Tunes Consumed: the Poutine Silver Platter

Last night, Ian MacKaye and Amy Farina (also known as The Evens) brought their show to one of our favourite venues, the Sala Rossa, in wonderful Montreal. Now, Ian - best known as founding member of both Minor Threat and Fugazi - is, as one would imagine, not getting any younger. But I would be damned if I didn’t say that I have never seen a healthier or more alert looking musician at his age. His eyes were clear as they scanned the audience, illuminated by both on-stage lamps & the Sala’s chandeliers, situated just so he could make out the audience as well as we could make out the band. This certainly wasn’t a Pink Floyd masturbatory light show.

In fact, the do-it-yourself working man ethos that Ian has preached since 1979 still permeates every aspect of his performance. From selling their own merchandise off the stage after the show to welcoming people to “come on up & say hello” to doing their own sound mixing on-stage and their own equipment set-up & take-down, the Evens are the best representation of that punk rock tenant I have ever witnessed. But more on that later.

The scheduled opening band, Frankie Sparrow’s new outfit Witches, were forced to cancel, which was both good and bad. While I would have liked to see what Frankie is up to, I was much more excited about seeing the band that was “flown in” for the spot - Constellation Record’s own HRSTA. HRSTA is a Godspeed You! Black Emperor offshoot, featuring GY!BE founder, Mike Moya on guitar and vocals, which I can now say come across better on record than live. The set, overall, was still intriguing - Moya busted out the classic GY!BE trademark screwdriver guitar moves and they had some pretty sweet build-ups but they just didn’t seem as confident as they could have. My bet is that they hadn’t actually played together in a while, perhaps right until the call came to open the day before the show.

she said, “hrsta.”

After a brief intermission - during which the Evens set-up all their equipment, killed the fancy “colored lights” and made the stage as cozy as possible - Ian & Amy sat down for real. The set was divided into Evens’ tracks and short, oft-humorous lectures from Ian on a variety of subjects - ranging from the meaning of certain songs, to music being “fucking serious”, to the sad state of affairs that is America. It is obvious that the man puts all of his energy and dedication into his world views - and believes his music is the perfect medium to do so. As such, despite his voice being raw (as you will hear on the ‘Shelter Two’ video, Ian himself mutters about his voice being shit, but there is no way that would ever stop him from singing) and many of their lyrics being almost too direct, the overall effect was mesmerizing.

Shelter Two:

But, perhaps most interesting of all, was the amount of crowd participation Ian managed to coerce from the usual “too-cool-for-school” Montreal crowd. You’ll hear the crowd chanting on two of the tracks below (’You Won’t Feel a Thing’ and ‘Mt. Pleasant Isn’t') and then, on the extended take of ‘Sara Lee’, the crowd was prompted to whistle in whatever ways they knew how - creating a surreal layered noise that was both ridiculously silly & remarkable. For the typical indie rock crowd that tends to have problems moving their bodies more than a head-bob, such participation was unbelievable.

You Won’t Feel a Thing:

Mt. Pleasant Isn’t:

Sara Lee:

and he said, “make it even.”

While he isn’t singing from basketball nets anymore, as you can probably tell from the above photos & video - Ian still knows how to put on an awesome show. I would be hard pressed to find another man as deserving of mass respect as he is. So, remember, even though they aren’t Fugazi, when the Evens come to town - you visit, alright?

(The Evens’ latest album, Get Even, is currently available through Ian’s own Dischord Records or from his own hands - on CD or vinyl - at one of their gigs. Check their tour itinerary to see the lamps.)