The Montreal Jazz Festival Patrick Watson gave the go card for a great free show, which took place yesterday on the new Place des Festivals. With the means to match its ambitions, the group has put every effort to help hundreds of thousands of spectators gathered around the Festival's site to enter their unique world, in images and sound, and enjoy their ambitious and demanding pop.
For the more accustomed, yesterday concert was after all quite familiar, like a steroid-inflated version of his concert at la Tulipe in May. The songs grid was similar, very focused on third and most recent album of the Wooden Arms group, despite the popularity of his second album Close to Paradise, somewhat neglected here.
However the band, could let themselves go to their ideas of grandeur, with projections on the buildings surrounding a string quartet, a brass ensemble, guest size as Yannick Rieu, Lhasa, Marie-Pier and Arthur Guy Nadon of Dozens of Metal Froisseurs gathered on the roof of the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Chinese shadows, a silent film and Jace Lasek (director of Wooden Arms) rode a stationary bike to a hundred feet, these are just to name few.
For all?
We were entitled to wonder if Patrick Watson would be able to attract such a large crowd. After all, the four accomplices from Montreal are not as rallying as Stevie Wonder, for example. Their followers are less numerous and probably more avid music lovers, the more picky.
The group has used to occur in smaller rooms where a few hundred fans won just waiting to follow them.
Last night, some viewers, perhaps more accustomed to a large audience, seemed intimidated by the fierce nature of the music of Watson and his bold artistic efforts. Among other things, the screening of a short silent film on a huge canvas that covered the surface of the stage, while Yannick Rieu improvised saxophone as an accompaniment, could seem a little long for the neophyte, but not for that Watson fans, who has certainly enjoyed this kind of trip.
Same goes for The Traveling Salesman, a version a little loud as the group has performed behind the same canvas, leaving a forthcoming orgy of shadows with a projection a little fuzzy in the background. A bit confusing and abstract.
It must be said that technical problems have been numerous, too. During the presentation of the Chinese shadows, during the song Where the Wild Things Are, the light of the screen on which were projected shadows turned off. Patrick Watson immediately stopped the song, before returning to this section once the problem resolved. "Oh no, not question you missed this part of the song, scream the lenient crowd.
The equipment that allowed the band to go in the middle of the crowd to interpret the last few songs also caused trouble, his side. For a few minutes, few people came to hear what was going on. But the idea, repeatedly used during the Watson concerts, had the edge and creates a magical moment, however.
For posterity
In short, a bit like Pierre Lapointe's Mutantès, this imperfect show to say had at least the merit of being unique and daring, and should with no doubt take a lot of value in the memory of those who were able to grow as the heritage left by the artist over the years.
For some, the imperfections add the human nature experience, and for others, it would probably seem a little less successful.
But in sum, Patrick Watson delighted his fans with his inspiring imagination, and probably won new followers, even if his performance does not unanimous. * Note that it is possible to watch the concert in its entirety on the site EnMusique.ca *
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