Date of show: August 22, 2012
Written by: Chiara DiAngelo
From Ottawa, Silvergun & Spleen is comprised of Marie-Eve Mallet (vocals, guitar), sister Véronique Mallet (guitar, keys, vocals), Chris Page (bass) and John Lenherr (drums). In town to promote their upcoming new album, Semi Truck, they closed out this installment of the “Wednesdays Go Pop” showcase at the Supermarket. The band has actually been around since 2006 but this was the first we’d heard them. At first glance, it was immediately apparent that we were for a fun show – the Mallet sisters were sporting thigh-high hockey socks, metallic short-shorts, and beehive hairdos while the guys donned bowties.
Silvergun & Spleen’s style of hard dance-rock is not something I would typically gravitate towards, however their live performance was quite entertaining to watch. Except for a couple of rehydration breaks, I don’t think Marie-Eve stopped dancing the entire length of their set. Her antics were perhaps overly theatrical at times, but the energy that poured out of her had me feeling like I shouldn’t be just sitting there watching. In a different setting – without the tables of the Supermarket in the way – and a larger crowd in attendance, I’m sure she could have gotten people to bounce along with her.
Tearing my attention away from the front-woman, it became obvious that the band behind her were talented musicians, a feat considering their bio notes that no one knew how to play an instrument when they first formed. Véronique meticulously rocked out on the guitar, and Page impressively kept going after breaking a bass string, playing with just three strings for the latter half of the set. They closed out their set with the punch-in-your-face single “Crack.” As the band mentioned, the track is now available for request on most rock radio stations for your listening pleasure.
If you followed Live 88.5’s Big Money Shot last year, you might already be aware that Silvergun & Spleen made it to the Top 6 in the competition. Their winnings helped fund the recording of Semi Truck, out September 11. It was produced and mastered by Jon Drew (Arkells, Tokyo Police Club, Fucked Up) and can be pre-ordered through Maple Music.
In sharp contrast to the party that would follow him, Montreal’s JF Robitaille took the stage backed simply with his guitar and Tavo Diez de Bonilla on upright bass – later to be joined by Chris Wise on drums. Rather than starting with something familiar, Robitaille opted to begin his set with a brand new song. That takes guts, in my opinion. Though he didn’t recommend making such a setlist decision, it may have given him the confidence that fuelled the rest of his performance.
There is a quiet elegance and weighty simplicity to Robitaille’s poetic songs about real life struggles and broken love. His live performance was nothing but sincere and made me want to edge my chair closer to the stage and wrap myself in the heavy warmth of his voice. A few of his songs referenced winter (“Winters Like These”) and Christmas lights (“Everything’s Broken Here”), which may have felt a bit out of place on this steamy August night, but instead they just added to the cozy and intimate feeling of his set. Another standout track was “Modern Love Song pt 1.”
Robitaille’s album Calendar came out last year; you can stream or purchase it on his Bandcamp. This Wednesday is the last night of his August residency at the Supermarket – check it out if you haven’t had the chance to do so yet this month!
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