The Stoned Poet

Il est 20 h. Je me dirige vers le Petit Campus, une salle dont je n'ai pas vraiment de souvenir mémorable, avec comme seule arme à la main, une bière qui goûte le jus de pied me rappelant que le vice n'amène jamais rien de bon. Merde, espérons que la soirée soit meilleure.  Dans le cadre des funérailles de Nova pour le groupe Désaccords, Béatitude ouvre la soirée avec un mélange aussi singulier que ambitieux. Quelque part entre Robert Charlebois dans sa période psychédélique, Harmonium et Michel Fugain et le Big Bazar, le groupe propose un voyage musical qui semble tout droit sorti d’une époque où les musiciens n’avaient pas peur de perdre le contrôle. Les costumes rappellent d’ailleurs les premières années de Pink Floyd, alors que Syd Barrett était encore aux commandes. Avec Estuaire , première pièce progressive du set, Béatitude expose immédiatement ses influences. L’articulation rappelle Maneige, tandis que le breakdown plonge dans les eaux plus troubles de King Crimson et s...

 It was a rainy night, I arrived at the venue late, I missed Shields Up For Six , I got lost walking around to find my place. Upon arrival, I met Sietch , we hanged around, played minigolf with others and eventually came back inside.    To Be Continued hopped on stage, all the way from Toronto. They threw together a strange and energetic mix of nu-metal, hardcore, industrial, emo, thrash, and drum-and-bass influences. There’s a distinctly DJ-driven element to the sound, with samples and electronic textures coming from a Novation setup alongside a basic Yamaha keyboard. The guitars range from a Hello Kitty-shaped guitar to a Guild SG-style instrument, giving the stage itself a slightly absurd visual character. The songs moved between softer passages and explosive breakdowns, with melodic vocals cutting through the heavier sections. There were moments that recalled the aggression of Dillinger Escape Plan, the melodic heaviness of Slipknot, and the sudden, almost chaotic b...

  Il y a des shows où tout est calculé. Et il y a Choses Sauvages. Aux Francos, le groupe montréalais a transformé la scène en piste de danse sous tension, quelque part entre le funk détraqué, le rock nerveux et une transe presque club. Dès les premières secondes, le ton est clair : ici, on ne regarde pas un spectacle, on y embarque. Leur force, c’est le groove. Une basse omniprésente, des guitares qui découpent plus qu'elles enrobent, et une batterie qui refuse de rester tranquille. Tout est en mouvement, constamment. La musique avance, rebondit, s’étire, puis explose juste assez pour relancer la machine. Il y a quelque chose de presque obsessionnel dans leur façon de construire le rythme — comme si chaque pièce cherchait à te garder captif quelques minutes de plus. Sur scène, Félix Bélisle ne tient pas en place. Il ne “performe” pas au sens classique — il habite complètement l’espace. Entre le chant parlé, les cris contrôlés et une gestuelle imprévisible, il agit plus comme un ca...

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 ...

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...

 "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...

Sunday, Funday it was on November the 16th! I went down to l'Escogriffe to see Cordial a French multi genre band that have swept everybody's feet at every venue they played. Tonight, the opening band was Oddcharm , followed by Cordial and finally, Lezart played. I came, smoke, breezed and freezed my ass off. No intake of insane amounts of alcohol would be seen from my part tonight, but as the cold bit through my limbs, I was forced to admit I desperately wanted to warm my bones. So in we got, Fanny the picture taker was there, Cordial had arrived, Oddcharm were there patiently waiting and Lezart were roaming, unseen and seeking warmth, praying on us, waiting for the right time to strike. At the door, I greet the sax player of Lezart and we exchange a joke about having a line of coke in exchange of paying the ticket for the show, which I think is very inviting for the spectators yet I do reckon that now a days, everyone is broke and drugs aren't cool anymore. I go sit down...

   Friday the 7th October, I drove down the highway, tired and not down at all to go to a show. I was tired and to be fair enough the lineup was not promising, it remained estranged. I love punk, I love some hardcore band, but was lies in emo-mid-schoolfailing-somethingcore, just ain't my type. It ain't bad, but it doesn't get my balls tingling. I tend to scratch my head more in signs of incomprehension of what is going on. In simple terms, I was down to see Polyethelene and Snatchers, but the two other bands, I just didn't have the energy. But I went, and what I saw was, well, how to say, it was special, some good surprises, some less exciting surprises. Just like an LSD trip, you hope for the best, but at times, things get messy, you have to stir left and right, up and down, hoping to find balance and be centered again for the rest of the trip. Upon arrival at the Batiment 7, The Snatchers greet me, Fanny  ,who is seen taking pictures at shows, is there; but for the r...

"The place is full man sorry" - the man at the door "Oh nevermind that man, I'm here to write, and I haven't gotten high for a while so you better get me fucking in, I heard they were a hell of a trip!" Now that's not how I got in nor what I said word for word, do not worry. But I did have to sell my soul as a journalist to be allowed with my friend to come in, because unbeknowst to me, the place was sold out. Minutes before, I was watching by the window a homeless get in a rant about pastries in a garbage inside an Ultramar. What seemed like a goldmine to him, was property by the law to the clerk.  "Fuck it asti je veux mes pastiches tabarnak déjà que tu veux pas je rentre mon vélo, pi la tu veux pas me donner la bouffe dans poubelle, heille criss"  As he went out, he dropped one. Antoine came out shortly after with food and alcohol. I proceed to tell the homeless that he dropped one on the floor, he on the otherside tells me it's too dirt...