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Tinashe’s Match My Freak World Tour Did Not Match My Freak
Tinashe’s world tour show at MTELUS did not live up to the level of freak I expected. The R&B legend, who’s been in the game for over a decade, gained more popularity with her album Quantum Baby riding the wave of Brat Summer. The show was well done and long, the dancers and Tinashe were very talented, but there was a lack of aesthetic continuance. Song transitions felt disjointed, as if there was a slew of creative directors who didn’t talk to each other. I was expecting a Sweat Tour type of experience, with Tinashe’s music gaining strong popularity in the Charli XCX Brat club crowd with her leading single “Nasty” a testament to needing a freaky hottie who can keep up, yet this did not carry through to her show.
The opener was ethereal American singer-songwriter Raveena. She was sweet and heartwarming and had fans in the audience, but I found she was not a good opener for Tinashe. Openers are meant to raise the audience's energy levels, to prepare them for the headliner, and their music should be compatible. Raveena’s soft jazz-influenced R&B did not do this. Her music feels very ‘floaty’, like you’re relaxing in a bed of the fluffiest pillows under the giant tree of ribbons and pearls she had on stage. When Tinashe eventually came on stage the change from cuddly cuteness to sexy and sweaty was drastic. Raveena would have done better at a smaller, more intimate venue where her fans are eager to drain their phone batteries using their flashlights during her multiple ballads.
As the crew was rolling out and screwing in the set ahead of Tinashe, a girl next to me said to her friend: ‘ok budget’. That sums it up pretty well. There were multiple giant screens at the back of the stage that showed ads for some perfume company partnered with Tinashe, and played videos throughout her set. The videos were cool, sometimes playing snippets from her music videos, sometimes acting like a backdrop, but I found them to be quite distracting, especially when the video was Tinashe covered in slime. Tinashe’s four dancers were impressive and hot, it was cool to see them just hanging out and goofing around on stage one minute, then perfectly falling into the choreography the next. My favorite part of the show was when the camera operator right at the barricade in front of the stage would video Tinashe and project it onto the screens, creating a giant Tinashe standing behind her.
The level of interaction between Tinashe and the audience was interesting. She didn’t talk much between the songs, and there was no encore, but during the last two songs, ‘Broke Boys’ and ‘Nasty’, the cameras would turn towards the audience, projecting us onto the stage screens. After the applause died down Tinashe signed autographs for fans in the front row, which I wasn’t expecting to see after she barely greeted us during the show. I feel like when artists get big they detach themselves from their fans, for good reason, so it was nice to see that Tinashe didn’t seem to need to do that.
Earlier that evening I saw a headline about the show that Tinashe gets hot and intimate with one of her dancers, I was expecting, again, a Sweat Tour moment of Troye Sivan serenading and grinding on a dancer. The sexy moments between Tinashe and the dancer were hot but short, feeling more like a piece of choreography rather than part of the performance itself. Where is the freak we’re supposed to be matching?
My problem with this concert is it felt like they were trying to do too many different things. Just before Tinashe came on stage there was an opening video, made just like the ‘Nasty’ music video of a post-apoctalypitc-desert-escape-superhuman-convict vibe, creating anticipation for a concept that would carry us through the show. That did not happen. The projected videos would change drastically between songs, and often didn’t make any sense, like, why was she covered in slime for two whole minutes? I wish there were more of a continued aesthetic throughout the show, it felt disjointed and almost awkward, the creative directors could’ve built a sexy superhero-type narrative, employing the multiple prop structures of security cameras to create an ‘evading the police plus I’m sexy and covered in dirt’ moment that reflected the vibe of the album and single covers.
Tinashe is a really talented artist and singer, and she demonstrated that well, but I was missing the freak she touts in ‘Nasty’ like she wasn’t even matching her own freak. The dancing, the outfits, the makeup, all of this could’ve been freakier, but it felt like she was trying to cater to a more ‘basic’ crowd rather than the freaks. The audience was really diverse, Tinashe’s been making popular music for 10 years now, yet I wish I saw more alternative representation. In her discography you can hear her movement away from mainstream straight club hits to something more alternative and interesting, but it seems that hasn’t permeated through her fan base yet. There were a lot of normies, and the type of girl squads that force their way through a crowd when there is clearly no space for them. I wonder if Tinashe held some of her freak back because of these demographics. Someone did bring a small child who sat on their parent's shoulders and danced, sending hand hearts to Tinashe who would respond with smiles. It was really adorable, so it's understandable that Tinashe’s creative team didn’t want her leaning into the hedonistic sluttiness that exudes from her recent albums. But still, I’m left wondering where that freak that I’m supposed to be matching is.
Jasper Cobb is the host of The Castle, on air every Friday at 1 PM
Sweaty Flailing and Movie Recs from Chat Pile at Club Soda
Chat Pile is a band I have wanted to see for years. I have been following them since their second EP Remove Your Skin, Please blew up in the world of heavy music just in time for 17-year-old me to stumble upon it. When they played at Le Ritz last year, the date snuck up on me and I forgot to grab a ticket in time. When I saw that they were returning so soon, with a new album under their belts, I wouldn’t make the same mistake.
