Super Plage
It was with a brilliant performance that the Montreal trio, Super Plage opened the ball during this first of two evenings at Club Soda for Marathon (M for Montreal.) The electro-pop ensemble was able to capture the audience’s attention even before the first track, thanks to flamboyant clothes and also exuding a strong joie de vivre. From the first song, the “party was stuck” in good Quebecois. Super Plage chained tunes together, mixing them with great cohesion, and drawing fans one song at a time into their colorful universe. Their performance was very theatrical with a theme offered respecting the name of the trio. The lead singer was even in a swimsuit, barefoot, and without a shirt at one point. For the short time they played (20 min), the ensemble left everything on stage and managed with great ease to satisfy the audience from start to finish thanks to a solid performance.
Hawa B
Subsequently, it was the talented Hawa B who took the stage. She, who accompanied FouKi as a backing vocalist at the Bell Centre last week, however, it was her solo project that the fans were treated to. Dressed in black and surrounded by chains, she made a remarkable entrance in front of the spectators who followed her every movement with their eyes. The first thing that strikes you about Hawa B is her voice. This one is rich and powerful, rather serious, but very piercing. This was definitely what made the crowd react the most to his performance. Hawa B submits an interesting musical proposal, which is immersed in rather experimental R&B, which can be compared to what the British FKA twigs offers. The sounds revolve mainly around distortion and synthesizers, with one or two instrumentals leaning towards trap, which transported fans to a zone more chaotic than Super Plage, although still warm. The only slight criticism to make was that the sound could seem one-dimensional to the untrained ear, with some songs blending into one another. Despite the short duration of her appearance, Hawa B delivered a colorful 20 minutes that was all the more relevant given the young artist’s limited material.
LaF
After filling the Bell Centre the week before thanks to the event organized by the record label 7ième Ciel, the rap collective LaF demonstrated that it still had a lot of gas in the tank with a performance of fire to end the evening in front of an audience that was definitely there for them. LaF relentlessly followed up more explosive songs with a few “slow jams”, ending with their more popular releases like their hit Tangerine. The rappers had a great bond, using solid flows and articulating the syllables very clearly. Amazing stage presence! Clearly, the collective was rapping with contagious pleasure and the crowd was devouring everything that was offered to them. We were even treated to a few modest “moshpits”, one of which led the rapper Mantisse to surf there. Although a mixer played the instrumentals on the turntables in the absence of a complete lineup, we were delighted that a flutist/saxophonist and guitarist/pianist joined the group on stage, adding a much more organic dimension to their concert. This beautiful energy and mastery of the stage made LaF the icing on the sundae of this program at Club Soda.
crédit photo: Camille Gladu
