Tonight’s featured Twitch streamers are Raffy, a band from Montréal who’ve been playing dans l’garage (in the garage) since COVID put an end to public performances. They play a mix of covers and original tunes in both English and French and have the air of a band that’s been together for a long time, meaning they really know how to play their instruments and how to work together well.
A lot of bands that have moved to streaming to keep performing live have adapted in different ways. A few have changed their live shows into a mix of song performances and radio talk show, and Raffy are one of the best of that group. While all four members of the band are together in L’Garage à Musique, they each have their own solo camera and all contribute comments, humor, and vocals. The band’s namesake Raffy is an energetic host, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist (including keyboards, percussion, brass, and reeds) who keeps the whole show moving at a fast pace. Very entertaining! Makes me wonder what their normal live performances are like….
Here’s Raffy doing a vocal solo with ukulele accompaniment on “Lean On Me,” recorded in April shortly after Bill Withers’ death:
And here’s the whole band in a video for “Entrez dans la danse,” a song by Dominique Breault: