Live: Morcheeba OPERA HOUSE – MARCH 30 - by Melissa Bessey - Currently on tour to promote their sixth studio album, Dive Deep, Morcheeba played to a packed, enthusiastic and age-diverse crowd at the Opera House. The security was so tight, I was surprised at how quickly the venue smelled like pot once the headliners took the stage. For those of you who don’t know Morcheeba, they have been paving the way for trip-hop, downtempo and chill-out style lounge music since 1995, so it comes as no surprise that their audience likes to ‘get a little high,’ but it made me wonder exactly what security was searching for so carefully at the door? That aside, Morcheeba played an extended set of both old favourites like "Trigger Hippie" and "Parts of The Process" as well as brand-new goodies including "Enjoy the Ride," with equally passionate delivery by guest-songstress Manda. Lead guitarist and group co-founder Paul Godfrey toyed with the crowd to get more excitement out of them by suggesting that the Montreal audience from the night before was louder, reacted better and smoked more weed; but by the end of the show, he concurred that Toronto was in fact the champion crowd (yeah T-dot!). Morcheeba has always been a ‘band’ only in loose terms, with founding members Paul and Ross Godfrey as its staples and many guest singers and collaborators over the years. It’s for this reason that seeing them live is always intriguing, you never have the same experience twice. For this tour, their singer is Manda, a French vocalist with a strong, melodic voice and a definite passion to be part of the Morcheeba experience. She was one of several female vocal collaborators for the new album and performed a song she co-wrote with Paul as a semi-acoustic encore. Like the set, the encore was extended – and worth every minute.