Despite the rain, the expected characters were all filing in — ex-AV Club presidents with French language fetishes and nerd-hot haircut girls with minors in architecture — only to discover Stereolab chanteuse Laetitia Sadier already onstage, fronting her increasingly full-time other band, Monade.
Demonstrating her sublime voice and more-than-capable lefty guitar style, the usually un-showy Sadier seemed enthused to perform with this group (which presumably began as an outlet for material rejected by Stereolab Overlord/guitarist and ex-husband Tim Gane). But though Monade’s music is somewhat less motorik and more melancholy than Stereolab, the two bands are indisputably similar live. This was most noticeable in the vocal interplay between Sadier and bassist Marie Merlet, whose voice sounded eerily reminiscent of Stereolab’s late second singer, Mary Hansen. To clear things up, Sadier finally announced “we are Monade, not Stereolab,” to prevent a repeat of the previous night’s premature exodus. Numerous Montrealers are likely kicking their own asses still.
Alas, after Sadier’s pleasant, early surprise, Le Loup sounded predictably indie-rock in the mid-set slot. Despite a surplus of guitars, sequencers and other doo-dads, the band never fully connected. Only when electronic tricks were foregone in favour of banjo, mandolin and three-part vocal harmony did the D.C. finally act click with this audience.
Bypassing all fanfare, Stereolab eventually sauntered onstage, tuned-up and launched into the 5/4 chug of “Percolator.” Newly-changed, sans-guitar and flanked by an army of keyboards, Sadier looked as uncomfortable as ever in the front-woman role — which is a curious thing as she’s performed consistently with this band since 1991.
But to be fair, nobody gives My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields shit about similarly staring at his shoes — a whole genre was named after it, after all. Some would even argue it’s unjust that prodigal sons (and daughters) MBV have grabbed so much recent attention for merely re-issuing two old albums. Conversely, Stereolab, the continued flag-bearers of UK art-pop, possess such a sprawling discography that it must be a nightmare writing set-lists. Still, it would be nice if they didn’t look so bored when they performed.
Luckily, after a couple of mid-tempo tracks from recent albums Chemical Chords and Margarine Eclipse, the band dug deep for old gems like “French Disko,” “Cybele’s Reverie” and Meghan McCain's favourite song, “Ping Pong,” (which Sadier introduced as “a song from a long, long, long time ago”). As well, no Stereolab concert would be complete without a sonic freakouts — luckily the Phoenix’s lighting tech awoke just in time for a version of “La Boob Oscillator” that would have made space rockers Hawkwind proud.
During the show’s finale — a trippy, extended take on “Stomach Worm” — Sadier finally cracked a smile towards the dancing throngs. Sadly, the band soon scuttled away with barely a wave. But questions remained: How did Tim Gane shake his head side-to-side all night without passing out? And does Laetitia realize she’s the Supreme Empress of Indie-MILFs? We’ll never know. Ah, the franco-anglo enigma that is Stereolab.