Three years ago, Zola Jesus came to Osheaga and I was dying to see her. However, due to the fact that it was raining heavily, the show got shut down after the first song; safety comes first. Ever since, I remained curious to see her live and Blue Skies Turn Black finally made it happen at Centre Phi last Friday night.
The opening band was quite a discovery by itself. The Deradoorian sisters are talented multi-instrumental artists. A mix of beatboxing, heavy drums, synthesizers and seductive voices, leading you into a trippy journey. When they announced their last song, fans would have had them stay a little longer.
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This was the perfect intro to the whole Zola Jesus, a psychological experience. The Gothic Godess reminded me of Dead Can Dance and iamamiwhoami — a mix of baroque pop, dark wave, electronica and experimental rock. Going back and forward between mellow tunes to serious headbanging sessions while the drummer brought the house down. She was running all across the stage if she wasn’t immersed into her trance or gracefully delivering a memorable performance. At some point the whole venue went quiet when she started singing without the microphone and a little after that, she took a stroll trough the crowd. She also told us about her love for Montreal and mostly of her love for our bagels a.k.a. the best bagels. Pfff…take that, NYC! If you want to hear some of her latest work, her 5th album Taiga is out now.
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Click on the photo to launch the slideshow. Photos by Bianca Lecompte.
Deradoorian + Zola Jesus
