Somewhere on the list of things you never quite believe from a stage during a gig, somewhere between “you’re the best crowd we ever played to” and “you guys are way better than Toronto” (obviously you said the opposite in Toronto…), sits “it’s great to be part of Pop Montreal.” After all, on this Friday night of the festival, the average Montrealer has THIRTY-THREE different gigs to choose from, so the gig-going populace is theoretically split 33 ways. Therefore, when the frontman of Montreal-based openers The Holds (formerly known as SoulStreet) says it to the sparsely populated Petit Campus, you can’t help but wonder if he really means it. Nonetheless, unperturbed, they roll through a 30-minute set of bluesy rock’n’roll laced with Jimi-Hendrix-Purple-Haze riffs, and all who made the effort to arrive early clearly enjoyed the start to the evening.
One trip to the bar later, and suddenly Petit Campus is packed (didn’t see this coming either), in anticipation of siblings Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, and their first Montreal show in a long time. The last time I caught them, at Osheaga in 2009, the sound was unmistakably 1950’s, and they were dressed to match (check the artwork of their self-titled debut album). But fast-forward 6 years, and Kitty and Daisy have traded 50’s chic for 70’s catsuits (Lewis still dons a mildly oversized suit…).
Thankfully, a diversified wardrobe equates to a diversified sound, as tonights 80-minute set takes the listener through a wealth of styles; according to the Pop Montreal website, they draw influence from “dirty R&B, disco, whiskey soaked country, haunting Hawaiian jungle drums and Gospel fever.” Hard to argue with that. A few songs in, “It Ain’t Your Business” ignites the crowd in a foot-stomping, for want of a better word, hoedown (minus the ridiculous dance, obviously), and then after inviting special guest Edward “Tan Tan” Thornton to the stage with his trumpet (and broken thumb), 3 reggae-esque numbers ensue. The multi-instrumentalists Kitty, Daisy and Lewis constantly rotate between lead guitar, drums and keyboards, each played with their different styles; guitar-wise, we go from from Lewis’ finger-picking a la Chet Atkins, to Kitty’s Primus-like string slapping, and many places in-between. As a result, the gig constantly changes and never stagnates.
Set highlights include Never Get Back, in which a solo Kitty and her guitar simmer along and then erupt into life mid-song with bluesy accompaniment with Lewis and Daisy (think Sowing Season by Brand New, during a power outage with a few bottles of Jack Daniels), and Developer’s Disease, Lewis’ solo ode to the closure of many iconic gig venues in their native London (the Astoria springs to mind immediately, though not specifically mentioned).
The set ends with their best-known song, a cover of Canned Heat’s “Going Up The Country,” which takes everybody right back to the 50’s sound they undoubtedly first associated Kitty, Daisy and Lewis with. All in all, a triumphant return to Montreal for these three, and the 1/33 of the Montreal gig-going contingent going home undoubtedly happy with their choice.
Review – Simon Williams
Photos – Kieron Yates
