Khemmis at Le Ritz, Montreal

May 3, 2023 – Le Ritz, Montreal, Quebec

Another night, another show – such is life in a bustling art-centric city like Montreal. And quite frankly, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Not only is this a hot spot for local artists and establishments that cater to hosting said artists; it also attracts a great deal of talent from other corners of the globe too. On any given night in this part of the world, you can find somewhere that has live music going on.

Tonight there are several shows taking place, and at least two of those events are in the heavy metal realm – First Fragment are playing at the legendary Foufounes Electriques, while Denver’s Khemmis are headlining a night that includes Calgary’s Wake, England’s Conjurer, and locals Jarrd, at Le Ritz – a venue that is a considerable step down from legendary status.

See Also: The Black Dahlia Murder at Mtelus, Montreal

We arrived at the venue to find a line awaiting us, and the choice to either stand with our comrades and patiently await entry in the rain – or we could back track a few steps and score a pint or two at the Le Relais Boreale brewery next door. A kolsh and a kellerbier later, we re-joined the now flowing line-up and made our way into the tiny, dank venue.

Jarrd

Montreal’s Jarrd began the night, bringing a chaotic dose of metalcore to the stage. Discordant and aggressive, Jarrd represent a local act on the rise that have been slowly building their way up through the local ranks for the past few years.

Tonight’s set was short but sweet and intriguing, as I wasn’t able to find very much information on them in the hours leading up to the gig. Mysterious. They have one track on their facebook page, named Orr, which lead me to try the keywords Jarrd and Orr in Youtube in hopes that more music from this relatively fresh new band might materialize. It didn’t; but I did discover a country artist named Jared Orr. I assure you these two artists have nothing in common.

Hopefully more material will soon become available from these guys, and until then, I guess I’m stuck listening to this country stuff. Send help.

 

Wake

Calgary’s Wake seem to love la belle province, as they visit us quite often – and the locals here are also more than happy to host them. Tonight was no different. Perhaps the most heavy of the groups on tonight’s itinerary, blending doom with grindcore, hardcore and power violence, Wake came to lay down some aggression and that they did. Their onstage energy, the way they move about the stage, is something a lot of artists could learn a thing or two from. Entertainers they certainly are.

For whatever reason, the smoke machines began to pump a copious amount of smoke into the small room, to the point that I couldn’t see the person standing beside me. All this smoke is probably non-toxic, hopefully, but I can still taste it. It’s on my tongue and in my nose and it’s vile. I had forgotten why I despise this venue so much. I could feel it in my lungs, which is probably due to the fact that I am a non-smoker. People left during the last few moments of Wake’s set to go outside for fresh air, it was that abrasive.

Whether this was by design or some sort of malfunction, I do not claim to know, but I sure do hope that is a error and not a conscious decision. Certainly, Wake deserved better, as did the patron’s, as I would wager my beer that nobody enjoys to be smoked out with that vile and unnecessary filth. Quite what the thought process behind such an act was, is beyond me. It certainly didn’t add any form of ambiance to the event. Quite the opposite in fact. I would go as far as to say that it was detrimental to the enjoyment of the whole evening.

On top of it all, the venue played the worst pop crap between songs. It’s a metal show; why would you play this sort of garbage between bands? Talk about a mood killer.

 

Conjurer

England’s Conjurer began their set plunged into total darkness, as the stage lighting technician appeared to struggle with his console. Le Ritz is already known for its abysmal lighting and visuals, but this took the cake and ate it too. Thankfully, the smoke machines seemed to have run out of steam by this point but the clouds still remained, as the smoke had nowhere to go (besides into the lungs of those in attendance that is).

This is a band that has been making waves overseas and I was curious to see them live, having enjoyed their recorded works. There is a buzz around that I can now confirm, is warranted as I feel Conjurer are destined for greatness. And with this tour being so young, anyone reading this considering catching this tour at a future date should really go and see them live. Find out what all the fuss is about.

At one point, vocalist and guitarist Dan Nightingale stopped playing his instrument, and stepped away from the microphone stand to scream his lyrics into the crowd, while his hair covered his face in what was an intense and surreal moment in their set (see the above photo). I’m not sure I’ve ever seen another band pull off something like that, but it was a moment of pure brilliance. Almost bordering on eerie, and the crowd cheered him for it once the deed was done.

My view of the stage was limited. By the smoke and my wanting to stay as far away from the machines that were pumping it out as possible, because I’m of average height and the venue doesn’t cater to viewing from anywhere but the first few rows; and the abysmal lighting conditions. I saw a sea of glowing red hair whirling about as if caught in a hurricane and little else.

“We’re going to play one more song about the sea, then fuck off” said Nightingale, and so they did.

 

Khemmis

By the time Khemmis took to the stage, friends of mine that had come out solely to see Khemmis had left, stating that they didn’t feel too well. Now, I’m not saying it was the smoke that had caused that… but it was the smoke that caused that. Quite obviously, they weren’t the only ones as suddenly the cramped venue had considerably more standing room available. I don’t for a second believe people were leaving to avoid Khemmis, who are a great band, and the night was still young even for a week night. You do the math.

While Wake and Conjurer had brought a more aggressive style of doom, Khemmis delivered on a much more melodic take on the genre, primarily using clean vocals. Over the last half-decade or so, Khemmis have visited Montreal on multiple occasions and have always done well and have been well received here, and rightfully so. Over that period, their growth has been fantastic and they are now one of the premier groups in their field.

Tonight, Khemmis were great. As entertaining as ever and a pleasure to witness (despite the fart-like atmosphere). I fully admit to be irritated and distracted by the venue and all the things previously mentioned, but at least the bands that played tonight did so to the best of their abilities and each one of them was formidable and worth the cost of admission. Hopefully when they return, they’ll be booked into a better space; one that can provide the respect they deserve.

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As I walked out into the cool night air, two thoughts struck me; the first is that it felt great to be breathing the polluted air of the city, and the other questioning why the hell concert promoters continue to book this shitty hole of a venue. Montreal is privileged to have a whole lot of venues, some better than others, but this one is certainly the bottom of the barrel in practically every conceivable category.

As I do every time I leave Le Ritz; I told myself this would be the last time I come out to this venue – but we all know that is a lie. I am thoroughly addicted to live music and if people keep booking the damned place, then I’ll keep on coming back. It is for that reason, that I reserve the right to bitch about it again in the future. Bands of the sort that played tonight deserve far better, and I’ll leave it at that.