On a strange week for weather in Montreal, the Thursday night crowd at Petit Campus felt particularly warm and intimate. Kicking off the evening solo was Avery Jane. She exuded a friendly and approachable vibe, even joking about rearranging her setlist between songs before ultimately adjusting it to suit the mood of the room. Her folksy, finger-picked style beautifully complemented her clean and clear vocals. As a solo performer, it served as a captivating introduction to her work, leaving the audience intrigued to hear her with the full band backing her up, while also setting the tone for the acts to follow.
Taking the stage after Avery Jane was Long Range Hustle, who, like Avery, were missing their usual drummer, bassist, and second guitarist. However, this didn’t diminish their energy one bit. Consisting of Paul Brogee on guitars and co-lead vocals and Jay Foster on keys/synth and co-lead vocals, their performance was electrifying, keeping the room swaying and grooving throughout their set. Although I’m not overly familiar with their music, having come from a metal background, there was a moment when Brogee stepped to the very front of the stage, projecting his voice with remarkable intensity, even without a microphone. The emotion he conveyed through his vocals was palpable and added depth to their performance.
After Long Range Hustle wrapped up their set, instead of leaving the stage entirely, Brogee and Foster repositioned themselves to make way for Cinzia & the Eclipse to take centre stage. I had previously seen Cinzia perform an all-acoustic set back in 2022 during the Immerse MTL event. She was the final acoustic act before the night transitioned to electric and more rock-oriented sounds. While her music remained rooted in the folk genre, having a backing band allowed Cinzia to explore a more pop-oriented expression while still conveying her story through song. She traversed through a range of slower, introspective tunes like “Back To Being Friends” before closing out the night with more upbeat, danceable numbers such as “Different But Not Different.”
Review & photos – Ryan Rumpel
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