Chat Pile’s music is self-described as noise-rock but commonly lumped in with the term sludge-metal by those who care to know what that means. To me, it’s always sounded like a fine blend of the anxious, toneless riffing of no-wave era Sonic Youth, the frantic paranoid shouting of The Jesus Lizard, and a begrudging influence from early nu-metal, Korn style. While crushing, their music depends on an emotional core within. A profound dissatisfaction with the way things are, and the many ways we are conditioned to ignore this feeling, are never shied away from in their songs. The band’s name itself is in reference to the ghost towns made of old mining cities in Oklahoma, turned toxic by large piles of carcinogenic mining waste known as chat. Their music aims to break through a layer of jaded distancing and show up close the amount of unnecessary suffering this world has created.
The show had two openers. The first of which was a fellow Oklahoma City band by the name of Traindodge. They were significantly older than the Chat Pile crew but impressed in every way with their ferocity. Traindodge sounds a lot like those 90s Steve Albini noise bands that Chat Pile themselves are no doubt influenced by. They have a small, loving cult following of Midwestern fans but have never really made it outside of their local scene. They did a great job of kicking the night off and left me wanting to check out more of their music in my own time, the sign of a great opener.
After a short break outside, the second opener stepped onstage. A Los Angeles black metal band called Agriculture. I had never been to a black metal show before and didn’t necessarily plan on it either. It’s always been one of those genres that I don’t really get. For better or for worse, that may have changed upon seeing Agriculture. I can confidently say that they were one of the best openers I have ever seen, and certainly the loudest show of my life. Louder than Lightning Bolt, louder than Dinosaur Jr.’s wall of amps in a tiny room. I could feel damage being done to my inner ear before the drums even started. They started their set with a very long, tremolo-picked guitar drone that shrieked piercing vibrations through the room. I immediately put earplugs in for fear that I don’t have many more of these left in me. This was a good call, because as soon as the whole band started playing, the floor was shaking from the noise. I thought my skull might shatter.
Their music always sounds like an intro or an outro. There was no room for dull moments. The guitarist was constantly doing that million-a-second tremolo shred, the drummer was always punching down on the kick drum at breakneck pace, and everything sounded like a constant, debilitating swell that never seemed to fall back to earth. The impossibly screamed vocals cut through the walls of distortion and tied everything together. The music was not a well of darkness, it had this soaring, Celtic influence that turned the powerful blasts into a journey to high places. The band really showed themselves to be something special during the few quieter moments as well. When the second guitarist began singing softly, and sentimentally, you could tell that this musical project meant the world to them, and that they take what they’re doing very seriously. This attitude stood in stark contrast to Chat Pile’s fed-up ramblings, which diversified the moods of the evening. There was much more to their show than noise and abrasive flailing, and I was even able to appreciate the more traditional shredding done by the lead guitarist, something that is usually the worst part of heavy music.
Finally, Chat Pile appeared and began with Cool World’s opening track, “I Am Dog Now.” Between songs, the singer, who goes by the pseudonym Raygun Busch, listed things he knows about Montreal. He did this during every single pause, which eventually made me believe that he had some real love for the city and wasn’t just reciting some list he pulled up before the show. Most of his quips revolved around movies that were filmed here. He’d say, “Have you guys heard of this one?” and when nobody would reply he’d say in the exact same dejected tone as everything else “Hey man it’s your culture, not mine.” After lamenting on the loss of the Expos and complementing the films of “Denis Vil-Knee-Oove,” he dropped the world’s most casual “free Palestine, by the way” once again in that same tone, like it should be obvious to us.
A lot of that obviousness comes through in their music. Raygun’s attitude is core to the band’s ethos. By the third track, “Masc”, the man was barefoot and shirtless in little gym shorts, squealing and dancing around the stage. His shouts were so guttural they were almost burps. His moves were slimy. He flailed about, crouched down and swung his arms in a little crawl, jumped and threw his bare feet in front of him and fell backwards on the floor leaving his gut wobbling through the sheer force of the music.
When they played the track “Why”, he looked people dead in the eyes while screaming the song’s repeated moral question; why do people have to live outside? When the crowd shouted back with the lyrics ‘We have the resources, we have the means,’ I understood the power of a track like this.
At one point, Raygun said the word Toronto under his breath during a rant I didn’t quite catch. A few audience members swiftly yelled “fuck Toronto,” which he eventually reciprocated with a reluctant but affirming “Uh sure fuck it yeah, fuck Toronto.”
In the room’s center was a strange mosh. It had incredible breathing room and was taking up the amount of space that a mosh for a concert of this size should, but less than fifteen people were participating. All the thrashing about that usually comes naturally in a mosh pit had to be done manually, and after running in circles without any contact a few times, I realized that their music is a little too downtempo for this kind of thing anyway. The circle itself stayed around for the whole show, through the efforts of people much more dedicated than I.
Before the encore, he made sure to mention the Canadian film Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveler, something he’d been bringing up a lot between songs and something the audience did not seem to understand whatsoever. This angry, half-naked man was consistently shocked at our inability to recognize what he was talking about. Our culture, not his. They ended the set with the track “New World”, a favorite off the new album, followed by “Rainbow Meat”, from their very first EP. I went home amazed by how such a great performance I’ve been waiting years to see could still be outshined by an incredible opener I’d never heard of. All 3 bands killed it at Club Soda.
