Considering that the most famous musician to ever come out of Quebec is Celine Dion, one might get the impression it is a region devoid of any artistic merit. However, these detractors were proven wrong Saturday night as La Botine Souriante (French for The Smiling Boot) played in Spaulding Auditorium. The group, which hails from Quebec, features nine male musicians and one female step dancer from Washington state.
The band has been making music for 26 years, recruiting new musicians as older musicians leave. None of the original band members remain: the last one took leave in the previous year. The youngest member of the band is only 23, younger than the band itself. The ensemble played for an audience consisting primarily of elderly professionals with a family or an occasional Dartmouth student.
The band opened with little fanfare or glamour. Four members of the 10 member band walked out, picked up their instruments and began to play an upbeat folk song. The fourth member, Sandy Silva, began a percussive dance, moving energetically across the stage with graceful abandon.
With the audience's eyes fixated on the dancer, who was dressed in punk rock style, the other members trickled in slowly from the sides, carefully picked up their instruments and began to play. The sound became richer with each new instrument as they merged together to form a coherent piece. The result was an instrumental piece that called to mind images of a fair and country line dancing.
Despite a strong start, the first half of the show was, in many ways, a disappointment. While it was clear the musicians are experts at their craft and quite talented, they provided little variation from the opening song. The second and third songs sounded much like the first save the addition of French lyrics. In a band known for its energy, the musicians moved little, and the celebrated dancer was only seen once every three or four songs.
The band did, however, feature two or three songs that were drastically different from the rest, even if they were similar to one another. In these, the lead singer, as if telling a story, would shout out a line a cappella; the moment he finished a medley of jazz would explode behind him, drowning out the words of the echoing background singers. These and other short lived tastes of variety left one wondering "Why not more?"
The second half was immeasurably better than the first. The jazz musicians had replaced the fiddler as the dominant sound in the music. The variety that had only been previewed in the first half was realized in the second. The opening song of the second set relied heavily on drums and had a Latin feel to it. Immediately following the song, five members of the group went straight into a cappella vocals to begin the next. In dramatic style, each one stood on the dimly lit stage with a single spotlight focused on them as they sang slowly and soulfully.
This was followed by a soft, soothing instrumental that opened with a fiddle and added musicians slowly much like the opening act. This was the musical change of pace that was lacking prior to intermission.
The second half also featured a great deal more audience participation. In comic style, the lead singer demonstrated the chicken dance and prompted the audience to follow his lead. While in the first half the audience stood and clapped passively, in the second half they danced the newly-learned chicken dance to the group's energetic tune. The auditorium was filled with people of all ages with their hands on their waists clucking like chickens to the upbeat festive music.
The movement that was absent from the stage in the first half suddenly appeared. The horn musicians walked up and down the stage in unison, the dancer exhibited her spirited dance more frequently, and the lead singer continuously bobbed across the stage.
The highlight of the evening came in the form of a step dance performed by four of the members. It began with the dancers sitting on stools and tapping their feet faster and faster until the room echoed with the sound of stomping feet. Two of the artists proceeded to do a solo tap to the delight of the now energized audience.
At this point, the band trickled back in, in their usual fashion to play their last song and take a bow before the audience. The audience's clapping and dancing paid lively tribute to the 10 member band. With smiling faces the band exited slowly and gracefully.
