HOMBRES ORQUESTA
L´ ORCHESTRE D´ HOMMES- ORQUESTRES performs Tom Waits

Thursday 17, Teatro Rosas Moreno - Lagos de Moreno, 20:00 h, Free entrance - limited seats
Saturday 19, LARVA -Laboratorio de Arte Variedades, 20:30 h, Free entrance with ticket - limited seats
Sunday 20, LARVA -Laboratorio de Arte Variedades, 12:00 h, Free entrance with ticket - limited seats

Mechanics: You can collect your tickets with a copy of the IFE
in the Teatro Degollado.
Access by Hidalgo Street hours: Monday to Friday from 10 to 14 and 15 to 18 h.

(Up to two tickets per person for different events)

SOLD OUT

In Spanish

Artistas
Bruno Bouchard — voice, homme-orchestre,
guitar, suitcase, spaghetti, violin
Jasmin Cloutier — voice, guitar, banjo,
megaphone, boots
Simon Drouin — voice, harmonica, wood
saw, cisors, boxing gloves
Simon Elmaleh — voice, electric bass,
hammers, baby cradle
with guests The New Cackle Sisters
Gabrielle Bouthillier + Danya Ortmann —
voices, tea pots, handkerchiefs.

Fréderic Auger/ Tour Manager and sound engineer
Christophe Lessard-Drolet/ Light technician
Marc Langlois/ Agent

This presentation is made possible with the help of le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.

L’ Orchestre d’Hommes-Orchestres performs Tom Waits

If you’re a Tom Waits fan, it’s time to face a harsh reality—with each passing day it’s less and less likely that we’re going to get the chance to see him live. With that in mind, I suggest you go see L’Orchestre d’Hommes-Orchestres Performs Tom Waits. It’s not the man himself, but it’s his spirit and his songs manifested before you with great joy and imagination.

L’Orchestre d’Hommes-Orchestres are a Québec-based, self-described multidisciplinary workshop. The group, composed of Bruno Bouchard, Jasmin Cloutier, Simon Drouin and Simon Elmaleh (and joined onstage by the New Cackle Sisters, Gabrielle Bouthiller and Danya Ortman), began as a music ensemble but has gone onto incorporate elements of theatre in their performances.

I’m just going to throw this out there because it will bug Waits purists—four French Canadians sing and talk in the style of Tom Waits. Their accents peak through as they tell Waits-esque stories and jokes. I was skeptical at first, but works for me as a celebration of Waits rather than just a lame imitation.

The set design borrows heavily from Waits’ dust-bowl aesthetic and album art of the last 30 years—and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The stage is cluttered with well-worn pans, pots and dishes; a gramophone sits in the back, and the players are dressed in as if they were auditioning to play Waits in a music video. Throughout the show they will wear goggles and gas masks, sing into megaphones and drink straight out of liquor bottles. This is a show developed and performed by huge fans that want to make a big racket and sing some of the best songs ever written.

Speaking of the racket, this show uses a mix of real and makeshift instruments. For example, they use guitars on most songs, but they also built a standup base with a metal washtub, a wooden pole and a string—it’s pretty cool and gets a great sound. On one song, the New Cackle Sisters inflated party balloons then let the air escape into a melodica. I didn’t think it would work but it did. How have I never seen someone do that before?

For me, besides the finale of “Lucky Day,” the staging of which I won’t spoil except to say that it was their most divergent and successful cover, the best song of the night was “Black Market Baby” where the performers put on motorcycle helmets. All four men had a loose, yet coordinated pattern that included Drouin turning his head (his helmet had a three wood affixed to it like antlers), Cloutier would duck, and the three wood would hit the frying pan in Bouchard’s hand. And that was only one small part of the routine—it was hilarious to watch as well as being one of the better covers of the night.

If you’re not a familiar with Waits’ work, I think there’s enough creativity in the performance and visual interest in the set that it would be enjoyable. If you’re a fan of Waits, it’s a must-see show.

| arriba |