The night was cold, and the sidewalks were soaked with half-melted snow. The walk to MTelus was a little excruciating, but I knew that Thundercat would bring the heat, and make up for the cold weather.
Of course, I was completely right. He had an excellently chaotic jazz introduce him to the stage that really got the crowd ready for what was to come.
After giving an enthusiastic greeting, Stephen Lee Burner (aka Thundercat), his keyboardist and his drummer waste no time in giving an outstanding performance. They went absolutely wild, passionately playing their instruments, performing songs like “Lost in Space”, “Great Scott”, and “Interstellar Love”.
Stephen was very talkative. He told stories about his friends, Austin Peralta and Louis Cole. He spoke so highly of them, smiling brightly as he described Louis as a “bad motherfucker.” He clearly respects them deeply as musicians, and after telling the story of how Austin introduced him to Louis, he introduced a song he wrote in his honour called “I Love Louis Cole”
He continued on with tracks like “Friend Zone”, “How Sway”, “Tron Song”, and “Heartbreaks”. All of which are intense, and incredibly funky.
He took a moment to speak about artists that have passed in recent years, along with his dear friend Austin Peralta, who died in 2012. He told the crowd of Montreal about how Austin’s death affected him, and the struggles one goes through after losing their friend. He described the healing process as “learning to realize that it is what it is.” And with that, he started his tribute song called “A Message For Austin”.
The show continued on, energy still high and upbeat. For his last two songs performed, “Them Changes”, and “Funny Thing”, the crowd went absolutely stupid. Jumping around, dancing like crazy, it was amazing to see.
Thundercat is an excellent performer. Very high energy with an excellent stage presence, endowed with phenomenal musical talents that just blew everyone away. If you didn’t catch his performance, then I highly suggest you make it to the next, it isn’t something you’d want to miss.
Review – Jamie Sidall
Photos – Steve Gerrard
