Seeing K. Flay return to Montreal for her own show was something I did not want to miss. Last year she was opening for Mother Mother. Unfortunately, I did not attend that show, but the excitement from my friends made seeing this show a must. She did not disappoint.
The opening band was the wildly energetic Yungblud. The punk-rock-indie-pop band from the North UK enter with their frontman Dominic Harrison. He walked out, pacing back and forth on stage, dressed in all black with his hood on. They start with “21st Century Liability”. Dominic expends as much saliva as he does energy, unfortunately for the first row, who kept wiping their foreheads.
Energy is exactly what you want from an opening band, and they exceeded what I consider appropriate energy. During “Tin Pan Boy”, sounding much like Arctic Monkeys’ “Favorite Worst Nightmare” album, he sang and played guitar while still pacing back and forth on stage. I’m careful when walking with my guitar strapped on, but he was jumping around and almost swung his guitar in someone’s face. My friend and I flinched as he smashed the neck of the guitar on a cymbal and during the last song he threw his guitar against the drum set and left it on the ground. His lively energy pumped up the crowd, and his voguing during the last few songs was wildly entertaining and left us excited for K. Flay.
With loud cheering K. Flay walks out to “Make Me Fade” and everyone sings to the chorus. This is followed by “Giver” as she walks around on stage wearing her all-black outfit and letting her black hair sway with her strut. My friend said, when speaking of the last time she came to Montreal, “It was interesting to hear the songs played again because you can hear how much she has changed and come into her own since then.” I think my favorite concerts recently have been opening bands that I’ve loved, returning to headline. It’s more than exciting to see them perform in bigger venues for a growing fan base.
The talented Kristine Flaherty’s music career began in 2003 when she wrote “Blingity Blang Blang” to prove to her friend she could write like the hip-hop hits she heard on the radio. After writing and performing the song, she discovered she liked writing and recording music. She released her first self-titled EP in 2010. Seeing an artist open up for a band then see them headline their own show is special because you are a part of their journey. We definitely felt part of the show as she thanked us many times, after the loud and very long applause following the crowd’s favorite songs.
She mentioned that when she knew she was coming to Montreal, she tried to learn a bit of French and introduced herself “Je m’appelle Kristine.” She was handed a drink as she said she wanted to give a toast to everyone who’s ever loved someone but they didn’t love them back. She then asked how to say cheers in French. Everyone shouted “santé” among other sayings, all in unison. In the mumble of voices, she said “Yeah, that.” and drank up.
On her newest album, she had a phone number on the cover (800)-845-4022. When you can call it, you hear “press 1 to listen to the inspiration behind each of the songs on the album”, which I did.
She dedicated “Mean It” to her family that night. On the phone, she explains how she feels connected to her past and amazed how what they’ve done has gotten her to this moment. Her grandmother told impossibly wild stories, but with such surety. She says how we tell everyone bits of our lives every day. When she tells people her story, she wants to mean every word of it. That song softened the mood. She sang at her keyboard and the crowd emotionally sang along. The group in front of us sang “So when I say I love you I want to mean it cause I say a lot of things that I don’t mean” with tears in their eyes. A tribute to how music can affect us emotionally and draw connections to our own lives and experiences.
Lifting the mood back up she sang “Hollywood Forever” and “High Enough” from the “Every Where Is Some Where” album, released in 2017. I’m sure everyone’s necks hurt after all the headbanging that night.
The roaring cheers and “ole ole ole ole” chant brought them back out to perform their encore that consisted of “So Fast So Maybe” from her debut EP and “Slow March” from her newly released album. She explains on the informational phone line that “Slow March” reminds her of her own childhood, and how in spring there are flowers but we are always anticipating more cold. “We leave shovels out in case of snow, and boots in case of ice. March is also something people do, it’s a movement with direction, connecting you to others.”
She said she knew it would be the last song on the album and the last song of the night because it’s about striving to be better and marching forward, even if that march is slow.
We then did our own slow march to coach check before heading out in the brisk cold March night.
SETLIST
Make Me Fade
Giver
Black Wave
Dreamers
Can’t Sleep
Wishing It Was You
Champagne
It’s Strange (Louis The Child Cover)
Favorite Color is Blue
The Cops
Mean It
Hollywood Forever
Flagpole Sitta (Harvey Danger Cover)
High Enough
FML
Blood in the Cut
Encore
So Fast, So Maybe
Slow March
Review & Photo by Breanna Wark
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