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TORONTO - Despite the constant thumping coming from the bottom floor of The Mod Club Thursday night, it proved to be no match for a genre-bending Beast from Montreal.
Playing to a crowd that filled most of the main floor, the group's roughly hour-long, nine-song set was at times big, brash, beefy and booming. And thankfully Beast is lead by a vocal beauty in Betty Bonifassi.
Bonifassi, who first came to prominence for her work on the 2004 Oscar-nominated film Les Triplettes de Belleville, was front and centre most of the night, alternating between two microphones when not delivering strong performances on the opener Finger Prints off the band's self-titled debut. Although the Nine Inch Nails-tinged groove fuelled the number, Bonifassi's soulful power came to the fore.
The group, consisting primarily of Bonifassi and drummer/programmer Jean-Phi Goncalves (although rounded out by a bassist and guitarist in concert), can't be easily pigeon-holed stylistically. A good example of this was during Microcyte, initially a lighter number which ended up having Bonifassi rapping, punching the air and dancing as much as some were on the floor.
"Do you all feel it?" the singer asked halfway through the track as Goncalves, with his drum kit set up to Bonifassi's right near the front of the stage, rounded out the number.
Keeping the between-song banter to a minimum aside from thanking the crowd and stalling momentarily during "technical problems," Bonifassi shone on the eerie City which showcased her bluesy, soulful talent. Although some of the facial expressions in hitting those notes brought to mind Radiohead's Thom Yorke, the singer's rich Shirley Bassey-like touches made it memorable.
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Perhaps the only lull during the set was during Out Of Control, a decent but far from stellar song which featured Goncalves singing along as it briefly moved into dance territory. Fortunately it was quickly usurped by the plodding and dark Ashtray, a song Bonifassi began by singing off microphone prior to strange imagery appearing on the two video screens on either side of the stage.
While the visuals would later work much better with the music, it seemed a bit hokey initially. Nonetheless, Beast wasted no time ensuring their more well-known material raised the quality bar. Mr. Hurricane was probably the highlight of the evening as the funky foundation had most moving in some frame or fashion.
After band introductions, Beast ended the main set with the guitar-driven Devil, with Bonifassi again oozing more charisma and magnetism as she got lost in the song.
And it was in the encore where the images seemed to complement the music perfectly, even if from different eras, settings and styles. As Bonifassi and Goncalves came out for the extended Satan, a Southern gospel-flavoured ditty, a film clip -- the Minstrel Number from White Christmas starring Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby -- fell almost perfectly in sync.
When it was all said and done, Beast was definitely not a burden on this night.