Hot Hot Heat and eeeee Hey Rosetta at the Belmont

What is up with the Belmont these days? The place went from ho-hum frat bar to kick ass little venue in about six(???) months time. Montreal could always use a new place for kids to see music, of course. The loss of the Mile End Cultural Centre still leaves a gaping wound in my heart. I'm still waiting for my own little hood (le St. Henri) to step up and cater to the local yup crowd. We're starting to get restaurants, but the best venue we have around here is the weird DJ night at Blackjacks next to the strip club.

So, this show. Wow. Holy mother f'ing wow. It was sort of like a CBC programmer's wet dream, I think. East coast to west coast. Something like that. Not to mention, I got to relive an old identity when a semi drunk sweet engineer asked me if I was with the band. As in, band groupie. Aaahhh. I've gotta love it when someone thinks I'm more than just another sexy babe in thigh high boots.

I'd seen Hey Rosetta before. In fact, I think I saw them open for an act in Montreal about 3-4 years ago... at Barfly? Has it been that long? Perhaps I wrote an entry here about them before. I am sure I liked them, but I think they were openers, not headliners at the time. Times have changed. This band now brings down the house with its east coast vibe. It's somewhat hard to explain just what is so distinct about east coast bands -- a tendency to marry periods of noise with hooky melodies and moments of folk/blues/funk. I guess that's it. The crowd was crazy enamored, as was I. I only know a few songs from the one single Hey Rosetta album I have, but they were played with gusto and passion. Oh, and talent. Let's not forget that they seem to have that innate east coast ability to make things danceable and beautiful at the same time.

Following on their heels were punkier outfit Hot Hot Heat. I'd gone to this show largely to see HHH, a band I've often liked and never seen -- uncertain what to expect in a live show. I certainly didn't expect all that hair, that's for sure. And I didn't expect them to look so young. Looks can be deceiving -- but they just seemed so young... They launched into a series of famliar tunes, played with punch and though I initially found lead singer Steve Bays a bit trilly, I soon found him more than charming. I didn't last their full set (boo hoo, I am old), but what I did see plastered a grin across my face.

From east coast to west coast, Canadian music is kick ass.