Petit Campus is already pretty busy by the time Holy Data take to the stage. Fairly recently formed from the remnants of Parlovr and Sunset Rubdown, they initially sound a little like Foxygen in their kooky electronica (complete with a singer pulling bizarre faces!). However, they revert back to a much more Indie sound for the last couple of songs, reminiscent of Sunset Rubdown themselves, which sounds far more impressive. One to watch for sure.
Hailing from Sydney, Australia, Middle Kids have been gaining popularity almost exponentially in recent months. Despite having just a 6-track EP to their name and a couple of songs on rotation on certain Sirius radio channels, they have drawn a sizeable crowd for their first headlining show here (following an Osheaga slot last month), and the cheers that greet their arrival on stage are tangible.
The set opens with new song On My Knees from their debut album, recently completed and soon to be unleashed, and frontwoman Hannah jokes immediately afterwards ‘that was a new one.. right outta the gates with a new one!’ The more familiar Your Love (from the aforementioned EP) follows to a loud roar of appreciation, before another new song, Bought It, really sets things off. Much heavier than anything on the EP, its ends in a blaze of strobe lights and riffs, and gets the best reception yet.
Older offering Fire In Your Eyes comes next, and continues that rock-out vibe with a thumping bass line and furious staccato hi-hat that beefs the song up almost unrecognizably from the EP version, to spectacular effect. Indeed, speaking to Hannah after the show about how this live version sounds better, she wholeheartedly agrees and said she wished the EP was a ‘bit more rocking!’
Old River starts out bluesy, but soon explodes into another rock-out too. The band departs to leave Hannah on stage alone for Doin’ It Right, a piano ballad on record but performed tonight on the electric guitar (and sounding just as good), before the band return for breakthrough song Edge Of Town, which again sounds much bigger than its recorded counterpart, and is unsurprisingly well received with a roar of cheers and a good chunk of the crowd singing along.
After new song Don’t Be Hiding, Hannah dedicates Mistake ‘to the poutine I ate before the show… that was a mistake!’, and afterwards, bassist Tim opens a discussion on the multilingual abilities of the crowd and the new flag of Montreal (which was apparently news to everyone in attendance). After a couple of minutes of chat, Hannah announces ‘this song is called Never Start… I’m not sure this song will ever start!’ After laughs all around Petit Campus, that song blasts in to life, ending with a furious face-off (in musical terms) between Tim and drummer Harry.
The bluesy, laid-back Put It Out On The Line (‘a lullaby to send you off to bed’ according to Hannah) closes out the show after a massively impressive 45 minutes. A stunning debut; here’s hoping this is the first of many headlining shows for Middle Kids in Montreal!!!
Setlist
On My Knees
Your Love
Bought It
Fire in Your Eyes
Old River
Doin’ It Right
Edge of Town
Don’t Be Hiding
Mistake
Never Start
Put It Out On The Line
Review – Simon Williams
Photos – Steve Gerrard
