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Concert Review: Tayc at Place Bell and Le Salon Richmond 1861

Everybody boards the afro-love plane!

Fear not, the one who appeased all of our bad heartbreaks over the past couple of years with his melancholic lyrics and high-tempo beats has finally come to Montreal to spread the “afro love” sound. 

Indeed, 26-year-old French Cameroonian artist Tayc performed at Place Bell on Saturday, Sept. 24.

Tayc saw his international success grow recently with hits like “N’y pense plus” and “D O D O,” a pretty fast come-up in the international music scene considering that his first studio album NYXIA, came out in 2019. 

The show on the Place Bell stage started with a high-energy performance by the artist and his female backup dancers, also known as the “OG wifeys,” with great choreography and dance breakdowns from all of them. 

Dance was a big part of the show, with Tayc making sure his fans could show off their moves by having some of them get up on stage to dance to his song “P A S C O M M E Ç A.” 

Tayc has been associated with the rise in popularity of French afro-beat, or has he calls it “afro-love”, a mix of afro-beat sounds that usually come out of Nigeria, paired with French love-song lyrics.

In my opinion, Tayc could have sung a little bit more, as he left a lot of the singing to the audience that knew all his lyrics by heart and sang at the top of their lungs.

If someone had a tight budget for concerts this year, I would’ve suggested only attending the Tayc official after-party. The tickets were $60, compared to the concert tickets ranging from $50 to hundreds of dollars. Plus, you were guaranteed to be close to the performer. 

The official after-party took place at Le Salon Richmond 1861. Located in Griffintown, the venue is an old church whose inside is converted to a party room with a bar and a small stage. The after-party started around 10:00 p.m. where a DJ was already present to get the party started. 

It wasn’t until around 1:00 a.m.that Tayc showed up when he played almost the same set as the one in concert. This time, however, he was just a couple of feet from the public in a beautiful historic monument. 

Tayc stayed almost until 2:00 am, performing his biggest hits, after which the DJ kept the party going.

A day full of afro-love was what Tayc gave to Montrealers, with everyone singing all of his heartbreak songs loudly. 

Graphic by James Fay

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Music

Concert review: Tame Impala at Place Bell, Laval

Photo by Faustine Chonavel-Weakley

Photo by Faustine Chonavel-Weakley

The Australian band’s divine performance even made some people faint

The cold Laval air was filled with the sounds of police sirens and fans chattering about the upcoming Tame Impala show. Standing in line, it was evident that an infectious energy was spreading. 

The opening act went by the name of Junglepussy. She was an oddball choice as an opener by Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker, since she is a hip/hop artist and Tame Impala is a psychedelic alternative band. Her performance was a bit underwhelming on account of her half-hearted dance moves, but the highlight of her show were the visuals, which elevated the senses for each one of the songs. Her most memorable songs were “Trader Joe” for the hilarious pop culture quips which left the crowd reeling with laughter, and “Nah,” which sounded like a Nas-influenced beat.  

After a 15-minute intermission, Tame Impala started off with a luscious intro involving lunar visuals moving around (among other spherical objects). The setlist was comprised of the band’s greatest hits like “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” and “Borderline.” The third song, “Nangs,’” had the Currents album artwork as visuals, which seemed to almost breathe, contracting and expanding and flowing in a “current.” They then dedicated “Breathe Deeper” to Junglepussy, thanking her for opening for the band, which was kind on Parker’s part. 

After bantering with the crowd, Tame Impala played their song “On Track.” Before playing, Parker said that it was the first time the band had performed it live in front of an audience. I really appreciated that the group took the time to mention this little tidbit, because normally bands will say things like “You guys are the loudest city we’ve been to!” just for the sake of riling up the energy of their fans. However, here Parker showed a genuine excitement towards sharing this previously-unperformed song with the audience, creating a memorable experience.

At one point in between songs, Parker said “That stuff smells nice, Montreal weed is good!” The conversations that he had with the crowd were lively and personal too, especially after a member of the crowd gave him a bouquet of flowers.    

The seizure-inducing light show seemed divine, and for each song the visuals were stunning, putting on a psychedelic show which felt like an LSD trip, at least to those who indulged in said practices. During “Breathe Deeper,” two fans fainted. Clearly, they did not pay attention to the song’s title. Understandably, the light show was so overwhelming with the face-melting visuals that surely a lot of other fans felt like they were going to faint as well.

One of the most memorable songs was of course “Elephant.” The sheer monolithic sound of the guitar and bass overpowered most people’s ears but thankfully it was not too overwhelming! Another song that shared this frequency was “Let It Happen.” In my opinion, “Eventually” happened to be my favourite song from the setlist.  

During “Runway Houses City Clouds,” a fan was injured just as the band started to play. Parker stopped playing the song to make sure they were okay. Once everything was cleared up, they restarted the song and all was well. The real-time generated visuals induced a psychedelic fever dream that gave off Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas vibes. Their encores were “The Less I Know The Better” and “One More Hour,” which was the perfect send-off for the band.

Memorable songs: “Elephant,” “Breathe Deeper,” “On Track,” “Eventually,” “Runway Houses City Clouds”

Total times confetti thrown: 3 

Word of the concert: Divine

Photo by Faustine Chonavel-Weakley

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Music

Daniel Caesar shows off his pipes on CASE STUDY 01 tour

Daniel Caesar is loved.

At least that’s what the crowd at Place Bell yelled to him at every opportune lull throughout the crooner’s set last Tuesday night.

Despite some trying to ‘cancel’ the singer in the earlier part of 2019 for his defense of controversial comments made against African-Americans, Caesar had no problem drawing in a massive audience on the first snowfall of the season. Fresh off the summer release of his second studio album, CASE STUDY 01, the Ontario native was back in Laval on his tour of the same name.

The R&B artist rose in popularity following the positive reception surrounding his debut studio album, Freudian, that was nominated in the Best R&B Album category at the 2018 Grammy Awards. The album also featured his nominated singles “Get You” featuring Kali Uchis and “Best Part” featuring H.E.R.

The show’s set was simplistic, with a full band playing behind a pair of transparent curtains and two vocalists on either side of Caesar. The visuals featured juxtaposed videos of aesthetics pertinent to the songs being played, like strippers pole dancing to “Who Hurt You?” and a dancing Kali Uchis for her “Get You” feature.

Caesar played most of his new album – one more experimental in nature than the gospel-centric Freudian. This allowed him to show off his vocal range that was raw at its core and was accompanied by little, if any, of his own backing track vocals – a breath of fresh air as a concert-goer in a hip hop and R&B era that seems to be dominated by lip-syncing and laziness on stage.

Three songs in, Caesar brought out fellow Torontonian Sean Leon. The crowd’s initial reaction was weak, perhaps not recognizing the guest on-stage. Yet, once the two dove into their collaboration track “RESTORE THE FEELING,” the audience piped up and clapped for the stranger in front of them.  Leon thanked the crowd for his first performance in Montreal and the two artists gave each other a loving embrace before Leon exited the stage.

Caesar’s trifecta of “OPEN UP,” “Who Hurt You?” and “ARE YOU OK?” truly highlighted his voice and musical capabilities. The latter did not have any accompanying background instruments – only Caesar and his guitar. He frequently rotated between acoustic ballads and R&B melodies throughout.

The most well-received songs were undoubtedly those from his first album, whether this was due to the fact that they are the best in Caesar’s catalogue or that the crowd was reminiscing on the previous times he’s performed in Montreal over the last few years. The highlight was undoubtedly “Best Part,” of which the audience took over the whole first two and a half verses before Caesar even stepped towards the microphone.

Caesar finished off the night with “SUPERSTITION,” a personal favourite on the album and the perfect closer for an intimate night. After thanking the crowd for a lovely evening and wishing them a safe drive home in the snow, the chants brought him back on stage for one more song. Caesar ended with “Japanese Denim,” one of the first singles from his impressive repertoire and left attendees reminded of his earlier catalogue before the breakthrough success.

Photo by @Villedepluie

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Music

PHOTO GALLERY: Tyler, the Creator at Place Bell

Tyler, the Creator at Place Bell on September 12, 2019

Photos by Mackenzie Lad (@macklad)

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Sports

New home at Place Bell signals shift in women’s hockey

Marie-Philip Poulin (pictured) returns to the Canadiennes as captain after playing for the Olympic team last year. Photo by Matthew Coyte.

Les Canadiennes split back-to-back games against Calgary Inferno

With goals from Maude Gelinas and Sarah Lefort, Les Canadiennes de Montréal opened their season with a fast-paced 2-1 win against the Calgary Inferno on Oct. 13 at Place Bell.

Sarah Lefort gets ready for a faceoff. Les Canadiennes de Montréal opened the season in their new home at the Place Bell in Laval. Photo by Matthew Coyte.

Montreal played an offensive game with more fast-break chances than you could count. On the other end, the Inferno used their speed to work the offensive zone. Les Canadiennes just edged Calgary in shots, 20-21. Both goalies, Calgary’s Alex Rigsby, an American Olympic gold medalist, and Emerance Maschmeyer for Montreal, were tested often and were forced to bail out their teams. Rigsby’s highlight of the game was stopping Mélodie Daoust, the 2018 Olympic MVP, on three separate breakaway chances.

The Canadiennes played their first two games of the season at Place Bell. Both against the Inferno, this past weekend, they lost 3-1 on Sunday. The arena has been home to the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League (AHL) since its inauguration in 2017. The 1,500 fans in attendance weren’t exactly the numbers the team was hoping for. This could also be partially attributed to the Laval Rocket playing right before and the Montreal Canadiens playing at the Bell Centre downtown at the same time.

The crowd was more than enthusiastic, however, and the loud cheers filled the empty seats. For captain Marie-Philip Poulin, the move to the 10,000-seat-capacity at Place Bell is a sign that the women’s game is continuing to take strides forward.

“Women’s hockey is growing. We have the chance to grow the size of our arenas as well,” said Poulin, who was held pointless. “Hopefully fans will come to watch us. That’s what we want. That’s what we hope for. That’s what we want to grow for the next generation. For us, seeing little girls in the stands, that’s why we play.”

After playing three games at the end of last season, without earning a point, forward Hilary Knight recorded her first point with Montreal, an assist. She said she wasn’t thinking too much about getting her first point in her new colours. “It doesn’t matter. As long as we win […] The expectation is to win,” Knight said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less with this team.”

Knight joked she had only ever seen road signs to Laval, but so far the team’s stay in the city and at the arena has been positive. “I love [Laval]. Place Bell is great,” Knight added. “The energy is great. Les Canadiennes always have a great crowd. We want more fans to come and embrace us as the city’s team.”

Les Canadiennes will also play at the Complexe sportif Bell and Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard this season. Photo by Matthew Coyte.

With the (partial) move to the 10,000 seat arena, Les Canadiennes are one of the first Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) teams to make the jump to a larger rink. Place Bell is officially the second-largest CWHL arena, after the Shenzhen Dayun Arena in China, which can seat a whopping 18,000 for the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays.

 

 

The Canadiennes are scheduled to play five more games at Place Bell this season, four at the Bell Sports Complex in the South Shore, and two at Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard in Ahuntsic-Cartierville.

Main photo by Matthew Coyte. 

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Music

Kaleo breaks hearts

Kaleo leaves everything on the stage at Place Bell - Photo by Katelyn Thomas

The Icelandic band rocked Laval’s Place Bell on Sept. 11

“I’ve busted bones / broken stones / looked the devil in the eye / I hope he’s going to break these chains.”

Kaleo didn’t break any bones at their Place Bell show last Tuesday, but they probably did break some hearts. Made up almost entirely of lifelong friends, the four-man band pulled at their Canadian fans’ heartstrings when they emerged on stage eclipsed in blood-red lights.

It’s always interesting to see which songs bands choose to start and end their shows on. That night, when frontman JJ Julius Son’s deep voice broke the silence by gently groaning the first few lines of “Broken Bones,” the crowd erupted in blissful cheers. Anticipation, meet satisfaction. The song began faintly—a capella, save for the rhythmic claps—until the 23-second mark when full volume was attained; then Rubin Pollock and his guitar skillfully snatched the spotlight.

Next up on the setlist was the band’s fourth single, “Can’t Go on Without You,” which they delivered with precision and poise. If there’s one way Kaleo sets themselves apart in today’s music scene, it’s by sounding even better live than they do on their records.

Of course, no Kaleo concert is complete without “No Good,” the textured tune that earned them a nomination in the Best Rock Performance category at the 2017 Grammy Awards. As the seventh song from the start, as well as from the end, it served as the perfect mid-show banger.

Three quarters of the way in, they sang my personal favourite, “Automobile.” This feel-good track confirms the versatility that inspired the title of the band’s second album, A / B. According to Son, the album name represents both sides of a record as a nod to their split sound: blues-rock and folk. “The ‘A’ side is more rock and roll and blues… While the ‘B’ side is a bit softer with more ballads,” he said.

Photo by Katelyn Thomas

The crowd swayed to the ending of “Automobile,” and the energy in the arena swiftly reached its peak as the band began to play “Way Down We Go.” Certified platinum in the United States, this is the song you’d play for a friend if they said they didn’t know Kaleo, in an effort to make them recognize that they do. That’s not to say the other songs aren’t equally deserving of attention or critical acclaim. In fact, Kaleo’s A / B is one of the only records that never lets me hit the skip button.

Aside from the exceptionally well-rounded music, a standout element that tied the show together for me was the lighting. It was perfectly in pace with the timing and ambiance of every song, guiding the audience to clap along, quiet down or lose control. Max Lenox, the band’s lighting designer, programmer and director, outdid himself this time.

Kaleo’s current tour is set to end on Sept. 30 in Asbury Park, NJ. So, if you’re in the mood for a last-minute road trip, throw some clothes in a bag, hop in a car or on a bus, and put A / B on an infinite loop.

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