shame + Ribbon Skirt @ Club Soda▪

Thanks to a classic winter combination of snow squalls and a mandatory coat check (even though I’m happy to just wear my coat…), I end up missing the first 20 minutes of the long-awaited homecoming of Ribbon Skirt. Comprising singer Tashiina Buswa and multi-instrumentalist Billy Riley, and fresh off last year’s Polaris nomination, there’s a buzz around the room, and the crowd response is huge.

From the noise of the crowd between songs, and the pogo on the floor during Wrong Planet, you’d think they were tonight’s headliners. Perhaps they’re ready to take the throne of Montreal’s biggest band, which has been vacant since the demise of Arcade Fire? Time will tell, but on tonight’s evidence, a Club Soda headline show is certainly not out of the question.

Ribbon Skirt Setlist

Deadhorse
Cellophane
Off Rez
Mountains
Cut
LUCKY8
Earth Eater
PENSACOLA
Wrong Planet
Look What You Did

A headline show at Club Soda is a big venue upgrade for London’s shame as well, having played at the tiny Foufounes Electriques on their last visit in May 2023. That was a crazy show for sure, but this one is even crazier. After the funk-garage of Axis of Evil kicks things off, the pit absolutely erupts on second song Concrete, and continues through Tasteless. Frontman Charlie Steen dumps his jacket and proclaims, “it’s so f**kin’ good to be back in Montreal!” After he incites a massive circle pit on Cowards Around, he reaffirms the love: “yep, this is better than America!”

There are probably only two songs in the entire set in which there isn’t a raging pit, to be honest. The educational narrative Lampião (about a Brazilian bandit from the early-mid 1900s) is a mellow strum that sees Charlie, as well as guitarists Eddie Green and Sean Coyle-Smith, and bassist Josh Finerty, all singing in Portuguese, while Adderall follows a similar vibe, with Charlie raising his sunglasses to survey the landscape for the only time in the set.

Aside from that, it’s basically mayhem for the entirety of the 75-minute show. Six Pack and Alphabet are frantic, sandwiched by Charlie inviting a guy on stage to backflip into the crowd. Quiet Life, the gem of new record Cutthroat, sounds like a melodic strum on record, but also gets a throbbing pit live. Snow Day has total Fontaines D.C. vibes at the start, coupled with exquisite stage lighting on the smoky stage, and even some audience participation as Charlie points his mic into the face of a girl at the front who belts out the “I know what I need!” line right on cue. A set highlight for sure.

An incendiary One Rizla sees a crowdsurfer knock off my glasses completely. I wasn’t even that close to the front at this point, the guy just travelled some serious distance. Still, I am able to grab them from the floor before they get stomped, by some miracle. Charlie opens up the floor on set closer Cutthroat, which unsurprisingly goes ballistic as the song starts and the circle fills in.

Before leaving the stage, Charlie effuses, “thank you for being the best show of the entire tour so far!” As a reward, for the first time on this tour, the band return to the stage for an unplanned, impromptu encore that sees a rare airing of Angie, much to the delight of the rabid crowd. The love is reciprocal, for sure.

All in all, another dynamite set from shame.