Concert review: Kimbra

Rrraawwwr // Photo source: Patrick Roger

            On Oct. 26, at Corona Theater, the very energetic New-Zealander singer Kimbra, known for her collaboration with Gotye on the track “Somebody I Used to Know,” gave a performance that many Montrealers will remember for the rest of their lives.

            Kimbra was dressed with a very colourful and funky dress, which is one of her trademark when she sings live. She danced like this was the last time she was performing her indie pop/soul songs, and she did that, for a whole hour and 15 minutes.

            The Stepkids, a psychedelic soul band from Connecticut, performed the first part. Dressed in all white, the images projected on the screen made their clothing multi-coloured. Jeff Gitelman, vocals and guitar, did a very Saturday Night Fever vocal performance, with Tim Walsh, drums, and Dan Edinberg, bass and keyboard, at his side. The crowd danced and cheered for this unknown band. They definitely won the heart of the Notre-Dame’s theater.

            After 30 minutes of funky music, they gathered their things and left the stage to make place for Kimbra. Her band made its entrance and warmed up a bit. Kimbra ran to the stage with her high-heels and her crazy dress, a big smile on her face.

            Throughout her performance, she would remove parts of her dress, and a new style would appear. It went from crazy fringes everywhere to simple corset and a froufrou skirt.

            The crowd applauded her vocal performances and cheered for many songs they were waiting for her to sing such as “Two Way Street” and “Settle Down,” which she performed with her sampling machine that she used to record and change her voice. She also did a very successful cover of Nina Simone’s song “Plain Gold Ring,” and performed in solo the song “Warrior,” collaboration with Mark Foster from Foster the People and Canadian DJ A-Track.

At many points during her performance, she would interact with the crowd, in an impeccable French, and she would tell them how much she loves Montreal.

            She finished her performance with her new hit song “Come Into My Head,” during which you would think that she wouldn’t be able to sing any other songs afterwards, considering the energy that she gave to perform this song. But no, after the crowd screamed her name many time for her to come back on stage, she came back for an encore and performed a very moving performance of her song “Withdraw.”

            She finished her encore with “Call Me,” a track that can only be found on her deluxe album version. She invited The Stepkids to join her onstage to perform with her this last song. She sang this gospel song with all her voice.

            Overall, Kimbra is a stage animal. She delivered a performance that the Corona Theater will always remember. She also told the crowd that she started to record her second album, which made the crowd very happy. Can’t wait for another piece of art of hers.