Duchess Says: Their Live Show Is Still Better Than Yours
Posted March 31, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Duchess Says is hardly new.
The Montreal four-piece, known in part for a dedication to The Church Of Budgerigars – an odd, if intriguing religion they appear to have created – is a year removed from a debut full-length and likely tired of explaining the inspiration for its uber-artsy moog rook/dance punk freak outs.
What they’re not tired of, it seems, is throwing down insanely tight, loud and entertaining live shows that send front woman A-Claude burrowing into crowds and assuming facial expressions that suggest some degree of deistic possession with a rhythm section on par with early Death From Above.
Because what choice is there? Independent music is funny right now.
Even though most of the people at El Mocambo Monday night came to see L.A.’s Ariel Pink, Duchess Says stormed the stage as the opener around 10pm, swallowing the arguable irrelevance of their early-week set as well a 15-foot rift between them and the audience over the course of 20 minutes.
When they were done thundering through the track “Cut Up”, in which A.C. wound, mic in hand, almost all the way to the back of the hundred or so on hand, she simply re-parted the human sea, sat calmly on the edge of the stage and waved the warming fans in. They followed far more willingly than most Toronto audiences ever would. She might not look it if you met on the street, but on stage she’s a commanding force it’s difficult to avert one’s eyes, or camera from.
So simply put, the wrong band opened up.
When Ariel Pink finally started pumping fuzz and pop melodies over an hour later, he spent more time complaining about the monitor levels and lack of sound check than actually trying to captivate an audience much larger than the one the openers had the advantage of performing for.
Apparently it’s an ongoing issue.
Duchess Says was forced to pack in a 9pm (far too early) 30 minute set to the same room on the Thursday of Canadian Music Fest, meaning Monday marked the second time in as many weeks that Toronto fans were denied an opportunity to see this band really stretch its legs.
The band’s off to Europe for the spring, but regardless of whether they’re ‘promoting’ a new record next time through here’s hoping for another chance – a proper one – to hear more of what Duchess Says real soon.
Toronto could definitely stand to listen.
Ariel Pink
