With summer drawing to a close, one festival remains a highlight of the season. For nearly two weeks in July, the streets of Montreal pulsed with the rhythms of distant homelands. From July 8 to 20, the city became the summer’s cultural epicenter, hosting the highly anticipated Festival International Nuits[Read More…]
Tag: concert review
Rainy OAP performance rinses away pretenses
Despite the cold open that Montreal student band The Longest Year was supposed to deliver as the first act of the day, the audience who crowded around the tented Open Air Pub (OAP) stage on Thursday afternoon had seemingly already warmed. Even more surprisingly, their wet hair was plastered to[Read More…]
Cianalas brings Celtic charm to Montreal
With St. Patrick’s Day behind us but spring ahead, the lilting Celtic tunes of Montreal-based band Cianalas make the perfect soundtrack for a city shaking off the last chills of winter. The band played their first headline show on March 19 at Quai des Brumes, a dimly lit bar on[Read More…]
MJ Lenderman ushers the spirit of Asheville into Montreal’s Théâtre Fairmount
Whirring guitars pierce through the night, sloshing through the cramped crowd of Théâtre Fairmount. The amps engulf the room in a communication of riffs, a call-and-response of rhythmic strums with the scalding guitar whistles and twang of the pedal steel. As the audience returns lyrical chants to the stage, shock[Read More…]
Tokyo Police Club says a final “au revoir” to Montreal
On Jan. 23, Canadian indie rock band Tokyo Police Club (TPC) announced their farewell tour, and on Oct. 12, they played for the last time in Montreal, a city with strong ties to their beginnings as a band. The news of their breakup was met with overwhelming support from fans.[Read More…]
‘BRAT’ and it’s the same but it’s in Montreal with Troye Sivan so it’s not
Even though I’ve finally had to accept that summer is over, getting to watch the Sweat tour with Charli XCX and Troye Sivan at Place Bell transported me back, one final time, to the joys of “BRAT summer.” Prior to the show’s commencement, I made sure to get my “SWEAT[Read More…]
Melodies of a lifetime with Claude Dubois
As I pulled into the parking lot of Théâtre Hector-Charland on March 29, eager to see a Québecois musical legend perform, I noticed a bus transporting residents from a nearby retirement home had beat us there. This moment hinted at the crowd that I would find sitting inside, waiting for[Read More…]
Concert films bridge the gap between music and cinema
As an aggressively straight drum line steadies watery synths, the members of Talking Heads cast dark silhouettes on a dimly lit red background. David Byrne’s robotic voice drones on as he comes into view, lying supine beside the drum kit. Cameras cut to a full view of the stage: Band[Read More…]
Electric, ethereal, and earnest: An evening at Tommy Lefroy’s ‘Le Trashfire’ tour
On Sept. 28, Tommy Lefroy fans at Montreal’s Le Ministère sent seismic sound waves across North America as the crowd chanted along to the duo’s ethereal and addictive harmonies. With Wynter Bethel and Tessa Mouzourakis—who record as Tommy Lefroy—on electric guitar, and Blake Evans on drums, the hour-long set incorporated[Read More…]
The intimacy of Black Country, New Road at Le National
On Saturday, Sept. 16, Black Country, New Road donned their denim shorts, jackets, and shirts, and played their first ever Montreal show in full Canadian tuxedo. This set of North American shows is the first following the release of their latest record, Live at Bush Hall, which features songs written[Read More…]
