Epic expectations

By JACK OATMON

It’s generally a pretty bad idea to go into a show expecting it to knock your head off your neck. Expectations are notoriously bad tour guides in all paradigms, and live music is a particularly sensitive medium when it comes to the jinx factor, given the multitude of variables, from location to attendance to beer prices, that can impact shows. That’s why I felt a sudden bit of doubt upon leaving my place on Sunday night to venture down to les Saints for Montreal’s first live appearance of NYC disco darlings, Hercules and Love Affair. I’d been daydreaming about it all week, so the gods of serendipity were frowning disapprovingly in my general direction.

And since I’m discussing the potential demise of great shows at the hands of external factors, I’ll first jump directly to the complaints department. Despite the impressive and commendable extent to which les Saints has cleaned up its once-intolerable state of affairs, from arsehole doormen to wacky layout features, the sound is still unevenly distributed, muddied and just plain ear-busting in certain pitches. I suspect it’s largely the cavernous floor plan and some long-abused tweeters generating crackling, cochlea-crunching noise on top of the music, but sound is an issue that has to be addressed. All that said, if you’re one of the many who refuse to go there based on sour memories, you might be pleased with at least a few of the changes.

GET A LEG UP: Jeans Team

Either way, the mighty Hercules more than managed to overcome such obstacles with grace and glamour. The eight-person group played a freaky, techno-tinged classic disco set that would spin your head, blending plenty of original tracks together without resting and even weaving in some sweet covers, such as a Daniel Wang track. The group sort of consists of four duos arranged as such on stage, with two gorgeous, dancing singers in front, mastermind Andy Butler and another keyboardist in the back at a hefty collection of ’70s synths, an archetypically funky bass guitarist and drummer covering the rhythm to one side and a two-man jazz brass section on the other, with a trombone and trumpet skronking away and covering the epic chorus lines with ease and style.

The whole show, I kept lamenting the way history has blessed genres like rock, folk and soul with strong live performance cultures, while the creation of disco and house are essentially relegated to studio activities, playback being the job of the DJs. Even techno and electro have happily recently seen the light of the stage. But this was a true probe into the possibilities of live experimentation with other classic dance music in a modern songwriting context, blending jazz and funk with disco and early house, with no computers or turntables and shockingly little sequencing, always sounding fresh and engaging. After the show, Butler said to me, “It was one of those nights where the band felt particularly connected, and the super enthusiastic audience didn’t hurt.” Just you make darn sure to see them next time they come your way.

Other than that, while you’re out gallivanting this week, don’t forget that local tastemaker Tiga is spinning records at Studio Juste Pour Rire on Friday night, Oct. 24, and that German techno-pop pair Jeans Team are back in town for a Tuesday night gig at Club Lambi with the Octopus Project on Oct. 27.

CRAZY, INEXPLICABLE PERRIER CRAVINGS…jack.oatmon@gmail.com