Odie Leigh gets real at Bar Le Ritz PDB
This last Wednesday, November 6th, at the cozy Bar le Ritz, I had the opportunity to see the indie singer-songwriter, Odie Leigh. The folk singer was here to tour her new album Carrier Pigeon, though you may know her through Tiktok for her song “Crop Circles”. I was introduced to Odie Leigh during a time in my life where I was doing some serious soul-searching. I feel this encapsulates how her songwriting impacts her listeners. Her song “As Sure As I’m Speaking Now” particularly resonates with me.
Bar Le Ritz PDB was the perfect venue for a show like this. The cozy wooden bar made it an intimate space for us all to focus on the music. Odie Leigh introduced this engaging performance by asking the audience to scream out their names, the back was quieter, so she asked again & we all passionately screamed our names again. This separated her from other folk singers I’ve seen live as she treats the audience like people, not just fans or numbers at a show. The passion in Odie Leigh’s voice when she was singing “Either/Way” was cathartic. She then made us sing for her the last chorus while she and her bassist vehemently played their instruments.
Odie Leigh has a way with words that is refreshing for this new revival of folk music in the mainstream. Her vulnerability in her lyrics engages her fans & creates a close bond between those who listen to her music. She has the same effect live. As we know, Donald Trump was declared the new president-elect on November 6th. Odie Leigh shared with us how much she loves Canada and how weird it is to be away from the US in a time like this. The audience went quiet out of respect for her and her bandmates who were discussing their mixed feelings about performing on that day. I felt this was a beautiful moment that made me feel connected to her music even more.
She continued on by playing her song “A month or two” sharing anecdotes about the man she wrote this song about. She was making many jokes throughout the set that pleased the audience & me. Specifically, when her guitar amp was turned off and her bassist stepped in to help, she laughed and made us give her a round of applause. She finished off her set with her song “Take Back”, withstanding the same timbre and fierceness that she begins with. As I looked around, I saw members of the crowd with tears of joy, some of awe & some I saw crying as certain lyrics hit them. I believe this captures the wide variety of feelings an Odie Leigh show evokes in her audience.
Taina is the co-host of Whatever She Wants, on air Wednesdays 12pm - 1pm
Tiny Fest 2024 - A Review
It’s important for me to preface this article by saying that I am not a local. Hailing from a small town, I grew up with a remarkable lack of live music experiences. This is not due to a lacking of musical talent, or creative, driven people, but rather to a sad number of venues; if you didn’t want to go to the (vaguely shit) local pub, there really wasn’t much hope for live music at all. This is one thing that has charmed me about Montreal so much, and has helped develop my passion for local music into a semi-career - there is a venue, good or not, on what feels like every street corner. No matter where you turn, you can find enough of a stage to get at least one hopeful soul with a guitar in front of a crowd. Now, if only there was some sort of 2-day long event highlighting the best of these small venues, with kickass local music to match…
TINYFEST: THURSDAY
Sadly, due to circumstances out of my control, my first experience with TinyFest was cut a little short - I was only able to catch the first of 4 sets that were booked for La Sotterenea that night. Thankfully, the one act I was able to catch absolutely rocked. Brother, a band of 4 hailing from Toronto, seem to me to represent a musical shift/conspiracy theory seen almost everywhere in the industry: the indie-to-emo pipeline. In a phenomenon that I think can be attributed to the ever-present trend cycle, 90s grunge and emo music are making a prominent comeback, and I’m quite excited about it. Brothers' music screams with nostalgic hopelessness and an all-mighty acceptance of life's inherent loneliness. The vocals, a distant drone behind crashing drums and distorted guitar, are playfully bleak - think of any modern, tongue-in-cheek emo and you’ll see what I mean. And while I wouldn’t label Brothers music groundbreaking, or unique past their consistent references to Mississauga, ON, it does serve as a solid display of what the genre has to offer.
TINYFEST: FRIDAY
After a cut-short Thursday, I was looking forward even more to what Friday was set to offer; specifically, the closing Birds of Prrrey set at La Salla Rosa. While I planned on jumping from venue to venue, I found myself glued to La Salla Rosa all night; and I don't regret it! The night started off with a performance from the grungy, slow-rolling duo Clothilde, with the kind of music that's perfect to slowly nod along and hold a beer to (my signature move). The music Clothilde puts out into the world is as punky as it is fun. This paired beautifully with the next act, Toronto’s Kingdom of Birds, whose trashy, in-your-face post-punk jams finally got a bit of a mosh going. The trio pumped out hit after hit of jolt-to-your-system kind of jams, unifying the audience with raw, kick-ass energy. After letting the distortion ride throughout the entire set, there is no reason to doubt Kingdom of Birds’ claims to be Toronto’s best boy band. Circling away from our Anglo neighbours to the south, we were returned to Montreal by the dazzling 4-piece outfit known as Shunk. Shunk’s music makes me want to drive very fast in a tiny, flashy car, effortlessly swerving around any obstacle in my path. It’s unbridled and intense, while still maintaining that local band charm. Shunk’s art rides a beautifully fine line of being campy, without the twinge of in-your-face performatism that plagues a lot of new-age rock. After a night filled to the brim with weird, punky jams, the entirety of La Salla Rosa was primed and ready for Birds of Prrrey. There isn’t much to be said about Montreal’s premiere grunge trio that hasn’t already been stated a million times over. To quote Music Breather, one of my personal favourite Montreal music blogs, “What are the chances that you discover a band before they take over the whole fucking world?” Even before a single note was played, the energy in the room was palpable; the smell of sweat-soaked leather and 30-minute-old cigarette ash worked only to elevate this. I’m not quite sure how to put into words how refreshing Birds of Prrrey’s sound is, and I think that's a wonderful thing. There’s a familiar ease to the Birds' performances like they’re playing in front of a crowd of longtime friends; never taking themselves too seriously, and still playing their hearts out. Sandwiched between every track was a handful of anecdotes, family shoutouts, inside jokes and jabs, bringing me back to days of hometown garage band jams. I wish I could bring to mind a memorable moment from the show, but any idea my brain once held of the performance has been reduced to a blur of killer drum lines and screamed-out choruses. If you have a chance to lose your mind in a Birds Of Prrrey moshpit, I urge you to indulge (This Saturday at URSA!)
Without any surprise, TinyFest rocked. Not only is it a bountiful showcase of the unimaginably cool local scene, it's a reminder of what makes Montreal the coolest city out there: Good friends, loud music, and all-around kick-assery… all within 5 minutes of each other.
Sam Kitch is the magazine editor at CJLO 1690AM. He is also the host of I Think You Might Like This, a hip-hop show airing Tuesdays at 2:00 PM.
Discordia 01: The Sir George Williams Affair
In May 1968, six West Indian students at Sir George Williams University accused their biology professor Perry Anderson of discrimination. Inaction on the part of the university leads to the largest student occupation in Canadian history. The events culminate in January 1969 with the police beating a student to death, the arrest of 97 other students, a fire in the campus's computer lab, and $2 million of property damage.
How did this happen? Tune in to find out.
Discordia is presented by CJLO 1690AM, made with the help of volunteers at the station, and funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada. New episodes air Mondays at 6pm on CJLO.
By Sydney Sheedy and Piper Curtis
Art by James Fay
Additional notes:
The Black Georgian Newspaper - Published Jan 28, 1969
An Interview With Field Guide
CJLO DJ and music director Aviva sat down with Dylan Macdonald of Winnipeg-based folk rock project Field Guide to chat about touring, Prarie influences, and more, ahead of his Montreal show.
Tune in to The Alley Fridays at 11am, only on CJLO and catch Field Guide at Casa del Popolo November 8th, 2024.
Collective Effervescence with Eliza McLamb at Bar Le Ritz
Years ago in American high school, there was a pretty girl in my year whose friends were friends with my friends; she played guitar and worked at the perfume store next to the kratom cafe I frequented. Fast forward seven years and that girl is a touring musician selling out venues to screaming fans and I’m getting guest-listed for her show. Eliza McLamb’s debut album Going Through It, released on her birthday at the beginning of this year, is emotionally raw and wrecked. This album is ripe with dialectical emotions, straddling the pain of being alone to tumultuous relationships, big city living and finding commercial success with the conflictual need for backroads and deep woods, and loving so hard and hurting so much. Her band reflects this, with silences holding the audience’s breath to walls of sound with distortion pedals and screaming lyrics. With the clear acoustic guitars overlaid on fuzzed-out solos and hard-hitting drums McLamb’s music sounds like an indie gothic with an urgency to be known while remaining sexily mysterious.
Eliza’s vocals fully convey the depths of feeling put into her songs, both lyrically and sonically. When she sings you feel it all go deep inside of you, pulling out feelings you didn’t even know you had. When the music surrounds you it's as if you are standing there, as her, growing older in front of the frozen creek, or forcing your Corolla down backroads and over potholes. It feels strange to me, like I have a special connection to her music, though I’m sure all the young girls in the audience feel the same, but I am intimately aware of the landscape we came from. Eliza Mclamb’s and my hometown is a Southern liberal enclave, with woods surrounding every neighborhood and school, and creeks that meander through and into the open escape of rolling pasture fields. I hear a significant appreciation for the beauty of the natural world that encompasses us in Eliza’s lyrics, especially in her new single ‘God Take Me Out of LA’. The opening lines lament the lack of nature and weather in LA, her deep desire to get out of the fast-paced concrete jungles she worked so hard to get into, and the pain of visiting home and seeing what you’ve missed: the overflowing creeks, the fallen trees, your family and the scattering of friends who stayed. I feel I understand what she means, running off to a big city that feels like it hates you, feeling stuck, undecided, and that nagging and disappointing urge to move back home, to our creeks and our woods.
