I’d been waiting to see my favourite band in the world, Godspeed You! Black Emperor for well over ten years. I had given up hope when the hiatus that began in 2003 seemed to spell the end of the band until they announced last spring they were reforming. I was ecstatic then, and I am ecstatic now. I finally got the opportunity to see them, not once, but twice this past week and was completely and utterly blown away.

Beyond the music itself, Godspeed speaks to so much in my life. I was lucky to share the first show with some very dear friends, some old, some new. Almost everyone I care about here in Montreal made it to at least one of their 5(!!!) shows. All proceeds from the concerts went to hometown charities (shout-out to Head & Hands!), and all of them sold out in a couple of hours. With no marketing and no mainstream coverage to speak of. The diverse opening acts, different each night, were personally invited by the band from friends and family (Nutsak rocked hard!). Montreal makes me proud, we take care of each other here and these shows clearly spoke to that.

We left the second (and final) show to the news that a conservative majority had taken over the Canadian government and were quickly informed by a fellow audience member that a spontaneous demonstration was being organised nearby (at midnight!). Fueled with post-apocalyptic rage and hope, myself and a few friends joined the demo. It was loud and raucous and lasted well into the night.

The next day, a friend shared this scan of a flyer handed out at their last show at the Rialto back in 2003.

As for the music itself, words really can’t describe the experience, so I won’t even try. The April 29th show is already (legally) available on archive.org, but there’s really no comparison to being there in the room bathed within it all.

UPDATE: The May 1st show is now also available on archive.org.

Below are some pics I took of the beautiful live projections that are such a huge part of the show:

And, for posterity, a snap shot of the anti-harper demonstration that took place later that night:

there’s a sweetness in clumsy efforts.
stubborn hope always trumps lazy greed
& gentle hearts tear vulgar castles down.

don’t be afraid. don’t be afraid. don’t be afraid.