Le Cabaret was an older, small theater near the Quebecois side of Montreal. Ordering tickets by phone was pretty funny. I wound up needing an interpreter to help. Relatively small venue, which was nice. This was the first time I can think of where I got to sit for any part of a Fruvous show. One thing which was clear-- there were a lot of people in the audience who knew this band far better than me.
What struck me was that this didn't seem to be the same band that I've seen on this side of the border. The rapport with the audience, the energy from the stage was entirely different from that which I've seen at even the best of the shows I've been to. Everyone looked like they were having fun. The set was long, filled with ad libs (including a couple in French) and the sound was incredible. (OK, I'll admit: some of the shows I've seen have been somewhat rough. This wasn't at all.) There were a number of other Fruheads around (sorry, I'm lousy at remembering names) but I don't recall running into any others from the U.S. I did meet a music student named Kevin who had heard of MF when he lived in British Columbia. This was his first and definitely not his last show. The set lasted more than two hours, I think, and I was still enjoying it when I reflected back on it the next day.
(Interestingly, Ottawa was yet another different show, which probably was
as much due to the fact the Ottawa show was in a more formal theater than
anything else. Both shows were excellent, but the Montreal show made the
trip highly worthwhile. Highlight for me in Ottawa was "I Love My Boss"
from the audience level.)
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
Back to the tour dates 1997 page