Eliza’s concert was really sweet, she was quiet when she spoke but it felt meaningful when she did. She interacted with the audience as if we were friends, asking for our honest reaction to her new, unreleased songs, encouraging us to sing along, and sharing her feelings about her tour coming to a close. Halfway through the show, she told us she felt annoyed that the venue smelled like chocolate cake as if someone was pranking her with delicious treats until she realized it was her chocolate cake-scented makeup getting sweated off in the hot red stage lights. The band was very tight, they all played their instruments extremely well, even the horrifically cracked cymbal, and expertly navigated each of their pedalboards. They adapted to awkward moments of tangled cables and guitar straps disconnecting with friendly giggles while continuing to play. During her second to last song, ‘Lena Grove’, Eliza introduced it as her own version of an encore, so we know that when she leaves the stage it's really over and she's not coming back. She donned her acoustic guitar as her band left the stage, swooned out the heart-wrenching lyrics, and slowly her bandmates came back on stage and picked up the quieter song into a roaring wave. They played one more song and left the stage for good. That is a fantastic way to do an encore.
It was really cool and inspiring to see someone from high school become a successful touring musician, especially someone who still follows my defunct private Instagram account I used to overshare my teenage antics. It feels almost invasive to listen to her music, like I have some level of intimate knowledge about what she's singing about, despite us never being close. Oh, the things teenagers will post on social media.
Jasper Cobb is the host of The Castle, on air every Friday at 1 PM
POP Montreal: Saturday
POP Montreal returned for its annual weekend of concert after concert spread over 5 days, with over 400 artists and bands playing at over 50 venues across the city. On Thursday, CJLO staff attended a few of the shows POP had to offer
Lisa Rupnik
After attending POP for a few days in a row, by Saturday I was running out of steam. Yet, with the festival’s amazing lineup, my mind somehow convinced my body to get up and give it one last shot. With a cute outfit, complete with tote bag and badge I was ready to hit up the heart of Mile End for night 3
It was by lucky coincidence that the artists I wanted to see happened to be playing on different floors of the Rialto on the same night. Not so lucky were the overlapping set times, as is the ongoing struggle with Pop. This time my festival plan felt more like a football coach revving up his team, dividing up time and assets to have the best experience possible.
The first artist I knew I wanted to see was Nabihah Iqbal. I was lucky enough to see her perform in Austin, Texas this past March as part of an unofficial SXSW showcase put on by Creem Magazine. If you would like to know more about that, please refer to my article on the festival that I wrote this past spring. But before Nabihah Iqbal took the stage local indie rockers Dresser performed to a very receptive crowd. The band was tight, and it was a pleasure to watch them effortlessly play music together. The combination of guitar riffs, bass lines and drums felt easy and simple as if they were passing a ball back and forth. The audience swayed in slow motion and it would come to no surprise if Dresser left with a few new fans after their performance.
Once Nabihah Iqbal took the stage, I was suddenly reminded of her unmistakable presence. Both in her music and personal fashion, she really has her own style devoid of any trends or influence from others. Hair tucked in her leather cap, with a frilled jacket and polka dot guitar, Nabihah Iqbal feels like your cool friend who should be the center of attention but instead is modest and down to earth. Her set was very similar to Austin's in the sense that she played with just her guitar and a multi-instrumentalist on sax. When she played her most popular songs like “This World Couldn’t Keep Us” and “Sunflower”, the timid Mile End crowd turned momentarily into a mini club.
Once she had performed the songs I knew I needed to hear, I slowly tiptoed my way out of the venue to catch the last bit of Astrid Sonne. After FOMO from missing ML Buch this past June, I knew I couldn’t risk missing such a great experimental artist again. So I secretly snuck my way into the Rialto basement trying not to disturb the show going on down there. Astrid Sonne was accompanied by another multi-instrumentalist and the two of them on stage created intricate, rich and personal music. For a very low-key and quiet performance, the crowd was very respectful and seemed genuinely connected to the music. Her performance felt too short, and when she stood up for a bow you could feel her genuine warmth radiating from her smile. She seemed grateful to be there and the crowd was more than generous with applause.
The last artist of the night was Ouri who, by the way, is one of my all-time favourite local Montreal artists, who surprisingly I have actually never seen before. Multitalented, she sang, and played harp, cello, and keyboard during her performance and was accompanied by a guitar, bass and drum player with a surprise guest: a wispy-haired woman who was none other than Helena Deland. Ouri’s performance was such a demonstration of her unique voice as a songwriter but also as a sonic world builder. When I listen to her music, I love to disconnect from myself and follow her melodies and see where they will take me. Her songs blend so many different genres, and styles, and present complex feelings and ideas. The only thing tying it all back together is her beautiful soul at the root. And with Helena Deland on stage, the crowd was treated to a couple of sneak previews of some Hildegard songs from their new album Jour 1596. You simply could not get any better than this.
Lisa Rupnik is the station manager at CJLO and co-host of The Last Stop. She is also an avid record collector, a “no nonsense” film lover and feels that her personality can be best defined by her two favourite bands: YMO and Sparks
Robert Portnoff
Saturday night saw a triple bill at La Sala Rossa starting with Montreal’s synth-punk heroine, Laura Krieg. Alone on stage, but for a synthesizer, she commanded the attention of the audience with a steely glare and an allure reminiscent of a black widow spider about to devour its prey. Playing through songs from her 2018 album Recherche Spatiale and her 2021 EP Vie Magique.
Next was another Montreal artist Alix Fernz, who was formerly in the band Blood Skin Atopic and also worked with Montreal bands La Sécurité and Hippie Hourrah. Now out on his own he recently released his first album, Bizou.
For the concert at La Sala Rosa, he was joined on stage with the usual cohorts: bass, drums and guitar plus the man himself, Alix Fernz on synthesizer and vocals. For this night the band provided a more rock, post-punk vibe to the show as opposed to the electronic sound of the studio album.
Closing out the evening at La Sala Rossa was punk/new wave icon Edith Nylon. Originating in Paris during the summer of 1977, and opening for acts like the Police and then The Kinks in November of 1979. Unfortunately, the band decided to call it a career in December of 1983. Recently though, after a forty-year hiatus in the rock and roll desert, Edith Nylon has found a resurgence with a new generation of fans. As such, the renewed interest resulted in a 2021 album, La Fin de la Vie Sauvage
Led by the vocals of Mylène Khaski and the guitar of Christophe Boutin and Karl Mormet. The wealth of experience was clearly on display at La Sala Rossa with the band being quite relaxed and often could be seen with a smile on their face or laughing as they interacted with the audience. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and one could clearly see the band was appreciative of their renewed rock star status. Those in attendance were also quite appreciative when calling out for a second encore.
Sunday night, the end of the road for Pop Montreal 2024 and the Rialto was hosting, La Route Chante: Hommage à Lhasa. Lhasa de Sela was a Mexican-American musician who after a short visit in 1991 fell for the charms of Montreal and decided to call the city her home. Almost 15 years after her death from cancer in 2010, POP put together a wonderful tribute night dedicated to her art and music, all under the direction of Joe Grass and a who’s who of artists that included the likes of The Barr Brothers, Feist, Calexico, Juana Molina, Silvana Estrada, Klô Pelgag, Myriam Gendron, Bibi Club, Helena Deland, La Force, Laurence Anne, Yves Desrosiers, Samantha de la Vega and The Stone Bonnet Choir.
The highlight of the evening was the singing of twenty-seven-year-old Mexican musician and songwriter Silvana Estrada. First appearing solo, she dismayed the packed house by displaying a vocal range that could befit any top opera in the world. Then joined by members of the Tucson, Arizona band Calexico the Mexican side of Lhasa’s heritage emerged, and the Rialto was full of people dancing in the aisles.
Sam Kitch
Having missed POP Friday due to circumstances wildly out of my control (fell asleep on the couch at 7:30), I was duly excited for Saturday night. I decided to start the night off burrowed deep in the Little Italy, at Bar L’Hemisphere Gauche, and after warming up with a truly stunning round of pinball, I was ready to take in some kick-ass independent music. Starting off the night was a beautiful, full-circle solo performance from local musician Pompey (read about my previous POP experience with Pompey here.) While Pompey’s music comes from a place of hurt, and has developed through years of trauma, there is a warm familiarity to it. In between bouts of distorted, aching vocals and crashing guitars are hidden moments of peaceful serenity, vanishing just as quickly as they came in another heart-wrenching wave of sound. If you haven’t yet heard Pompey’s “snug tug”, I urge you to indulge; just make sure you’re in a good headspace before, or it might just break you.
Following up Pompey was Montreal’s premiere post-grunge outfit, Sunforger, with a soul-shaking set filled to the brim with harsh, grating riffs and razor-sharp songwriting. Jumping time signatures what felt like every other track, I have never been so on my toes throughout a set; completely unaware of what was next to come, and yet totally and wholly absorbed by the music. Sunforger is one of those “close your eyes and listen” bands, transporting you to other planets through their weird, distorted sonic medium.
Next up was Gawbé, a Quebec City beacon for all things alternative rock. While my French is not good enough to translate songs on the fly, I don’t think something as simple as a language barrier can stand in the way of understanding Gawbé. Her lively, down-to-earth attitude seems to convey all you need to know, guiding you along with a helpful hand and a wonderful, rolling drum line.
The final act of the night, and the one that drew me to L’Hemisphere in the first place, was Montreal indie darlings knitting. Fresh off the release of their newest project, Some Kind Of Heaven, catching knitting live right now feels like something you’ll tell your kids about in 20 years. Bringing to mind ideas of The Pixies and Pavement, knitting’s sound walks the line of grunge influence perfectly, maintaining a beautiful level of grit without sounding messy and distorted. It’s music to walk through a busy street to, bobbing and weaving between crowds, all the while emersed in your own sonic world. A highlight of the set came with their performance of “Heaven”, a track with a chorus so catchy you'll wake up singing it (I’m dead serious, it happened to me.)
Though I had to call it there, I thoroughly enjoyed POP this year. Bringing even more life to Mile-End is always something I’ll endorse, especially when it's backed by some of the coolest local music one can find.
Sam Kitch is the magazine editor at CJLO 1690AM. He is also the host of I Think You Might Like This, a hip-hop show airing Tuesdays at 2:00 PM.
