Bonjour Montreal! Merci Beaucoup! (2006 Wrap-up Part 4)

For part four of the year end wrap-up, here are some of my favourite live shows of the year, in chronological order. Apparently I saw no good shows in the first half of the year.

• Martha Wainwright / Andrew Bird - July 2, Metropolis

Martha Wainwright in a totally packed hometown show, part of the Jazz Fest. The opener was Andrew Bird, who did some amazing things with voice, guitar, and violin - he’d create backing tracks by recording his own performance, then playing it back to gradually build songs.

This was the second Martha Wainwright concert I’d seen. I thought the first time was seeing her opening for Neko Case, but I think it was actually her opening for Cyndi Lauper. And that is a story for another time. But anyways, this time Martha was with her full band, and it was totally excellent - Stones and Leonard Cohen covers, as well as surprise guests the McGarrigle sisters. Out of all the shows I’ve seen at Metropolis, this was probably the most packed, with the loudest audience.

• Calexico / Mariachi Luz de Luna - July 9, Metropolis

My second time seeing Calexico, who fortunately overcame the second-show curse by playing with a great mariachi band for a lot of the evening. A really fun, albeit somewhat sparsely attended show. Calexico played mostly material from their recent album Garden Ruin, and it was nice to see the changes since the last time I saw them (last year with Iron & Wine). All I have left to say is that Joey Burns’ guitar looks like some sort of aircraft carrier.

• Wilco - July 10, Metropolis

Fourth summer in a row for Wilco and me. The first time (2003, Metropolis), they were playing mainly material from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but also the not-yet-released A Ghost Is Born. The second time (2004, Theatre St-Denis), they played material from the then-just-released A Ghost Is Born. The third time (2005, Metropolis), they played mainly material from... A Ghost Is Born.

So this year, with no new album still, I’m not quite sure what I expected for the setlist. What we got (2006, Metropolis) was, lots of songs from A Ghost Is Born! Plus a few new ones. I shouldn’t really complain, because I knew what was coming, but it was a little harder to get excited the fourth time around. Having said that, though, I always enjoy seeing Wilco, and always like Metropolis, so I had a really good time.

The day before the show, I was riding around on my bike, singing “On a Sunday morning sidewalk, Lord I’m wishing I was stoned”, when I passed a dude with crazy hair, an unkempt beard, a walking cast, and a Subway sandwich. As is always the case with me in these situations, it took me another ten seconds to realize that of course, it was Jeff Tweedy, and that I was now too far away to go say hello. I think he did give me a “Is that dude really singing Johnny Cash on his bike?” look though.

• Rancid (twice!) - August 30, Spectrum, and December, Metropolis

Rancid, kings of early 90s punk. I actually saw them twice this year, in two different venues. The first time was much more exciting - smaller venue, first time seeing them, etc. But Rancid definitely realized what most people were there to hear - at least half the setlist each time was devoted to material from And Out Come The Wolves and Let’s Go. Both shows were really high-energy - I’m glad I got to see these guys while they’re still around.

• M. Ward - September 12, Sala Rossa

I wrote about this the other day, but I came in knowing almost nothing, and left a big fan. This was also the show where I realized just how many indie-rock dudes in Montreal were wearing beards (as I was at the time). But I think the Autumn is an ideal time to see M. Ward, as lots of his songs seem slightly spooky.

• Sparta - October 13, Le National

Second time around for Sparta and I. As always, I’m amazed at just how much rock these four pack into each song. Not quite as good as the last time we saw these guys, mainly because it was the second time for me, and because of the venue. Le National is a new club here, and it felt much too well lit and clean for a rock show, with weird spaces off to the side of the show making the place feel emptier than it was.

The first time we saw Sparta, at Club Soda I think, was one of my favourite shows of all time, simply because it was such a communal experience - everyone in the audience collectively lost it. At this second show, it felt like fewer people were really into it.

• The Decemberists - November 5, Metropolis

The Decemberists, perfectly executing almost the entire The Crane Wife album - even the ten-minute-plus “The Island”. It’s hard to describe the Decemberists well, so I’ll just say that this concert featured 4/6 band members re-enacting the founding of Montreal in the middle of the audience, only to be interrupted by a meteor.

• The Tragically Hip - November 10, Metropolis

I’m including this show here even though I didn’t have a spectacular time, because it wasn’t really the band’s fault. They played really well, I just never seemed to get into it. The band adhered strictly to the formula of “quickly follow the unknown with something familiar”, alternating songs from the new album with older material. And while I think Gord Downie’s antics suit the new material pretty well, pretending to be a chicken during “Long Time Running” doesn’t work so well. It also may have been the first time where I actually enjoyed a band more in an arena than a club.

OK! Back sometime with New Year’s Music resolutions.