The Stoned Poet

On the 30th April, a special gathering was happening at La Sottorenea . Bands who book shows on week days are always on a gamble. Who knows how many people will show up after work, knowing they have to come in to work on the next day. But as summer approaches, people tend to go out more and that means that every booked shows week or weekend can benefice a larger crowd. I was one of those people who was working on Friday but decided that the beautiful weather and sun was enough to get me out of my basement for the night. So I grabbed my suit, ran to my car and drove right up to La Sottorenea in a hurry. Serial Milk , a band who's gaining more attention following the release of their brilliant EP titled Animal Disguise, where celebrating their new music accompanied of In Headlights and Escape. I was quite curious to see Escape as I'd never heard of em', In Headlights I'd seen at B7 previously but was not quite familiar with their sound. Upon arrival, parking found, and ...

 On May 2, at La Toscadura, there happened to be a mass of children and adults who all came to worship music, good times and witness some of the wildest musical display's I'd personally seen in a while. I'm talking about like Iggy Pop's wild stunts or insane feats pulled off stage back when Heavy Montreal use to be a thing. Moments where band members are in such trance on stage that anything can happen in the name of entertainment. God knows, these are the best shows one shall ever see. SewerSpewer Guesting with Feartilizer  I arrived after the first band, Unsucked, had finished playing. I talked outside with showgoers, it was around 9:30 and the place already seemed to be going wild. I'd barely drank one sip, I saw a kid being transported outside the venue, barely conscious, seemed to have ingested some kind of powder or stimulant related drug or an insane amount of alcohol. Whatever it was, his body now demanded rest and water. To my left, another one was laying ...

  It's early. I wake up feeling strung up. On my floor lies a Bowie book, a Black Sabbath magazine on their elastic fazed out career, a Beatles vinyl and many more relics from the past. Lately, I know that I have to hang on to the present. No amount of old memories will help me seek my freedom of mind and body. The world runs on fuel and god knows fuel burns fast. To look upon the old days is futile. As I brush my teeth, I ask myself what has come out recently in terms of music, what can I listen to, to get a grip of the new age. As a critique or whatever it is I do, I've desperately need to let go of my Beatles Idolization, I can't constantly compare everything to the Beatles. Times have change, the only similarity is the imminent threat of war. War never changes, innit what the old folk say? As I prop my phone screen open, I open Spotify, and bang, a notification comes up, Serial Milk have released a brand new EP titled Animal Disguise . Is my phone listening to my though...

Seum , a stoner sludge doom metal band from Montreal have recently released a new album titled Parking Life . To celebrate the new release, the band decided to perform four shows in metro stations around Montreal just before their performance at La Sottorenea on May 2nd. It's a bold move, unique, unforseen, wild and most of all satisfying for us fans to have such crazy times in the metro. Their performances were wild, packed with action and nasty riffs, people even moshed at times. The question remains, was it a good idea? Was it worth the hustle? Will it happen again? First of all, two famous acts have done so in the past, Yo Yo Ma a world renowed cellist, and Stromae in 2013 which saw his performance start in the metro and gradually move to Place des Arts. Around the world, Jimmy Fallon helped U2, Miley Cirus, Ed Sheeran and more to perform undercover around New York's subways. What makes these performances so special is the element of surprise and the fact that usually so...

  C'est une soirée chaude, une humeur dans l'aire qui nous colle un sourire. J'arrive, après treize milles nids-de-poules, des travaux et des ponts par-ci par-là. N'oublions pas, j'arrive de la Rive-sud de Montréal, et ce soir, je suis à Sainte-Thérèse pour voir un groupe nommé Picbois , qui ouvre pour Cordial . La soirée prend son envol aux alentours de 8h30, tout le peuple ce présente. Ce peuple, c'est les amis des amis. Des jeunes étudiants du Cégep Lionel-Groulx qui est tout près de ou se tient le spectacle. C'est aussi les habitués du Saint-Graal qui viennent, curieux de savoir quel surprise les attends sur stage. Je parle des habitués parce que le Saint-Graal, c'est pas juste un pub, c'est un lieu de rassemblement au tour de la musique. Il y a les lundis jazz, il y a des spectacles, et une population d'étudiants qui ne cessent de vouloir jouer. Le Saint-Graal est un point central d'exposition pour les musiciens qui gravitent dans le coi...

 Word of introduction, this article took a long time to write, because of indecisions. Should I speak truth, spit out what I felt and saw or write what people want to hear?  The show with Dievanse, Prowrestling and Armoire back in  was a great show, but the timing was wrong, some bands exploded of energy, other agonized and somehow an opportunity to make a bang was missed. And like anything in a society, with no rules or boundaries comes chaos, boredom, lost of sense and no progress. We see signs such as, kids outside of the Batiment 7 drinking more alcohol than there'll ever be of decibels in the room. Sold out shows with half the crowd giggling and photoshooting outside the show. So are the kids simply bored out of their minds or are the bands blame and tame? I can't tell, dpeneds on the nights, depends on the setlists and more, but hey, I'm only here to tell stories, so here's goes another story, a story of cold, of high voltage, a story about bands who wrestled agai...

On the 24th of January, t'was a cold, minus thirty fucking degrees, outside weather. Luckily, no need for any speedball, downers or uppers or whatsoever creative cocktails or drugs to warm up. For the news came to my ears, Oddcharm were playing at Quai des Brumes alongside Rien D'alarmant . So I drove up to Quai des Brumes, arriving at 9h30 exactly, as the first band started. I bolt in, a guy in a Hawain dress welcomes me. I can't help but think, well he's unaware of the cold outside. Turns out, as I fix him a bit more, I realize it's Thomas the singer of Oddcharm. Having seen the band once, I now believe the dress is all about a stage play, something is brewing in the back of his mind. I get pass the stage, rumble is echoing on the scene but I dart towards the bar, I'm thirsty and I'm freezing, what better than a beer? Pause, is that what defines an alcoholic? To find every reason possible to have a beer? Maybe so, I don't know, I've been everythi...

