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by Gilles on 4/4/23On es allez vous voir a joiliette qc it was perfect loved it we will come see you again oh oui...
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Pappy and Harriets Pioneertown Palace
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To begin their third album, The Barr Brothers weren't writing any songs. For the first time, the Montreal outfit's three members' namesake siblings Brad and Andrew Barr, harpist Sarah Pagé went empty-handed into the studio. No plans or preconceptions, no books of lyrics or sheets of chords they went down miles of snowy road to a cabin on a frozen lake, a place full of windows and microphones and starlight and sunshine, with amplifiers in the bedrooms, their volumes turned up loud. On the fringes of Saint Zenon, Québec (pop. 1,1150), a 30-minute snowmobile ride to the nearest grocery store, the band spent seven days making things up. Improvisations that lasted hours at a time noons and midnights, dusks and dawns, with grooves inspired by India, West Africa and 808s; by Brad's scorching electric guitar; and by Pagé's new inventions, hacks to turn her harp into a versatile, sub-bass-booming noisemaker.
Queens of the Breakers was born at that cabin in the country. Then the band took that racket and distilled it into songs: 11 tracks of blazing courage and failing resolve; suffused with groove, melody and the Barr Brothers' wide-open sense of the blues. At times the sound's all twinkling, the score for a lost John Hughes film; at other times it's whetted, searching, like the stuff of Lhasa de Sela or Led Zeppelin's III. These are tales of teenagers prowling through Rhode Island mansions (the title track), coming to Montreal and falling in love ("Song That I Heard"), tattered patriotism and clenching fists ("Kompromat", "Ready for War"). There's also "Defibrillation", a mournful letter from a father to his son, inspired by the broken rhythm of a pair of hospital heart monitors - and a drumbeat based on that dither.
It's this tension, this dither, that lives at the centre of Queens of the Breakers. Three players, friends, comrades, music-makers, all of them trying to play in sync. Three bandmates, each of them fumbling, remembering, trying to invent something together. A band still playing, even occasionally reimagining, their rock'n'roll.
On es allez vous voir a joiliette qc it was perfect loved it we will come see you again oh oui...
This show was amazing. This was the second time that I have gone to a Barr Brothers concert. I've loved their music for a while, but they are an order of magnitude even better live. They are truly, truly talented musicians and songwriters. Can't wait to see them live again!
Fantastic live show!! Excellent musicians and Brad has a great voice!! Great to see people enjoy what they do!!
The level of complexity 6 multi-instrumentalists can create on stage is pretty damn astounding. I hope they come back to Boston very, very soon.
I can't say enough positive things about this show. The band was phenomenal, the crowd was extremely attentive and not chatty during the performance, the venue is awesome and it was easy to find a great spot to see them (there's not a bad spot in the house!). The performance was UNREAL. I've seen The Barr Brothers a number of times and loved different shows for different reasons. This was by far the most energetic and musically tight show I've seen. They are killing it right now. Do yourself a favor and GO SEE THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
It was one of the best shows that I have ever attended!!!!!!!!!
I've seen these guys play at a few places in Boston and the show at Brighton Music Hall was by far the best they have been. They are working their way into bigger and bigger rooms, so if you have any interest in this band - go see them now before they are forced into bigger venues. I love the intimacy of shows at this level.