Moriarty on tour: Théâtre Maisonneuve. Montreal Jazz Festival, 4th of July, 2014.
At last we get to see the inside of that giant brutalist concrete monster: le Théâtre Maisonneuve, built in 1967 by the architects David, Barott & Boulva, looming over the Place des Arts like an artificial cantilevered mountain. No magic inside, but big simple efficient functionalism. Huge foyers and public access mezzanines, red carpets, generous armchairs. On the artist’s side, small dressing-rooms, without windows… Outside on Rue Sainte-Catherine the sun is shining and thousands of festivalgoers wander around looking for music. Yet we end up spending the whole afternoon in these tiny dark dressing-rooms, rehearsing new songs. During the whole show we feel the height of the stage tower above our heads, and the sound of the band goes quite scattered in its huge void. The audience, sitting in the comfy tiers of the great auditorium, feels a little restrained but still quite eager… that night, we perform « History of Violence » live for the first time, around a single microphone, Rosemary holding the sheet of lyrics in her hands. People seem to like it.
