, and that the crowd was growing weary. Brandes originally sings for The Unsettlers who will be playing at Osheaga this year. His side project is a gradual compilation of poems he’s written and nightmares he’s had for the past three years. Notably, one of the songs he wrote, called “Organ Eyes”, was about a peculiar dream he had, which involved some sort of minister character, and seven women lined in front of this man, shooting light out of their eyes and mouths. Despite the creepiness of his dream, the song was quite softly sung and accompanied by a light guitar plucking that almost made it sound like a lovable lullaby. Overall, Brandes won everyone over with his story telling intervals and voice that seemed would fit perfectly on the streets of New Orleans.

A twenty minute interval later, and the moment the audience was itching for finally grew near. Fool’s Gold hopped onto the stage and started setting up. I could hardly retain my excitement, to the point where I decided to be one of the first to plant myself in the middle front of the floor. As if by magic, more and more people got off their seats and joined the floor crowd. The band seemed very happy about this, and without further ado, started their set with an extended eight minute long version of their “Night Dancing” instrumental. I forgot how much I missed their stage antics. The best thing about them is that the more energy you give as a crowd, the more energy they give as a band. The second song they played was “Poseidon”. By the time they got to the crowd’s obvious favourite, “Surprise Hotel”, the energy on the floor had pretty much peaked. Hardly anyone was standing still, and if they were, they looked silly. I also feel the need to mention one of the audience members who was kind enough to fetch his own guitar strap for Luke Top after his broke. Montrealers can truly be lovely sometimes.

After the band played almost the entirety of their debut self-titled album, the moment I had anticipated throughout their whole set had finally come. Not because it was their last song, but because I knew what was included in the fact that the show was ending. When it came to their last song, “The World Is All There Is”, the band members, one after another, jumped into the crowd. They chanted, drummed, and saxophoned their way to the center of the floor. When they reached it, they crouched down and almost piled themselves one over another. The drumming beat continued, to which they added the refrain “My friend” that every person in the crowd ended up chanting with them. Then, they slowly made there way out through the audience, and once everyone realized what had just happened, they started clapping and cheering for an encore. Unfortunately, an ending like that cannot be followed by an encore, but everyone stayed, firmly seeded to the ground they stood on, in hopes that they might come back. When saxophonist, Brad Caulkins, came back to get his beer, he was immediately pursued by a wave of applause. Embarrassed and flustered, he raised his glass of beer to the crowd, yelled a long “Hey!” to which the crowd replied lovingly, and only then did they realize that it was time to make their way out.

All in all, the show was positively entertaining. It was nothing less than what I expected it to be. It is amazing to see that Fool’s Gold have taken their opening band status to a headlining band in such a short amount of time. I only have good thoughts for this band and believe that only good things will happen for them this year. – Sarve