Kiosk gig in Montreal

My next post on Paris will come after this one.

I'm back from Kiosk gig, the second one of their tour which has started on 5th of November. The first one was in Toronto and the rest is in Europe. Kisok will perform in Köln, Florence, Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Oslo, Gothenburg and Stockholm. Tara Kamangar, the dexterous musician is accompanying Kiosk at this tour and plays violin. 
Only after 2 weeks of my arrival in Montreal, I was lucky to get a ticket to this gig through my friend, since they were sold out.
I got to know this band in Tehran, 4 years ago. The first song I heard was "Eshgh-e sorat" which was apparently the most successful song of their second album. This album also had a song called "Amoo Asdollah", which made reference to the characters in the very famous book of "My uncle Napolean".  I soon got their debut album, and found my favorite song, "road to happiness" in it.

Kiosk released "Global zoo" in 2008 and "triple distilled" just recently.
Like always, Kiosk lyrics are mostly inspired by social realities and changes in Iran. Arash wittily makes allusions to proverbs; In the case of "Agha! Nigah dar", he refers to a hero of our childhood stories, and challenges the listeners by questioning the famous cliche of "Is wealth better or knowledge?"

Although the lyrics are Persian, the music speaks to a wide range of people from everywhere; there were quite a few non-Iranians at the concert as well. Just grasping the words "Tarzan" and "cheetah" in "ay ay" from "global zoo", is enough for them cuz the music itself tells the rest.

If I want to describe Kiosk music genre, I would say a mix of blues, jazz and gypsy. The gypsy tone is very much highlighted by Ardalan Payvar's accordion and Tara Kamangar's accompaniment by violin.
During some pieces, I was reminded of "Gogol Bordello", not that they are similar but because both have gypsy influence in their music.

One interesting part in the concert was during "Bitarbiat", when the audience filled the gaps of the censored words loudly!

I managed to take some photos from the band tonight and I'm gonna share them with you here. To see all the photos, click on my flickr page, click on the slide show, below the search field and watch them.

Here's Ardalan Payvar, on accordion.

 

He also played on keyboard

Arash Sobhani, the founder of the band, also surprised the audience of Montreal, by singing a song from Leonard Cohen, the Montrealer artist and one of my favorite singers of all time. It was a nice gesture. 

 Shahrouz Molaei, the enthusiastic drummer of Kiosk.

Tara Kamangar, is initially pianist but she plays violin with Kiosk. Her artistry play, gave the whole performance, a remarkable charm.

Ali Kamali, the basist

and again Arash, who was really into it!

If you're in one of the tour destinations, don't miss their concert. And last but not least, after each song, the audience was asking for "yarom bia". But did Kiosk play this folkloric song or was just firing the audience up till the end of the concert and not quenching their thirst? You'll see...