Kobayashi
Eleni Gogas
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
October is just a brilliant month for music in Montréal. Right on the heels of Pop Montreal comes the Nujaz Festival. (Watch out, their website is absolutely atrocious!.)
So when posixeleni mentioned that the band she's in was opening at le Divan Orange on Wednesday, I didn't hesitate to block off that evening. I had fallen in love with them earlier, even though I only heard a very short selection of their set. Apparently, their set at the Concordia show was supposed to last longer, which would have been really nice. Since the Divan Orange is really close to my place, I planned to stop by after work.
Well, after leaving work late, I still managed to get there early enough to grab a table near the front. I'd never been in this venue before, which is silly because it's merely minutes from my front door. The first thing I noticed is the absolutely gorgeous hardwood floor that's been beaten by the footsteps of thousands of patrons. Then, the paintings on the walls, which were reminiscent of Nordic art. I opened my book and read for a while, which seemed like a reasonable thing to do in a joint like this.
At around 21:30, the band showed up and started warming up. Then Franco and Josh picked up their saxophones and started trumpeting away. In an intimate venue like this, unlike a large outdoor stadium, Kobayashi sounds even better.
Franco Proietti
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
I wish I could describe the sonorous sounds that comes from these guys. I felt like a kid in an ear-candy store. Sitting up there, I couldn't help moving to the music, which is rather detrimental when taking photographs. Some guy, who sat next to me for a while, asked me if I was the band's photographer. Ha ha, not an amateur like me. I don't even have a decent camera for this type of work!
For $5, I got to see not one but two sets by them. By the end of the night, they had a very sizable crowd packing the club. And the applause was suitably enthusiastic. I guess I can't recommend them enough. Joe, you really should have showed up to this.
After they finished, I talked to Franco, Josh, Evan, Chris, and Eleni. They were all really happy about their show, and a couple of other people went up to praise them as well. Chris mentioned that they're heading off on their U.S. tour next week, which sounds like a lot of fun.
I spoke to Evan about his wrist problems, because he's a graphic artistic and contorts his left hand all day. After admonishing him to take breaks, he pointed me at the clothing design place he works for. Oh hey, and the website plays Kobayashi tracks while you browse it.