The who’s who
of Le Guess Who?

A Canadian-themed festival in Holland
brings sweet Montreal love to the Dutch

FIRE-BREATHER: Dragons of Zynth

by EVELYNE CÔTÉ

Johan Gijsen and Bob van Heur know their Canadian music very well, perhaps even better than you do. These two lovable Dutch dudes have been involved in a total bromance with each other, as well as with bands, since their teenage years in the village of Roggel, in southern Holland. That’s where Johan started booking shows for a government-owned, rent-free venue on the condition that they stimulate cultural activity in the area.

Le Guess Who?, Johan and Bob’s two-year-old festival of Canadian and northeast American music, happens in Utrecht, a 30-minute train ride away from Amsterdam. Both creative directors were here for the 2007 and 2008 editions of Pop Montreal, as well as last year’s M for Montreal, with links to Duchess Says, Black Mountain and Melissa Auf der Maur. The two first bands were invited for the first edition, among others, while Auf der Maur, or rather MAdM, performed this second year before jetting off to Scandinavia.

FLAME-HAIRED:
Melissa Auf der Mar

As at last month’s performance at Montreal’s Lion d’Or, it’s a captivating yet amicable, flame-haired rock star who took over the stage at Utrecht’s Tivoli to kick off the festival on Nov. 27, after a preview of her movie Out of Our Minds—a visceral, wordless tale of lost identity, Vikings and bleeding trees. After the screening, a slightly perplexed crowd ate up the live performance, although much more interesting than her melodies is the narrative she infuses in her bass-driven rhythmic aspect—the soundtrack of the film was fascinating that way.

Right before, the Patrick Watson Band’s guitarist—and newly-minted Swede—Simon Angell took over the stage for an experimental set with his lovely singer girlfriend Erika Alexandersson (who also accompanies Loney, Dear, a pretty big name in Western Europe), as well as bassist Dan Rose and the promising young French trumpet player Kyteman. Highlights were Angell’s percussive guitar playing and looping technique, and the no-nonsense chemistry the musicians fed off onstage. They had only practised for an hour earlier that day.

Elves, dragons and Heinekens

The second night, at the Tivoli’s de Helling space, mixed up some of Baltimore’s best, Beach House and Jana Hunter, with the moody likes of Pas Chic Chic and weirdly upbeat Brooklynites Dragons of Zynth and Telepathe. While the former delivered intimate, darting performances of their respective recent albums Devotion and There’s No Home, Pas Chic Chic upped the ante for the following acts as well as for themselves. Slowly gaining self-assurance since the release of this year’s Au Contraire, singers/keyboardists Roger Tellier-Craig and Marie-Douce St. Jacques’s interpretation of touchy-feely lyrics and cerebral key parts are more and more on par with the incredible poise of drummer Éric Fillion, one of the best in Montreal (eh oui, sometimes you have to be far from home to realize what’s great in it).

That said, the stars of the night clearly were Dragons of Zynth. Those iconoclasts combine the heaviness of metal, the funkiness of, yes, funk and the spontaneity of art-rock in five-minute gems that the mind can’t really wrap itself around, while remaining totally cohesive. Catch them if you can.

The Saturday night, at the main Tivoli room, saw Clues paving the way for the delicately kooky Elfin Saddle and intimate rockers Land of Talk, to finish up with Torngat, Think About Life and the Stills. Word was the promoters had kept the last slot for a fleeting Wolf Parade, who were offered more cash to play Amsterdam a couple of days later. Good for the band but, indeed, the Stills’ by-the-book performance clashed with the homemade folk of Elfin Saddle or the brooding, minor-key sensibilities of Torngat. All in all, a surprisingly focused crowd gathered to see bands they had mostly only heard of because of the event. Favourites were Clues (a band with roots in the Unicorns, Arcade Fire and les Angles Morts), who delivered an entertainingly chaotic, trembling set, and Think About Life, for whom blowing minds has now become a tradition.

On Sunday at Ekko, Elizabeth Anka Vajagic, Shalabi Effect and Hrsta post-rocked out, and had their newfound fans sitting around quietly, drinking in their every note as they were emptying Heinekens.

Did I mention the pass for this four-day fest cost a mere 20 euros?

Evelyne Côté is the music editor at Ici.