Lindsay Schoolcraft + guests @ École Vincent-d'Indy

Last week, before the ice storm, where thousands of trees splintered across the city, causing power lines to snap, leaving over a million people without heat, electricity and wifi… I had this very unsettling feeling that I couldn’t quite decipher.

Was it the libra, full moon? Or was mother nature just fed up with our bullshit? It felt like the entire city was under some sort of curse. I needed something to break the spell, to soothe my worried mind… I needed live music.

Thankfully I was invited to a show by Montreal composer Alessia Priolo and I was really looking forward to a night out.

I was not too familiar with the music of Lindsay Schoolcraft or Gaia Guarda and decided that I would wait until the show so that I could be surprised. It was quite a surprise that the concert actually took place, considering the fact that l’Ecole de Music Vincent d’Indy did not have power the day before. The hundred-year-old building was the perfect venue for the neoclassical, dark wave artists, with its creaky wooden floors and antique stained glass windows.

The first of three artists to perform (which happened to be all women) was Alessia Priolo.

All dressed in black, from her spike-studded top to her combat boots, she pounded at the Steinway, filling the intimate theatre immediately with her intense energy. She opened with the cinematic Echinopsis, with only computer tracks as her accompaniment. Breaking her serious expression in between pieces, beaming at friends and family, and thanking her parents for giving her piano lessons. It felt good just to close my eyes and let the music wash over me.

Setlist:

1. Echinopsis
2. Flow State
3. Reason
4. Confined
5. Illusion
6. Synth you’re gone
7. Clubbed to death (cover)
8. Wanderlust

As I waited for the next artist to perform, four young women in long white silky dresses glided towards the front like goddesses from ancient times. Decorating the stage with flowers and jellyfish, they took their places, Jessica Ricard on electric cello, Ariane Paquette on electric violin, vocalist (?), and of course, Gaia Guarda.

Gaia is a classically trained musician who describes herself as the love child of Kate Bush and Tori Amos.

She began her set with the dramatic “Anatomy of Fear” on piano and switched it up throughout the night, playing an electric harp and even a theremin. I can’t remember the last time I saw someone playing the theremin. Taking us along on a dark magical voyage, Gaia revealed many deep emotions, and shared some personal backstories including her father’s death and bad relationships. She’s quite a unique and talented artist, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Anatomy of fear
Carefully Haunted
We’re Suck
Answer Me
It Comes in Waves
Heartbeat
Who We Are
At The Bottom
lost Mv Way
Never Enough
In The Dark
Drowning In fear

When Lindsay Schoolcraft appeared, she actually howled like a wolf before running onto the stage. And I felt right away that I was going to like her. I knew she had a phenomenal voice and could play the harp, but I did not know that she was going to be funny. (She actually called her harp an asshole.)

Like Gaia, all her songs were dark and emotional, dealing with complicated relationships and pain. She somehow managed to keep it light between songs, being very vulnerable and honest with the audience. She kindly invited Gaia to the stage to sing “Haunted,” and their voices blended beautifully together.

I would have to say that my favourite moment of the night was her last song. Not because I was so familiar with it but because her arrangement on piano was hauntingly beautiful. Admitting that she was wary of covering such a popular song (there’s even an Italian version by Il Divo), Lindsay boldly stated YOLO before bewitching us with Chris Isaak’s“ Wicked Game.” Starting off slow and soft with piano and then building up the intensity with cello, violin and viola, this was the best cover of this song I’ve ever heard. Lindsay’s vocal range and stage presence were phenomenal, and her accompanying musicians created the perfect tone for her “dark, heavy tunes.” And then, as though no time had passed, the stage was empty. Lindsay was gone, and I was left with a strange calmness, pondering… was I under a spell, or had a curse been lifted?