Suki Waterhouse + Bully @ MTelus

Well, this is a pleasant surprise! I thought The Flatliners show on Thursday would be my last show of the year, but tonight’s show is suddenly up for grabs due to a last-minute cancellation at Montreal Rocks. With this line-up, of course, I jump on it!!

First up is Bully, the solo project of Nashville singer/songwriter Alicia Bognanno, whom I have wanted to see for a while now. Unfortunately, I arrive midway through the set due to typical Montreal construction chaos (who closes the Ville-Marie tunnel at supper time on a Saturday, honestly…). Even so, it doesn’t take long to get immersed in it!

Stage lights are blazing, the band are thunderous, and Alicia is a bona fide rock star cut straight from a ’90s grunge cloth. Lose You and Days Move Slow have been on heavy rotation of late, and the latter sounds especially visceral, Alicia screaming into the pickup of her guitar on the outro.

Atom Bomb is a total mood shift, Alicia alone on the stage with just a piano and a spotlight, and phone lights fill the sky in true stadium rock fashion. The scuzzy punk of All This Noise closes out the 12-song set in triumphant manner.

Bully Setlist
Magnitude Of You
Where to Start
Change Your Mind
Hard to Love
How Will I Know
Milkman
Feel the Same
All I Do
Lose You
Days Move Slow
Atom Bomb
All This Noise

And so to London’s Suki Waterhouse. I’ll be honest, I’m not overly familiar with her music beforehand; I’ve only really heard Supersad, while my wife informs me that Good Looking is a TikTok regular, which probably explains why there are so many young folk in the sold-out crowd. Still, a couple of runs through her new record Memoir of a Sparklemuffin are enough to convince me that this should be a good night.

And what a night it is! The stage setup is mesmerizing, one of the best I’ve seen all year, set up like a forest in keeping with the artwork of the new record, with vines hanging from the ceiling and the giant disco ball above centre stage.

Sonically, the set is a rollercoaster too, with the tone set right off the bat. Opening with the mellow, sultry Gateway Drug, Suki hides at the back of the stage before slowly wandering forward in her long, flowing bubblegum-pink shawl. She follows that up with an explosive Supersad and OMG, both of which draw a massive singalong—and indeed bounce-along—from the floor section.

The set is full of highlights that make the 75 minutes absolutely race by. Suki confesses her love for Montreal band TOPS, and then suddenly, out walks Jane Penny, one half of said band. They duet on TOPS’ song Anything, which sounds amazing and would have been worth the ticket price alone!

Main set closer Model, Actress, Whatever has been the object of my obsession ever since the show, the most perfectly written ballad I’ve heard in a long time. The bluegrass vibes of To Get You and an acoustic Think Twice are also fantastic.

Suki engages the crowd phenomenally well from start to finish. On Blackout Drunk, she points the mic to the crowd for the last parts of each verse, which they are happy to sing back. Arms wave from side to side on the twee My Fun and a rousing Moves. On To Love, one fan even resorts to taking off her boots and waving them in the air too!

The singalongs are deafening throughout, though show closer Good Looking is unsurprisingly the loudest!

Suki exclaims midway through the show, “I can’t believe you guys packed out this venue; this is nuts!” On the strength of tonight’s show, it will be even bigger next time!

Suki Waterhouse Setlist
Gateway Drug
Supersad
OMG
Johanna
The Devil I Know
Blackout Drunk
Helpless
Nonchalant
My Fun
Anything (TOPS cover)
Think Twice
To Get You
Big Love
Moves
To Love
Model, Actress, Whatever

Encore
Brutally
Good Looking

Review & iPhone Photos – Simon Williams

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