Swing in the Street: Betty's Jazz Fest Lowdown
New Morty Show
What a gang of crazy talented guys (and gal!) I had a BALL at their show last night! Vise and Morty's shtick brought the house down and the energy was evident as the whole area in front of the stage was filled with a veritable mosh pit of swing dancers, metal fans and the like.
The band did lots of songs off their recent album and hit big time when they did "Enter Sandman" and their medley version of "Sing Sing Sing" with "Blister in the Sun" and stuff. Favourite moments? Vise wiping the sweat off his bald head with a window wiper, Kat taking Vise in a headlock, Morty shaking his booty at the crowd, Vise hopping on the dancers' stage with local dancer Genevieve (coincidence with the name, no?) and a fantastic solo by new (and yes, really cute) drummer Brian Fishler.
They really have such a rapport with the audience it was so much fun to be right there in the middle of it all. After the show the band joined us in our hotel suite for a nice, relaxing party and we dished the dirt on our respective scenes, musical backgrounds and summer plans. Really fine folks I tell ya!
Wednesday night was the second New Morty Show concert, and the boys (and gal) were as crazy as ever. I was especially impressed by Vise's bright banana yellow suit. If only it had been gray, our chants of "Go, Dr. Evil!" would have been all the more warranted -- their Dr. Evil - Mini-Me impression was too funny...poor Morty! I was fortunate enough to dance onstage at this particular concert. Sometimes I wonder where Vise gets his energy -- definitely one of the talented and funniest performers I have ever seen. The guy could make a living doing standup, and he wouldn't have to say a word :-)
Kat Starr is a wonderful addition to NMS (even though she's been with the band for over a year now, she still referred to as "the new singer" since Connie Champagne sang on the album) and keeps up with Vise all the way. I have an especially great shot of her giving him a headlock on my website.
After the concert I ended up meeting most of the band at local dive the Peel Pub (we missed Vise, he retired early) for food and drinks. The first thing I asked when I walked in was "Why in heavens are you guys at the PEEL PUB? They recycle beer here, you know!" I sat down between Morty and Kat and prompty ordered a *bottled* beer and caesarghetti. Kat and I sang all the cheesy tunes playing on the sound system, including the Grease medley, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "Dancing Queen". Then Morty and I launched into an interesting discussion about Quebec nationalism. This man loves Montreal -- he said to us after his Jazz Fest performance, "I could stop playing right now and die a happy man."