Aviva Majerczyk
On the final full day of Music programming at Pop Montreal, my energy was not at its highest. Saturday was one of those days when I really, really did not want to leave my house. Blessed with the ability to walk to any Pop venue from my apartment fairly quickly, as the evening went on, I found myself duelling the “okay time to get up off the couch” impulse. But, eventually, with one opener left, I made my way down to Bar L’Escogriffe for Jane Penny’s headlining show. And I couldn’t be more glad I did.
As I got to the venue, and saw a few friends and CJLO DJs mingling outside, I knew this show was going to have a great crowd energy. I was finally pulled into L’Esco when it was time for friends of the station Fireball Kid + Ura Star to go on. Fireball Kid and Ura Star put on an infectious set. The synthy party pop of these overlapping acts had the whole venue dancing and singing along, with the guys jumping up on the stage risers, holding ceiling beams for support as they sweat and danced away over the crowd. A true party band, this set immediately jumpstarted by energy for the night.
After another pint and a bit of mingling with friends, it was time for Jane Penny to take the stage. I have been a fan of TOPS since I was in high school, a certifiably iconic Montreal band. Yet, to this day, I have never seen them live. I had also missed co-founder and frontwoman Jane Penny’s solo album release show earlier this year, so, despite having to peel myself off the couch earlier in the night, there’s really no way I would have missed this show. Penny’s album Surfacing was one of the albums to define my summer of 2024, so it only felt right to mark the end of summer, as Pop Montreal tends to do, with this show.
Penny played off her solo album, as well as an unreleased track, slinking around the small L’Esco stage with long corded microphone in hand. The set had an almost lounge-act feeling, especially on the hyper-smooth sultry songs like “Artificial Genuine.” Later in the set, she went behind her keyboard as well as played her iconic flute, which of course got big cheers from the crowd.
This L’Esco Pop show felt like a return of a hometown hero, with a packed house and lots of familiar faces in the crowd (other TOPS members and lots of local bands in attendance). The event was unmistakably Mile End, and, in that way, it helped me have a bit more appreciation for the neighbourhood I call home.
Aviva Majerczyk is the head music director at CJLO 1690AM. She is also the host of The Alley, a folk-rock show airing Fridays at 11:00 AM.
Myles Smith Leaves Montreal Slightly Less Lonely
Halfway through the first leg of The Slightly Less Lonely Tour, Myles Smith stopped in Montreal for the first time on Saturday, October 26th. The tour, sparked by his TikTok successes and his breakout hit “Stargazing”, drew a passionate crowd to the Theatre Beanfield, eager to experience his emotional and personal sound live.
Smith opened the show with a story that many found relatable, sharing how just 13 months prior, he was working nine-to-five, yet felt compelled to take a leap of faith into music. Little by little, he built up the confidence to pursue his dreams—a journey the audience felt a part of as he shared his music and stories.
As a long-time concertgoer, I can confidently say this was one of the best shows I’ve attended, partly due to the show’s impressive punctuality and professionalism. Opening act Lily Fitts, an up-and-coming indie-folk artist, took the stage right at 8 p.m. Her set, a mix of released singles and unreleased gems, was the perfect blend of introspective lyrics about relationships, both romantic and platonic, leaving the audience wanting more. Fitts wrapped up her set with a cover of Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season”, a sweet touch that brought me full circle since my first-ever concert, in 2019, was Kahan on that very same stage.
At 8:45 p.m., the band appeared, decked out in Canadiens jerseys, with Smith himself sporting the expo’s: Guerrero’s number 27. They opened with “River”, a powerful song choice that hinted at the raw emotion Smith would pour into the night. He followed with a haunting cover of “Sweater Weather” and then played his song “Solo”, stripped down to just Smith and his electric guitar before the rest of the band joined in. This interplay between solo moments and full-band builds continued throughout the night, creating a dynamic, and captivating experience.
Between songs, Smith shared deeply personal stories, connecting each to universal themes of love, loss, and growth. In one particularly profound moment, he performed “My First Heartbreak”, an acoustic unreleased ballad about his father. The crowd held its breath as he played, absorbed by the vulnerability of the moment. At the end of the song, he thanked the audience for the safe space we’d created, one that allowed him to share these personal pieces of his life.
One of the most memorable moments of the night was when Smith encouraged the audience to turn on their phone flashlights if they had ever felt alone or struggled with their demons. “And now,” he said, “in a moment of bravery, I just want you to show every single person here your light.” The arena glowed with tiny, flickering lights, each a symbol of shared experiences and resilience. He followed this heartwarming moment with his latest release, “Wait for You”, leaving a lasting impact.
Throughout the show, Smith’s connection and appreciation towards his fans was clear. He even performed “Stargazing” three times, each time with a different twist. The second time, he surprised everyone by jumping into the crowd and singing along with his fans, who were overjoyed to be part of the performance. Later, he asked the audience to put away their phones for one chorus to experience the music solely within the room. Even Lily Fitts joined him for this acoustic moment, creating a magical atmosphere where everyone sang and danced together. As the night wound down, Smith made a point to thank his band, crew, tech team, and venue staff for their hard work. Watching him interact with his bandmates and share hugs at the end, I could tell this tour wasn’t just about him—it was a collective journey with everyone involved.
