The Joel Plaskett Emergency

             Back in April I was privileged to see Canadian rocker Joel Plaskett live in concert at the uh...rustic Theatre Corona in Montreal. His show was opened by a guy called Frank Turner.

           Now I’ll be honest, I had never heard of this Frank Turner character before that fateful night, but he was opening for Joel and I will say I am so glad I got to see him perform. He’s a ‘bloke’ from across the pond and he plays songs that Dewey Finn would drool over. He’s got a “down with the man” vibe that is totally infectious and creates some great sing-along moments that would be right at home in an old pub.

I had a chance to connect with a few other concert goers including a guy that came all the way from Germany to see Frank Turner(!) and I found it really surprising that many of them weren’t actually sure of who Joel Plaskett was. Needless to say, there were more than a few converts after the performance Joel gave.

He opened with ‘Tough Love’ off his newly released, Scrappy Happiness (if you don’t know the story behind Scrappy Happiness, then check this out…http://joelplaskett.com/?page_id=1854)

I will say that I was literally in awe when I heard the lyrics “Cut me to pieces//Apples and oranges//slap me in the face//and tell me that I’m gorgeous”.

            The show lasted about 3 hours and was honestly never lacking in anything. Joel's got this dude called Matthew who is the lighting guy; dude knows how to put on a light show! I can't not mention the crazy strobe action during Lightning Bolt!

All in all Joel put out an amazing performance and showed off his versatility and that of The Emergency. There were 3 distinct "sets" but it almost seemed like 3 separate shows as they went from all three members on stage to a Joel-only acoustic set (which included an awesome version of Nowhere With You from the Make A Little Noise EP) and then back to The Emergency on stage which included an incredible jam-session-like experience with what seemed like a 15 minute version of Work Out Fine.

Joel’s Presley like stage presence combined with his knack for storytelling and insane musical ability made for an unforgettable evening. I would highly recommend checking out Joel's website and getting some tickets to a show near you!