It’s always a good feeling when one of your favourite musical discoveries of the last few years comes to town. San Diego’s Thee Sacred Souls have been on my radar ever since I heard their classic RnB sound emerge from the stages of a couple of the American music festivals I attended last year. To have them back in Montreal so soon after their performance at this year’s Jazz Fest was certainly a surprise, but a welcome one.
I’m not going to pretend like I got to MTelus early to listen to all two hours of DJ Lexis’ opening set. But when I arrived, the atmosphere in the venue was electric, no doubt thanks to the wonderful blend of physical records he was spinning the old-school way. The surprisingly young crowd grew chattier in anticipation of the modern soul-revival trailblazers, right up until the lights dimmed to the first chords of Lucid Girl. The band’s live sound was as raw and vintage as their records, seemingly transporting the couple thousand of us to a different era altogether.
With the rising price of performance visas, I always have concerns over American bands cutting costs by only bringing essential members over the Canadian border. But with up to 11 band members on that MTelus stage at any given time, complete with backup singers and a horn section, it’s clear Thee Sacred Souls did no such thing. Refusal to cut corners made for a sound that hit right, and all the way to the back of the nosebleeds.
A personal highlight for me was during their song Running Away, where lead singer Josh Lane flexed his apparent teleportation skills, appearing in the audience seemingly out of nowhere, running past members of the crowd to get back on stage. It’s something I’ve seen him do before, but in a multi-levelled theatre, the setting was much more fun. Seeing people’s reactions to realizing they were a few feet from him was also thrilling to witness.
The band glided through the rest of their ninety-minute set with class and finesse, letting the music and their stories speak for themselves. Lane would occasionally share his perspective or deeper stories behind certain songs, always with an air of wisdom and gratitude for those listening. He preached love, respect, and kindness, especially considering our current political climate, to a very receptive audience.
After a tried-and-true encore scare, the band gracefully got back on stage and closed with three more songs, the last of which was their breakout hit Can I Call You Rose?, to roaring applause. Gen Z came out in full swing to support a fresh band performing a sound that a lot of our grandparents grew up with. At the end of all the cross-generational appeal, it was Lane’s message of hope and positivity that was ringing just as loudly in my ears as the masterfully performed, soul-warming music.
It’s nights like these that will get me through the winter.
Review – Mathieu Perrier
Photos – Daphne Miller