Smith also surprised the audience with an announcement about his next project, titled A Minute, scheduled for release on November 8th. The news, now official, hints at an exciting new chapter for Smith. As I left the concert, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had just witnessed something extraordinary. Smith’s openness, his gratitude toward his fans, and his raw, soulful music left a permanent mark. In a world that often feels divided, Smith’s concert reminded us all that we are, in fact, slightly less lonely.
It’s not too late to see Myles Smith live on his debut tour. He’s coming back to Theatre Beanfield next Wednesday, November 6th, and also stopping at MTELUS during the second leg of his tour on Friday, April 18th, 2025. Don’t miss out and get your tickets now!
Empress Of's Birthday Eve Show at Bar Le Ritz
Empress Of’s birthday-eve show at Bar Le Ritz closed out the North American leg of her tour for her newest album For Your Consideration. The show was opened by Casey MQ, a former Torontonian DJ turned Los Angeles producer, whose soft vocals cooed into the microphone and coaxed the dispersed audience toward the stage. In the crowd of 30- to 40-something-year-olds I could hear whispers about his Club Quarantine project, a Zoom-based nightly club created by a group of Torontonian hyperpop-y artists in the early days of COVID lockdown. Club Q’s popularity grew exponentially, starting in March of 2020 with ‘crowds’ barely passing 100 screens, to hosting big-name artists like Charli XCX and Alice Glass in April, capping out the Zoom attendance limits at 1,000. As one of the early attendees of Club Q, it helped buffer the adjustment from partying five nights a week as a first-year university student to staring at a screen for any form of social engagement. It's been really heartwarming to see Casey MQ go from being a shy DJ partying online with his friends to living in Los Angeles as a producer and releasing his own music. Though I’ve never been a big fan of his music, which feels too much like Taylor Swift’s 1989 era to me, I appreciate seeing how far he's come. In his performance, Casey repeatedly switched from standing with the microphone to sitting next to his laptop playing a keyboard. This felt sweet but a bit awkward, to constantly be shifting positions; and while he didn’t have much to say he was very appreciative of Empress Of for being brought along on this tour In my opinion, sometimes it's best to stay quiet rather than repeat oneself when on stage.
Once Empress Of came on stage, in a matching plaid top and side-split pleated skirt, the audience was full and concentrated in the front. Unlike many concerts I’ve been to there was no weird two-foot space between the stage and the first row of onlookers. Perhaps it was Bar Le Ritz’s layout or the quality of fans present, either way, it was refreshing to not have to awkwardly shuffle forward when the performer asks you to come closer. Empress Of immediately jumped into playing songs from her newest album, For Your Consideration, released this past spring, and the remix album at the beginning of October. She only stopped to greet the crowd and introduce her multi-instrumentalist behind her after her second or third song, as if she wanted to slam us into dance rather than build up anticipation as some artists do. Her one-woman band was Cecilia, one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen. She stood to the side of center stage and created the entire sonic landscape by playing keyboard, Moog, guitar, looping vocals and controlling drum backing tracks. Empress Of declared herself a yapper, and when Cecilia found her talking too much between tracks she would just start playing the next song. It was a really cute dynamic, and I couldn’t tell if the sexual tension was between Cecilia and Empress Of or the audience collectively thirsting over the two beautiful and talented women on stage.
This was the last set of the For Your Consideration North American tour, and the night before her 35th birthday, she made this clear by going hard. She had a plethora of self-choreographed dance moves and would repeatedly pick up a fan on the floor and raise it up above her head to blow through her hair before setting it back on the stage to blow her skirt up, Marilyn Monroe-esque, showing off her leather underwear. The set list for the show was wonderfully inclusive, with lots of songs from the newest album, her hits from the past that transported me back to high school feels; and songs from her 2020 album I’m Your Empress Of. These included her “theme song” as she described it, along with audio clips of her mother, during which she would raise her hands up in gratitude towards the hanging speakers. One thing I found exciting was her inclusion of songs she had recently featured on like Shygirl’s 4eva and Kito’s Wild Girl. I’m not used to artists performing songs they feature on without the main artist and I really like it, especially since I’ve seen Shygirl perform 4eva at the Charli XCX x Troye Sivan Sweat tour this past September.
I enjoyed thinking that I may have been the youngest person in the audience, it felt nice to be in a friendly crowd with no need to fight to keep my spot in the front. There was a gay couple in front of me, who would occasionally turn to each other to make jokes and giggle, very adorable; and an older woman in her 50s next to me who, during her favorite songs, would reach her arms up and lose herself in dance. It was a really sweet crowd of fans who knew the lyrics to everything, from newer songs to hits from 2017. However, in recent female-fronted concerts, I’ve noticed an uncomfortable trend of one normal-looking guy (ie. not one of the girls or the gays) standing in the dead center of the front row, holding a phone out and recording the entire concert. I don’t want to assume anything but I do find it strange, like, if you’re so obsessed with the artist, why don’t you put your phone down and enjoy the concert in the moment? I’ll never understand behavior like this, but I’m biased, I even feel embarrassed to pull my phone out to take the picture that is required for these write-ups.
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