Review - Plants and Animals with Sister Suvi at Divan Orange 17.12.07

Not even a 40cm dump of snow can keep a good hipster down, Montreal once again proved night why we have such a thriving indie-music scene. The show in question was the sold-out performance by Plants and Animals, which, despite the weather, was packed to the mother-f’ing gills. The show opened with 2/3 of the band Sister Suvi (we learned after a forty-five minute delay that one of their singers was stuck at the airport). But as the old adage goes, ‘the show must something, something…’ and it did. Fortunately about thirty seconds into their first song the singer, Merrill Garbus, burst in the front door and promptly took the stage. We were treated to a short but sweet set of Sister Suvi’s experimental acapella harmonies which helped get the audience ready for the headliner, Plants and Animals. Helping really get the crowd jazzed, the band dropped the lights before coming out and immersed the audience in a wild and overwhelming soundscape that felt like a cross between the Jungle Book and a David Lynch film.

Once they got in place, Plants and Animals rocked the joint, busting out a nicely paced set of their unique brand of dance-friendly rock stylings. The guitars and drums were nice and heavy while still complementing a ‘campfire sing along’ quality to the vocals. The highlight was definitely the band’s cover of the Nina Simone classic ‘Sinnerman’ which got everyone in the room up and on the floor. A taste of things to come as we wait in anticipation for the group’s full length, Parc Avenue, to drop sometime soon-hopefully.