After seeing these guys open up for Eric's Trip two weeks earlier, I just couldn't resist seeing them again. Now let's clear this up right away, I am in no way affiliated or even interested in anything relating to emo-punk/rock or whatever you want to call it. I don't even like emo music but I find these guys to be something really special.
So the night began with Ragman and I heading out to the Salle de l'x. We have never been there before however we have heard of it due to all of the anarchist meetings that they host. It would have been pretty hard to spot if it wasn't for all the people waiting outside of the building to be let in. They let us in about 10 minutes later. My first impression of the venue was a classic punk rock venue. It was tiny, hot, full of punk and anarchist slogans all over the walls and unfortunatly, a whole lot of 15 year old kids.
The show began with some french canadian guy singing and playing accoustic guitar. He was pretty good, he put alot of heart into, but I guess all the emo-kids didn't really appreciate it and pretty much ignored him. He played 3 songs which took about 30 minutes. He was promptly followed by a band who I think were called, One Candle Burning, but I am not too certain of that. They were very good players, but I wasn't too fond of their music. They were followed by a local punk band called Self Made Man - they were good but I am easily bored by punk music.
All the local music was finally done and over with, and on came Moneen's touring mates, PARK of Springfield Illinois. They were good, but they were nothing special, typical emo band.
Finally after a long enough wait, Moneen took the stage. After a long rant by singer Kenny and a little cover of Green Day's Basket Case, they began playing Train Song. Now the thing about Moneen, like I said in the Eric's Trip review, is the energy. All of them have such tremendous energy, and it is not like condensed angst anctics of "Nu Metal" bands or punk bands jumping around, it is more of a raw, grassroots feeling. Sure they jump around, but there is a definite underlying passion and feeling in it. Maybe it's the weird looks on Kenny's face, or the indie rock vibe emitted from "the hippy" or Marks' back facing you.
The show progressed and I was really amazed by the level of interaction between band and audience. At one point Kenny, claiming to be hot, traded shirts with someone in the audience and then after scaling the balcony, traded pants with another audience member. They played most of the songs from their new album. My favorite and it seemed like everyone elses too was the Passing of America which turned into a nice sing along song. They even invited whoever wanted to come on stage to sing into a microphone.
Towards the end of the show, "Hippy" broke a string, like I've seen him do twice before, as he fixed it, Kenny showed off his break dancing skills. A big circle was formed around him and I must say, that boy can really move. He then dragged others in the audience to break dance too, it was very nice.
They played for about an hour and it was a very enjoyable set. I really suggest you check these guys out. I find though, that their studio recorded music isn't really an accurate representation of their live material which is quite a shame because their live music is amazing. You can find alot of their live songs on mp3 all over the place; Hopefully they will release a live album some day.
They are on tour in the USA very shortly and I seriously suggest you check them out if they stop in your city/town. They also have some CDs available through a few online merchants as well as directly from their label.