Riding the coattails of her 2016 release Lost On You, performer Laura Pergolizzi, more commonly known as LP, brought her pop-rock tour to Montreal. The last time she was here was in the spring of 2017, and she played at the Corona Theatre. This time she was playing in front of a packed MTelus, a much larger venue. Her stock just keeps going up and I was intrigued to see what the fuss was all about.
Kat CunningThe first act of the night was Kat Cunning, a Broadway actress who appears in Dangerous Liaisons and Cirque Du Soleil’s Paramour whose music career is just kicking off. From what I saw, I can tell you we will be seeing more of this wonderful singer. Her performance was breathtaking, raw, and just beautiful. Her style blends pop, soul, and baroque, and she has a confident presence on stage that is not to be taken lightly. She only played a short set, but we got a good taste of what’s to come for Katrina Cunninghan. She will be releasing her EP later this year; for now, you can enjoy her singles “Wild Poppies” and “Baby.”
The YearsNext was the LA duo known as The Years, comprised of Cecil Campanaro and Brian Stanley. This indie act has a smooth, chill vibe, and they treated us to some pretty cool tunes. If you’ve never heard of these guys before, you definitely should have. Songs like “Stranger” and “Fell Asleep Dreaming” are sure to make you a fan. They played a solid set; my only concern was that something seemed missing during their performance in the form of visual treats to keep me entranced during their performance. From what I’ve read, they do usually prefer to let their visual display take a backseat to their music, and I can totally see that working for them. Expect these guys to be playing the large festival circuit like Osheaga as they are only going up from here.
LPFinally, it was time for LP to make her presence felt on the stage. For those who don’t know LP, she got her first break as a songwriter, having written songs for Backstreet Boys, Rhianna, Christina Aguilera, Joe Walsh, Rita Ora and Cher, just to name a few. For this performance, the venue had installed a catwalk extending from the stage; it didn’t take long for LP to claim it as her own for the night!
LP started the set with “Strange” to the delight of the fans. People embraced their own “strange” and sang along with the singer-songwriter. The smiles on the faces in the crowd were all she needed to find the energy to take the show from 0 to 100! LP greeted her audience, embraced them, went up to those in the front rows, touched their hands, and made everyone feel welcome. I knew then that we were in for a fun night. She is a woman of small stature, however on stage she is bigger than life. She displayed her singing chops in a variety of musical styles like pop, rock, and even country, performing songs like “Tightrope,” “No Witness,” “Lost on You,” “Muddy Waters,” and “Into the Wild” to the delight of the crowd. She is a force of nature whose passion is obvious in every moment of her performance. See her soon – you won’t be disappointed!
It was another great night of music brought to you by the folks at Osheaga. I wish they were all this fun!
Written and Photographed by Eric Brisson
*edited by Kate Erickson
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