The sun was shining as I approached Jacques Cartier Pier at the Old Port of Montreal, with anticipation growing to see longtime favorites of mine - The Roots and Erykah Badu. It was around 6:40pm when I arrived at the pier along with a good friend of mine. We were now in line for the ticket counter when the first hick up of the concert’s organization occured, “If you’re paying cash please stand in this line” yelled an apparent concert worker while pointing at another lineup. Lucky for me I was using my credit card, however my friend had to leave the line and join the other scrambling concert goers as they switched lines. Ok ok it wasn’t that bad up until a loud cheer erupted from the audience as The Roots had just come onstage. It was now 7pm and myself along with everyone else in line were starting to become frustrated by the fact that there was only ONE ticket booth and only ONE guy processing credit card purchases and only ONE girl taking cash.

Fast forward twenty minutes and I had finally found my place in the crowd, 30 or so feet away from the stage and slightly to the right. Needless to say The Roots were awesome, playing an lengthly two hour set, demonstrating their near-perfect musicianship. Their performance however was compromised by the lack of respect from the audience. Making number three on MuchMusic’s list of the 10 worst ways to behave at a concert: Talking throughout the entire show. Come on people, a concert is not the place to have a conversation about….well - anything! Unless the set is over, the musicians have left the stage or you have a sudden pain in your chest you should not be carrying on any type of audible dialogue. Whatever, I dealt with that and filtered out the annoying dude talking about how good he is at Grand Theft Auto IV.

When The Roots finished their dynamic and entertaining set we were in for another surprise by the event promoter! No not Erykah Badu in a purple wig but rather a forty-five minute wait! Did I mention that it was approximately 6°C or colder with the wind factor. No hot chocolate, only the beer guy in sight. Nothing like a cold beer when your waiting in the freezing cold.

After the technicians finished the “what should have been done before the show” setup, Erykah’s band entered on stage to a cold yet applauding crowd. The DJ started spinning a track while trying to deal with an apparent sound problem. Ok so it happens, but thats when the Montreal audience demonstrated a very poor reaction in my opinion. As a long time concert goer I have only witnessed this happen very few times - the crowd began to boo. In that moment I can say I was embarrassed to be a Montrealer. I’ve attended many concerts that encountered sound or technical problems and for the most part the crowd was supportive, usually giving an encouraging cheer. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the wait or maybe it was cause Badu was late (does that rhyme?), in any case it was an unfortunate reaction by the audience and supposed fans.

Fans and the wait aside, Erykah gave her all and put on a performance as powerful as her voice. She apologized for the wait explaining that her bus driver was lost. With over 268,690 copies of her new album sold there’s no GPS for the bus driver - what gives?

For a $55 ticket event I would have expected it to run a little more smoother.

Details aside, I enjoyed both The Roots and Ms. Badu and I look forward to more Montreal outdoor concerts but not the inconsiderate fans.

Our friends at Midnight Poutine also have great review of the show.

All photos courtesy of EventPhotoImages.com