Shout out to Blue Skies Turn Back right now; their spring calendar is absolutely stacked with some seriously good bands playing in their seriously small Bar Le Ritz venue. After the epic Wolf Parade residency there last weekend, tonight’s show starts with the return of New Orleans 4-piece, Video Age.
They look decidedly Lemon Twigs or Parcels, thanks to the 70s styling of frontman Ross Farbe front and centre, though their sound is notably more funk—the kind that Thundercat has been making cool again. Away From The Castle is getting some serious airplay on Sirius XMU these days, and pricks up the ears of a good number in the crowd when it arrives, who evidently didn’t realize these guys were the authors. It’s the kind of breezy sunshine indie pop that somehow sounds so much better now that winter is melting away, and spring is en route.
Keyboardist Duncan Troast drops MGMT-esque synths on Golden Sun, before they become notably deeper and menacing on LA Batman, very much like Limassol by Maxïmo Park (niche reference of the day there). They sound futuristically Blade Runner on Better Than Ever, too, though mixed in with a healthy dose of disco funk. All the while, Bob Odenkirk-alike bassist Nick Corson provides immense wandering basslines, most notably on Fall Hard and set closer Shadow On The Wall. It’s a stellar 35 minutes, and it feels like a matter of time before they are headlining venues like this themselves, if not bigger ones.
Video Age Setlist
1. Lover Surreal
2. Away From the Castle
3. Golden Sun
4. LA Batman
5. Fall Hard
6. Better Than Ever
7. Echo Chamber
8. Who’s Winning
9. Pop Therapy
10. Shadow On The Wall
It’s crazy to think it’s almost 3 years since Hovvdy last headlined in Montreal, a packed-out show at Le Ministère. Bar Le Ritz is pretty packed tonight too, and it doesn’t go unnoticed; before a note is even played, frontman Charlie Martin declares, “We’re Hovvdy from Austin, Texas, it means a lot to see y’all out here, so far from home!”
It’s a mellow vibe throughout, feeling almost like we’re hanging out around a campfire together. Charlie drops back from his mic with regularity to let the crowd do the singing, such as on Make Ya Proud and Cathedral. A brave move in a small room like this, but the devout crowd is more than happy to assist.
Charlie and co-frontman Will Taylor experiment with Bon Iver-esque vocal distortion throughout the set too, taking turns on songs such as Bubba and Tools, before both singing distorted in harmony on Bad News, which sounds angelic. Their perfect harmonies are on show on the resplendent Blindsided too, minus any distortions, but sounding no less divine.
Nick and Duncan from Video Age make up the rest of the band for the entirety of the set, which is a pleasant surprise; you would think they were full-time members of the band, such is the seamlessness of their contributions. The rest of Video Age (namely, Ross and drummer Ray Micarelli) joins for the anthemic True Love during the encore, before the 70-minute set closes out with the overhead glitter ball beaming for mellow new song A Little.
“Thanks for singing along!” effuses Charlie, midway through the set. It was loud for sure; clearly, Hovvdy are welcome here anytime.
Hovvdy Setlist
1. Portrait
2. Jean
3. Make Ya Proud
4. Cathedral
5. Bubba
6. Mr. Lee
7. Heartstring
8. Clean
9. Junior Day League
10. Blindsided
11. Town
12. Tools
13. Bad News
14. Big Blue
15. Forever
16. Meant
Encore
17. True Love
18. A Little
Review & photos – Simon Williams
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