Polite Exorcism: Laurie Anderson at Théatre Rialto (Montreal)

It ended with a hug.

I should build up to this, so let me explain: on a Wednesday night during the city’s annual Pop Montreal festival, Laurie Anderson, accompanied on stage by Rebecca Foon and Colin Stetson, dry ice, programmed noises and odd sonic textures, performed a set at Theatre Rialto that felt more cathartic than most other concerts I have attended in this city. Some performances do leave you wanting more. The performance at the Rialto felt like an exorcism where the demons knew they had to run.

The audience understood what they were seeing and hearing, but Anderson provided a little more context. After a brief performance on her electric violin, accompanied only by her programmed sounds on a laptop, she stated that she was “glad to be out of the U.S.” The audience understood and applauded deeply, understanding that Anderson’s work and art, despite some of its more extreme tropes, does not exist in some sort of elitist vacuum. She always seemed to me to be the one performance artist that people who would hate performance art could enjoy, ever since “O, Superman” (1981) became an unexpected hit in the U.K. She then asked us to do something special for her. Recalling election night in 2016, and its impact on friends and colleagues in New York, she thought of Yoko Ono’s one-minute “Scream” performance and asked us to scream for ten seconds as a protest against the direction her nation took and continues to take. I tried my best at this (my voice gave out after about five seconds), but the audience covered for those of us who were not up to the task. We needed her noise and she needed ours. And then the other musicians joined in.

You can judge an artist by the company they keep. Anderson decided to share the stage with Rebecca Foon on cello and Colin Stetson on bass saxophone and other instruments. Stetson played and added very muscular brass to the trio. At one point, I did feel that it was a little overwhelming and might threaten to drown out the other noises on stage. He makes a listener consider the brass instruments under his fingers more as a percussive tool than just horns (I even thought at one point he would take out a set of drumsticks and start to play with them along the horn he was carrying - I had seen this earlier in an online video). It reminded me of a less-burdened Rahsaan Roland Kirk. And Foon added a light but also very modern feel on stage (think of Webern at his gentler and softer moments). After working with Tanya Tagaq, she was open to all the possibilities of sonic texture that Anderson and Stetson could provide, and it was wonderful to watch and hear all three musicians play and complement each other.

It was a performance of not-clearly defined songs (I could not identify any of the pieces from Anderson’s recent work and no CDs or merchandise was sold after the show). And this seemed right. She gave us a performance that could be felt along the skin and deep in our hearts and minds. And was it pleasant to hear these excursions through sonic noises? Was it what we needed to hear right now? Remember that I have described the show as a kind of exorcism; a very kind exorcism. I wonder if Anderson would have performed the same show with a different leader in the White House, but that seems an unfair critique. The performance at the Rialto, although rather brief, was one of the best of the year and I was glad to be there for it, especially when it ended.

Let me explain that hug. That was for me. I am one of those fans who, when the performance truly stirs me, has to find a way to talk to the artists involved (I did speak to both Annie Clark – St. Vincent – and William Basinski after separate performances to thank them for their work). I lingered behind the crowd leaving the theatre, finally getting the nerve to approach the stage and see if I could speak to the artists. I always feel like both hanging on and not lingering for too long. And I finally got my turn, telling Anderson how much her work meant to me and that I tried to be as creative as her whenever possible whenever I found a chance to write. That got me the offer of a big hug, an autograph, and best wishes…on my birthday.

As I said, it ended well.

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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