The Best Drum Kit in All The Land

So a few weeks ago I kinda really ripped into the band One Hundred Dollars for being one of the most ineffective opening acts I had ever seen (aka super creepy, played for too long, would have been better on CD, etc...). To be honest (and I'm not sure if i said this at the time) but it kind of ruined the rest of the show for me. Alright, not strictly speaking, as it is practically impossible for anything to ruin Elliott Brood, but it was definitely the least fun I had ever had at an EB show... Now normally that would mean I would really try to never see said offending band again, but 'twas not to be so. Elliott Brood played in Montreal last night, and I could not resist, despite the opening act.

I was tempted to skip them (the opener, not the whole show) but I had hyped their creepyness so much to my sister and her friend that it would have just been mean to deprive them of their own experience... Then I realised that it was actually a win win situation- if they were horrible again I was not only prepared, but would enjoy seeing everyone else's reaction, and if they were great (or even just good!) I would be pleasantly surprised. The only way they could possibly disappoint me would be by being slightly better than barely passable. So I guess technically more of a win-win-lose situation (66/33 odds are better than 50/50...) So we went for the whole show. Good decision.


One Hundred Dollars
To be fair, it would have been pretty difficult for them to get much worse, but One Hundred Dollars' performance was vastly superior to the last time I saw them. There were no scary eyes and pointing,  no glares full of loathing, no horrible tension and sense of impending doom... I mean don't get me wrong, the lead singer still had her super creepy moments, but they were few and far between, and actually seemed to fit with the songs (as opposed to overshadow them like the darkness of everlasting night...). It felt like classic country instead of the jumble of conflicting and depressing visuals (and soundicals) of their previous performance. The lyrics fit nicely with the flowing and surprisingly upbeat music, the crowd sang along with most of the songs (we even seemed to learn a lot of new ones by then end) and everyone benefited from the general sense of camaraderie resulting from this being the last date they would play with Elliott Brood. It didn't completely wipe their last performance from my mind, but it was a good set and it created a mood the way an opening act should do. Should I ever happen upon them at a festival or as an opening act, I look forward to having my first impression of them more fully expunged.



Elliott Brood
Now THIS is what I'm talkin' about!!! With the much much MUCH improved opening performance the crowd was in just the right kind of mood for the Brood boys. Enthusiastically joking, jumping and juggling (ok there wasn't any juggling- I just couldn't think of another 'j' word...) they blazed through  one of the best sets I've ever seen them play. With songs I havn't seen in years (President 35 was faaaaantastic), classy duds, and the best drum kit this side of anywhere (ok I might be a little biased, but c'mon, a birch bark and tree-cross-section kit? so appropriate...) they had the audience belting it out and dancing along with every song.  Danielle even mentioned that this was practically the most enthusiastic she had ever seen a Montreal crowd (an impressive compliment, as many Montreal concert-goers will know).

Elliot Brood's strikingly appropriate and amazing drum kit

Nobutseriously I am completely in love with their choice of visuals...

(Its not every day you get to love a band for their music and their artwork!)

I wouldn't have admitted it before, but I was really disappointed in the last show and pretty sad to have to have that as my most recent memory of them for even a few weeks. Happily this fantastic concert has all but erased the un-fantasticness of the former one. Next up? At the Black Sheep Tavern in January... Four times in seven months? Not bad.

Oh right, one last thing; my sister finally got the opportunity to massively make fun of me for my Mark Sasso love when he walked in front of us and I turned all red. Really really red. Yes they could tell even in the dark, that's how bad it was. Damn band loves... Now I just have to figure out a way to get back at her by making her be suddenly face to face with Library Voices...!