The audience was electric; people were dancing and jerking about as if they were alone in their bedrooms with the radio blasting, doors closed and curtains drawn, not at La Société des arts technologiques.The venue certainly isn’t small, its warehouse-like rafters and cement floor provides ample dancing room. Rich Aucoin didn’t take advantage of its vastness. Instead he sucked the crowd in, glued people together as if the need to stand side by side was contagious.
About 350 people were grooving in sequence under a rainbow parachute. Their arms, politely flailing above their heads, were covered in confetti. No scratched elbows, tears, or beer spills on new blouses.
Those who fled to rescue their thirst or a leaky bladder were reeled back in, not shunned or given ‘the shoulder.’ This crowd was not your typical concert audience, but more like a gathering of newly initiated best friends on the path to nirvana.
The singer leaped offstage to join the beautiful mess. He swam past the super-fans, clinging to the stage, and sandwiched himself right in the middle of the crowd.
The photographer weaving through the crowd surely caught boys and girls whipping their hair around and snarling like Keenan Cahill to a Katy Perry track.
Rich Aucoin coated SAT in neon Saturday night in honour of his November release, We’re All Dying to Live. Aucoin’s first official release, Dying to Live, boasts the participation of over 500 musicians across Canada and the influence of the Beach Boys and Arcade Fire.
It brims with instrumental build-ups, electronic dance numbers, inspirational lyrics, hundreds of voices, and years of careful editing.
Listening to the album is one thing, but the music doesn’t come to life until you see Aucoin live.
Bringing new definition to ‘adult entertainer,’ he stripped down to a tank top, sampled audio of viral videos live, pumped out bubbles, confetti, a parachute, and a new years countdown, and coached the audience through dance and lyric tutorials before each number.
The music became your personal soundtrack, and the video clips running on Aucoin’s three LCD screens slipped into your mind and ran in sync with your carefree thoughts.
Those with thimble-sized bladders, grumbling stomachs, or hands cemented in their pockets forgot their woes and let loose.
While this night might not have necessarily been unique for Aucoin, he brought music fans the best experience they may have all year, and will continue to do so several times a week.
He does this all with just a synthesizer, microphone and drummer, no sweat.
Rich Aucoin doesn’t perform for a crowd of adoring fans, music snobs, or stiff hipsters. He breeds a new species of concert goers and performs alongside every single one of them.
