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Posted in music on August 28, 2007
Wolf Parade @ La Sala Rossa - a review by BV Mike
Wolf Parade in Montreal - Aug 26, 2007 (VIA)
Wolf Parade @ La Sala Rossa
by BrooklynVegan Mike
Montreal is an international city, a melting pot of various languages and cultures from all over to stake their claim of land and call it their own. This would help explain why on the fourth and final night of their Montreal residency at La Sala Rossa, Wolf Parade, the majority of whose members are transplants from the west coast of Canada, were greeted as hometown heroes by the audience, whose numbers as well are made up of people not originally from the area.
The band, arguably the second biggest in the city behind you know who, could have played one of the bigger venues downtown, but instead opted for the intimacy of La Sala Rossa which only holds 250 people. This made those fortunate enough to snag a ticket especially manic. It was a mob scene around the whole building.
I arrived midway through opening act Plants and Animals and immediately regretted not coming sooner. This Montreal power-trio build long cascades of folk rock, steadily building to post-rock, statically charged climaxes. They were receiving a headliner-like reaction and if the audience wasn't such a pro-Wolf Parade crowd, they could have threatened to steal the night....
Half of Wolf Parade's set list was made up of new songs presumably set for their next album - due out sometime next year. It's always a risky proposition when a band dedicates so much time to new material. The crowd can lose focus - some anxiously waiting for songs they do know, but that wasn't the case tonight. The attentive silence that greeted the first two songs of the set reminded me of people putting on a new album for the first time at home, and latching on to various melodies and vocals. The end of each new song wasn't greeted with an appreciative applause, but rather a genuine reaction. This wasn't lost on the band either. Near the end of the set, Dan said, "Thank you for being receptive."
And how are the new songs? Many of them have been floating around on various blogs and on youtube, so judge for yourself. With their myriad of side-projects, it's easy to get caught up in the name game of what came from whom. It would seem that their other musical outlets has allowed clear delineation about what goes where, as all the new songs were Wolf Parade through and through, unable to work within Sunset Rubdown's, Handsome Furs', or Johnny and the Moon's musical paradigms. The most well-received material went to "Language City" and "Fine Young Cannibals" (of which Boeckner said was a working title "until I can think of something better")
The highlight of the night was an especially intense version of "I'm a Runner" that became an impromptu sing-a-long, with the audience shouting out each verse in cacophonous chorus. Wolf Parade then seamlessly took all of the built up energy, and channeled it through "Fancy Claps." It was this ending that was all the talk with the insta-critcs convening outside the venue after the show.
For their encore, Wolf Parade came back and played a blistering "This Heart's On Fire" and then closed with "I'll Believe in Anything." All in all, a great night. If you have an opportunity to see them play soon, do so, as they are in rare form. I wasn't able to snag the set list, but from my notes (and the help of Trendwhore), here's what I came up with:
Soldiers (new song)
Sons and Daughters
Language City (new song)
Chinese Way (new song)
Built Another World
Stevie (new song)
Shine a Light
Billy J (new song)
Fine Young Cannibals (working title. New song)
It's a Curse
I'm a Runner/Fancy Claps
Crazy Horse (new song)
Encore:
This Heart's on Fire
I'll Believe in Anything
--
Now check out (one of) BV Mike's interview with Dan Boekner, or more WP tour dates & stuff
Posted on August 28, 2007 4:30 PM
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Comments (14)
Nice review. Yeah, Plants & Animals KILLED at Warsaw, too. I'll def see them again when they're in town, presumably as headliners somewhere.
Posted by Max Power | August 28, 2007 5:15 PM
Hated Plants and Animals at Warsaw---absolutely dreadful. But Wolf Parade was amazing.
Posted by TWB | August 28, 2007 5:31 PM
Really looking forward to seeing Plants and Animals on the West Coast. Too bad they're not playing the western leg of the Wolf Parade tour ..
Posted by DevilIsSix | August 28, 2007 6:38 PM
sorry to be an internet dipshit, but the term melting pot is an american thing, montreal is not really that. the transplants (college students) leave montreal when they figure out they must communicate (i.e. read and write) in french in order to work there. but in the meantime, they make a good audience.
Posted by diane | August 28, 2007 8:31 PM
plants and animals were amazing at black cat in dc. wolf parade also. i'd never heard of plants before.
Posted by Anonymous | August 28, 2007 8:41 PM
hey diane there's a lot of truth to what you're saying but having been one of those transplants for 7 years i can still attest that Montreal is a vibrant culturally diverse city - with strong haitian, portuguese, carribean, latin american, filipino, indo/pakistani communities among others. now the hipster scene though... that's something else, otherwise regular people of other cultures pick up the local lingo and stick around. but still there's always been a decently large population of anglos who find a way to stick around for some time. like um, hello the zillion people in the GYBE/constellation camp
in conclusion, viva la sala rossa!
oh wait p.s. i have to say Mike BV pls do a little research and you'll easily find that LES COWBOYS FRINGANTES are the BIGGEST band from Quebec (no disrespect to MEN WITHOUT HATS or JEAN LELOUP!) but haha not whoever you're thinking by a long shot hahaha give me a break!
Posted by Su @ World's Fair | August 29, 2007 2:08 AM
the gbv/con scene = trust fund babies. rich white kids who can't speak french stick it out in montreal because they don't really have to work. and living in the mile end means they never have to integrate (like the other immigrants) because how often do you hear anyone speak french in the mile end? in conclusion, i'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents who allowed their children to suck at their teats because as a result we have venues like sala. go rich kids!
oh, and obvs voivod is the biggest band from quebec.
Posted by diane | August 29, 2007 7:48 AM
not to be anal..... but its Sala Rossa, not Salla Rossa :)
Posted by brockmasterflex | August 29, 2007 9:46 AM
Plants and Animals were incredible. Their drummer gave me goosebumps. Wolf Parade were also really good and I can't wait till their new songs actually come out.
Posted by Rachel | August 29, 2007 11:29 AM
the 4 shows in mtl were unbelievable....your review is totally on point, people were really into the new songs and i think their reactions to each one was that of disbelief and awe...the new songs are incredible and after each one it felt like everyone in the room agreed. there are more reviews and pictures on the fansite's forum section: http://www.wolfparade.nonstuff.com
Posted by maria | August 29, 2007 1:19 PM
holy shit! that's my picture up there!
does this mean that i'm famous?
Posted by aruzia | August 29, 2007 9:30 PM
um diane, "trust fund kids" i know who you are referring too but yr totally confused if you think that's what the Constellation/GBYE camp consists of. I'm not even going to try to argue against you, I know those guys. They struggled for whatever they got. Much respect to Mauro for e.g. who started the Casa / LSR venues that instantly become a pillar of the scene...
on your final point, i must concede. you are definitely right, and i need an ass whooping. VOIVOD rule supreme!
Posted by Su @ World's Fair | August 29, 2007 11:09 PM
su, i agree with you about mauro. anyway, this conversation is giving me secret arcade deja vu, hehe. as moses would say, maybe we should make out.
Posted by diane | August 30, 2007 10:56 AM
"oh wait p.s. i have to say Mike BV pls do a little research and you'll easily find that LES COWBOYS FRINGANTES are the BIGGEST band from Quebec (no disrespect to MEN WITHOUT HATS or JEAN LELOUP!) but haha not whoever you're thinking by a long shot hahaha give me a break!"
Um...lol. Well...hmm....lol. I am pretty sure the band is Arcade Fire.
Posted by Josh | August 31, 2007 8:45 PM