Giant Rooks in Montreal.
Shot and written by Sarah Evangelista
April 9, 2024
Montreal, QC @ Beanfield Theatre
Giant Rooks made their return to Montreal’s Beanfield Theatre on April 9th. The pop group's last time in the 514 was July of last year, and it is safe to say that their audience welcomed them back joyfully!
The German based rockers’ last time in the city was in 2023 - after their visit in 2022 at Bar Le Ritz PDB. Their last tour was supporting their debut project ROOKERY (some would say an ode to their name), but this time around celebrated the release of their sophomore child How Have You Been?
Their latest addition is a statement piece made by the group to express their thoughts and feelings on today's world. The project consists of fourteen pop rock tunes that dabble on topics such as love, mental health, and existential crisis.
Frederik Rabe held his front man position while band members Finn Schwieters (guitar and vocals), Finn Thomas (drums and vocals), Jonathan Wischniowski (keys), and Luca Göttner (bass and vocals) all played in tune. Of course this tour focused on their youngest child, but they still made sure to give some respect to their older songs like “Watershed” and “Wild Stare” from ROOKERY.
Montreal is almost famous for their cliché of having the best crowds for live music - this show proved the statement further. A few audience members spent a good amount of their time printing and handing out signs that state “we’ll be by your side” to compliment the lyric of ‘stay by my side’ during “Under Your Wings”.
Though that was not the only thing up their sleeves…
The front row also had fake sunflowers in hand to hand to Rabe during “Pink Skies” when the sentence “sunflowers make me think of you” was sung. A smile quickly rose on the vocalist’s face. Lastly, the show coincided with piano player Wischionowski’s birthday and fans made sure to give him their best wishes. Papers that read “happy birthday Johnny” were also passed around and held up high during the very first song. The band insisted on everyone singing the annual ageing song after seeing them.
The barricade was shaking as the audience danced with all their heart and soul to the beat, and it would not be a shock to say that screams could be heard from outside the venue. Throughout their sixteen song set, the quintet had nothing but smiles on their faces and danced along to every kick and snare, as did the crowd. They truly love performing and looking at their Spotify numbers in the eye while chanting their favourite line - their stage presence just proved that.
So, Giant Rooks… the Montreal crowd is happy and well.
