La Dispute -- Montreal, Quebec -- May 2nd, 2012

VoidFlame · #1 05-03-2012, 06:21 AM

Venue: La Sala Rossa

It was my first time at the Sala Rossa and I was surprised. First, it's located on the second floor of a "spanish community center". Second, it's a lot spacier and beautiful than what I expected. The sound was also really good. It's definitely one of Montreal's best venues. I can't wait to see Nasum play there!

I got there a bit late, since no one I knew went to this concert and I didn't want to spent too much time waiting for the first band to start. When I entered the room, Sainthood Reps had already started playing. They played some kind of Brand New influenced indie rock, with some heavier post-rock parts. They gave a good show and they had a pretty warm crowd reaction. The only thing I didn't like that much about them were the lead vocals. When the frontman sang alone, it felt like it was missing something, but when the second guitarist did back-vocals, it worked well.

The other thing that surprised me that night was the quality of the three opening bands. I had listened to one of All Get Out's songs once and I hated it. However, in a live context, it was fun. The four last longs they played were especially good. They played a mix of soft indie and pop punk, with some heavier passages. For those parts, there were some pits going. Also, their lead singer was very charismatic and funny when he talked to the crowd. A highlight of the set was the epic "Let Me Go". For the soft parts in that song, he made everyone stop talking or making noise, which they did. Hipster crowds are so much more civilized that metal crowds!

When they finished the song, they got a thunder of applaud and screams. They seemed to enjoy the reaction we gave them.

The last opening band was Balance & Composure. They played a mix of grunge (with obvious Nirvana influences), indie and post-rock. They also had some folk-influenced parts, and some really heavy ones. Like for the previous band, I wasn't expecting much from them and I was proven wrong. Even though he was sick (as he said himself), the singer had a very emotional, powerful voice. They had a lot of energy, and they're probably the band I enjoyed the most in the three openers. Once again, the crowd reacted very positively; there were a lot of pits, hand clapping and yelling.

Finally, the band I had came to see went on stage. La Dispute were absolutely exquisite. Their songs were as emotionally moving as they are on CD and Jordan Dreyer's voice was impeccable. He also had a good stage presence: he moved a lot during the songs and he interacted well with the audience. He made some jokes (like "we apologize that we have a french name and nobody in the band speaks french") and he really seemed to be affected by the enthusiastic gathering of hipsters and hardcore kids (+ 1 metalhead

) that moshed and screamed for him and his bandmates. He kept thanking us for "caring about the people around us and about the bands that play for us". I was shocked by the number of people that knew every single lyric to their songs. I mean, there are tons of words in there... Often, the crowd was at least as loud as the vocals in the microphone, and when he put that same microphone over the crowd, everyone shouted the words in it, giving an incredible empowering feeling to the songs. The band sure earned this kind of reaction: the songs were perfectly played. My personal highlights were "Why It Scares Me", "Harder Harmonies", "Said the King to the River", and obviously the grandiose finale of "King Park" with the singer from Balance & Composure on percussion. I had a great time and it felt good to attend a non-metal show for once.

Sainthood Reps (partial)

Condor
Hunter
Widow

All Get Out

My Friends
Lucky Bastard
Subject to Change
Girl, Gun
Let Me Go
The Season

Balance & Composure

Galena
Fade
Show Your Face
Stonehands
Burden
Progress, Progress
Defeat the Low

La Dispute

a Departure
The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit
a Letter
Harder Harmonies
Why It Scares Me
New Storms for Old Lovers
Said the King to the River
Safer in the Forest/Love Song for Poor Michigan
I See Everything
Andria
All Our Bruised Bodies and the Whole Heart Shrinks
You and I in Unison

-------------------

King Park

larvtard · #2 05-03-2012, 06:27 AM

Was the median age of the crowd about 15? I just realized that LD's fanbase is much younger than what I had thought

VoidFlame · #3 05-03-2012, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larvtard

Was the median age of the crowd about 15? I just realized that LD's fanbase is much younger than what I had thought

Nope, most people in there looked like they were between 17 and, let's say, 25.

larvtard · #4 05-03-2012, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoidFlame

Nope, most people in there looked like they were between 17 and, let's say, 25.

Even more of a reason I should have gone

Kick-ass set. Since you guys are French, could you sing along to the lyrics?

In every video I've seen, the climax in "King Park" is like the most bone-chillingly amazing things ever, with the crowd shouting at the top of their lungs "CAN I STILL GET INTO HEAVEN IF I KILL MYSELF?"

God, I love La Dispute...

VoidFlame · #5 05-03-2012, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larvtard

Even more of a reason I should have gone

Kick-ass set. Since you guys are French, could you sing along to the lyrics?

In every video I've seen, the climax in "King Park" is like the most bone-chillingly amazing things ever, with the crowd shouting at the top of their lungs "CAN I STILL GET INTO HEAVEN IF I KILL MYSELF?"

God, I love La Dispute...

Yep, as I said in my review, at least half of the people knew all the lyrics and screamed their throats off to them

street_burial · #6 05-03-2012, 06:59 AM

I love that set, I'd like to see "Such Small Hands" thrown in there though.

The Ghost at Number One · #7 05-03-2012, 09:12 AM

Excellent review. To be honest, I'd never heard of any of these bands, but your review made me check them all out. Now, I'd be lying if I said any of them were my cup of tea (though I thought at least one or two songs from most of the bands sounded pretty good), but I wanted to let you know that I thought your review was very well written, and that it had an impact on me. Thanks for that.

VoidFlame · #8 05-03-2012, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Ghost at Number One

Excellent review. To be honest, I'd never heard of any of these bands, but your review made me check them all out. Now, I'd be lying if I said any of them were my cup of tea (though I thought at least one or two songs from most of the bands sounded pretty good), but I wanted to let you know that I thought your review was very well written, and that it had an impact on me. Thanks for that.

Wow, thanks man! I try my best to write good reviews in English. It's not an easy task, if you heard me speak, you would understand why.

And, yeah, none of the 3 opening bands were my kind of music, but I still enjoyed them. I love it when people check out bands I talk about in my reviews, thanks!

The Ghost at Number One · #9 05-03-2012, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoidFlame

Wow, thanks man! I try my best to write good reviews in English. It's not an easy task, if you heard me speak, you would understand why.

You know, I think it's because English is your second language that you write properly. Far too many people in the States have given up on grammar.

Keep up the good work!

VoidFlame · #10 05-03-2012, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Ghost at Number One

You know, I think it's because English is your second language that you write properly. Far too many people in the States have given up on grammar.

Keep up the good work!

Yeah, probably, french grammar is litteraly 3x more complicated than english grammar. It keeps you from being lazy when you write.