 It was a cold Friday night. Only option was to get in the car with friends and drive to Montreal. There, lay all hopes of finding twindling and fiddling to do. There'd be no beauties nor druggies outside with the cold weather, only option was to find a venue to scuffle in and drink and fade in the crown. That meant money would be needed, and I had all but money honestly. But nonetheless we went, drove, stopped at Atomic Cafe, gave a guitar back to a friend, bought a Pink Floyd Echoes 1965-2025 Magazine reviewing the band's entire career. I couldn't help but start reading it and sure it inspired more psyched lsd induced ideas to my brain. Possibilities seemed infinite. Thus, an idea came, I could try and bargain a ticket for the gang to go to a show. The show in question I wanted to see was, Sunday Riot Club, Street Panther and The Space Wizards @ L'Escogriffe. My friends Antoine and Jordan seemed unbothered of the uncome, but I was determined to get in, whatever the co...

"Come to me now and rest your head for just five minutes, everything is good Such a cozy room, The windows are illuminated by the evening sunshine through them Fiery gems for you, only for you Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard Life used to be so hard Now everything is easy 'cause of you and our [house]" Those lyrics from the song Our House by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are the exact representation of what the project called Mai/Son was. A place where I could hang my problems, have a drink or two (as it was a Bring Your Own Beer, there was no pressure to drink at the bar) and simply enjoy the music whenever and whatever music it was. On many week-ends about to end up with no place to go, I would walk up Saint-Joseph Ouest and arrive at the mythic establishment. Compared to say Van Horne, Mai/Son was really a place to embrace, it was a venue we, the youth, had the possibilities of making ours and limitless were the possibilities towa...

 19th December, show at La Sottorenea with Violence City, Snatchers, Caniche 666 and No Waves. I arrived there around 19h45, I see julian at the entrace. He's there early, hopes to leave not too late, having more plans to come. We smoke, talk about Gun's N' Roses, local scene controversies and bands. Controversies are everywhere in this scene, everyone wants a name, no matter how dirty or how insane you have to act to have a tail waggin behind you. Rumors spread like wildfire, the music is the wind that keeps hailing the fire. Truly, I believe the scene is not at it's best, because politics, drugs and the social media have been injected in it. People demand from the artists certain standards, lyrics not too controversial, a certain dress code, a way to act and speak. The kids want to be represented, but I state that they don't even fucking know what they want or what they should resemble. Whatever. Cigarettes are done, inside we are, no one. Dead. Silence. Almost. I...

 "Lastly, as I believed the night couldn't get any better, Lezart came on stage to blow the place up with  Thomas Simard  on keys and voice/guitar at times,  Odilon  on drums,  Kéo  on sax and traversial flute,  Jean-Alexis Lessard  bending notes on guitar and finally  Nicolas Péladeau  on bass . With their soul clothed through jazz pop formula, Sade-like atmospheric music with close intimite reminders to Jeff Beck's first album Truth where guitar, sax, piano and sweet ear candies  come and warm our soul; their music really transcendented the imaginary. [...] Their songs were rich yet unknown, to me, having been on stage for now only a year max, but it surely made an impact, a big one, as big as those who saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan Show, as big as the first man landing on the moon, and many more. Every song was like a firework, Boom and then everybody cheered! By the end, Back To the Old House by the Smiths is played and th...

Et du coup, je me suis dis, on est loin de l'époque où le standard règne, ou si tu ne t'imprègnes pas des standards bebop, swing ou autre, tu te fais virer du stage! Photo par Léa Fourniol! Le Saint-Graal , lundi le 8 décembre, 21h. La soirée commence, moi je suis en route, la musique coule à flot, Miles Davis, Kind Of Blue, l'odeur de Ashish me monte au narine, mes nerfs se tendent, la trompette embarque, mes sens s'aiguisent, le rythme embarque, et puis la lumière tourne rouge. Je m'arrête, les notes défilent, ainsi que le temps file. On va souper avec le père de mon amie. Pâtes au fruit de mer gratiné. Quel régal, un avant goût d'une soirée qui sera la débandade total musicalement parlant. Le souper est fini, on part, Amélie ma bonne amie et moi vers le Saint-Graal. Arrivé là-bas, c'est une cohorte de jeune, assoiffé de vivre toute en ayant une touche de modernité alors on se réserve une politesse, un savoir vivre, et un beau sourire pour l...

     Carter Kane, aka MOC has done much in the local scene of Montreal. From writing bars at the age of 10, playing shows all year long to hosting a weekly radio show called Fluid Mosaic where he interviews local artists of all genres to help promote their music and push the boundaries of a community in the music industry, allowing people to share their ideas, their creative plots and hopefully help build connections between people who delve in muisc through their earphones or during shows. Summer 2025 he hosted  FM Fest  supported by  Les Insoumises  ,  Infamy   CJLO  and  Non-Binary Twins . Artist such as  Parallel ,  Ryan Brio ,  Dievanse ,  Resonance , and more have had the opportunity to perform and showcase their talents through three neighboring venues, Casa del Popolo, Sala Rossa and La Sotterenea. This fest was really great because all kind of artist from various genres were playing, allowing for audienc...