Sharp and plentiful, that was Karkwa

Live !

I was impressed by the fact that Vancouver’s Francophone Summer Festival had the insight to invite such great bands as Karkwa and Malajube rather than the usual more “traditional” Quebec bands/acts. Consequently, it was my first time attending the annual live concert and I was not disappointed by the two opening acts, which were to be followed by Pierre Lapointe, to whom I did not pay attention.

Of course, Malajube was a rather obvious choice considering their acclaimed international success that has transcended language barriers. What was interesting is that they opened the concert at 17h sharp, playing in front of a tiny crowd, as it was still quite early. They are a well-oiled tour machine and played heavier than what you may find on their albums. Furthermore, the vocals were not as toned down as on their studio recordings so all in all it was a somewhat different sound, which I enjoyed very much.

Karkwa was who I came to see and they did not let me down, although you could tell they had less stage experience. Lead singer-guitarist Louis-Jean Cormier had a great presence and with the help of keyboardist François Lafontaine communicated great energy. They also chose to play heavier versions of their songs, which I found quite appropriate considering it was a live outdoor show. Their performance lived up to their name, which is according to Wikipedia a phonetic rendering of carquois, the French term for a quiver of arrows. Sharp and plentiful, that was Karkwa.

The only downside to these shows is that I now wish I had live recordings to listen to instead of only their studio albums. Hint, hint. Anyone listening?

Article from Thought Patterns, Blog by Emanuel, Posted on 06/26/09