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POP Montreal 2016

It was a brother takeover at Theatre Fairmount on Saturday night with The Sadies, fronted by Dallas and Travis Good, headlining a night to celebrate the release of Will McClelland's The Minted. 

I arrived just in time to hear Will McClelland reading an excerpt of his newly published novel, a sardonic imagining of a Canadian near future when environmental degradation has reached a crisis level. The animals, led by a charismatic talking moose fed up with human greed, begin a reign of terror, aiming to take back the Canadian wilderness. McClelland read a passage as The Moose, a fiery speech to rally the animals into action. The assembled crowd dove into character as geese, banded kingfisher, and rock dove, shouting back their response. McClelland's work is equal parts mordant and hilarious, deeply imaginative and carefully crafted.

Next up was Li'l Andy and his band playing a concise set of their brand of dark country. Tales of travelling through out-of-the-way towns ("Out on the Old Highway") and the terrifying and awesome mechanization of the West ("See the Train Arrive") are Li'l Andy's signature, but it's not all soot and shadows. Moments of levity were plentiful with Li'l Andy showing off his quick wit with songs like "Ah, Loneliness" and droll between-song banter. Joe Grass on pedal steel and Joshua Zubot on fiddle played thrilling solos, exploring ground not typically covered in the genre. Josh Toal on bass and backing vocals and Ben Caissie, my favourite drummer to watch, round out the all-star band. The evening's man of honour, Will McClelland, joined his brother on stage for two Neil Young covers. Li'l Andy introduced Will as "the man who taught me how to play guitar," and seeing them share the stage was a sweet moment. The sheer glee they radiated singing harmonies on "Dance, Dance, Dance" was enough to get the whole crowd smiling. The band closed the set with a blazing rendition of "While the Engines Burn", Andy stomping and rocking out sufficiently to lose his hat. I applaud your fervour, sir.  

The Sadies took the stage to a packed house and dished out almost two hours of the kind of masterful playing you'd expect from a band entering their third decade of playing together. The set list was a mix of Morricone-esque instrumentals, country classics like The Louvin Brothers' "There's A Higher Power", and heavier, more psych-rock influenced songs such as "Another Year Again" and "Story 19". The set was replete with feats of fast fingering, the Good brothers often ramping up the tempo of songs to impossible speeds. When the band came back out for an encore, vocal audience members demanded "25 more songs!" and the Sadies delivered a very generous five. A friend I saw on the way out said, "The Sadies never disappoint". I couldn't agree more.

--Sue Snyder is the tall chick in the front row blocking your view of the band. She's also a belly dancer making unusual dances with her cosmic twin under the name Cult of Yes. Find her on the Twitter @Susie_Qc.

Presented by POP Montreal

One stand out at POP Montreal this year is the emerging young singer-songwriter named Helena Deland. Originally from Quebec City, Deland hit the Montreal scene as a solo act and supplied backing vocals for other locals such as Earthly Circuits and Mathieu Bérubé. She then released the song "Baby" on her Bandcamp back in June to stellar yet quiet reviews, followed by a four-track mini album entitled Drawing Room (arranged and recorded by Jesse Mac Cormack) just last month. It was an extremely good move to place her as the opener for the legendary John Cale, because that's sure introduce her talents to a wider audience beyond area code 514.

Helena possesses a distinctive voice that is alive with feeling and sweetly, sultrily inviting. She started her set alone on guitar, and was soon joined by supporting players Mathieu Bérubé (guitar), Francis Ledoux (drums), and Alexandre Larin (bass). Together they owned that little space where they stood stage left at The Rialto. The songs, especially "Aix", were overflowing with romance and whimsy, and it was also super fun when she started to scat and groove along with the guitar. Overall, the performance was captivating, rich, and personal, and Helena was endearing and obviously very happy to be there.

The set ended abruptly and left me wanting more. Helena Deland is most certainly one to watch and the highlight of this year's festival. Catch her final POP Montreal performance tomorrow, September 24th, 3 PM at Le Divan Orange.

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Stephanie Dee is a writer living in Montreal and she likes to participate in having fun. This is her fifth time covering POP Montreal for CJLO. Be sure to search for our hashtag #CJLOgoesPOP and follow us @CJLO1690AM on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-minute coverage of the POP Montreal.

Presented by Evenko and POP Montreal

The music of L.A. Witch has a prowling, expansive, and gorgeously atmospheric quality that grabs the attention and enters your dreams. One can hear the influence of bands like Mazzy Star, or The Dream Syndicate and Opal from the '80s paisley underground scene in Los Angeles, but L.A. Witch's vibe is stripped down to the bare bones and sexier, with a more intimate grindhouse rocker vibe.

L.A. Witch showed some real bad-ass style at Metropolis last night, doing a short half-hour set and performing pretty much their entire catalogue, which included "Get Lost", "Heart of Darkness", and their latest single "Drive Your Car" (the band's first label release on Black Mass Recordings / Ruined Vibes).

On stage, L.A. Witch has a way about them that is dark and felinesque (right down to the singer/guitarist's leopard print mini dress), which I really dig as a cat owner and honorary member of the glaring. These are some powerful chicks, for sure. I adored the tone and phrasing of Sade Sanchez's voice, Irita Pai's bass was on-point, and drummer Ellie English demonstrated good technical skill and support. L.A. Witch was a good choice as an opening band for The Kills both musically and in attitude, but parts of the performance have me wondering if this tour is starting to get them down a bit.

There were some slight technical difficulties, the guitar was a little obstructed, and the trio seemed aloof and lacking in energy for the majority of their set. The large size of stage at Metropolis was magnified as a result and left the impression that perhaps the band would be better suited to smaller venues consisting solely of devoted fans and members of their coven—but that witch-vibe feeling inside senses L.A. Witch will prove me wrong.

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Stephanie Dee is a writer living in Montreal and she likes to participate in having fun. This is her fifth time covering POP Montreal for CJLO. Be sure to search for our hashtag #CJLOgoesPOP and follow us @CJLO1690AM on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-minute coverage of the POP Montreal.

Today is a big day! Come find us at CJLO's Pop Montreal BBQ collab at POP Quarters (3450 St Urbain) where we will be broadcasting 1-6pm, talking lots of POP with Behind The Counter and Dirty Work live- so let us know what shows you are excited to see- and ask us about our HEALTH tickets! There's a sweet line-up of live acts, starting at 2pm with Wiklow (CJLO's RPM artist-in-residence), 3pm with Guy Madonna, 4pm with No Aloha, and Joyce N'sana at 5pm (CJLO's World artist-in-residence). Come chill and have some tasty BBQ delights- till 6pm!

Then, head over to our CJLO X Pop co-presentations, starting with Holy F*ck + Fake Palms + New Fries + Technical Kidman at Theatre Fairmount (9:30pm) and then some late night action at HEALTH + FOG + dj. flugvél og geimskip at Piccolo Little Burgundy (Late Night- doors at 11pm). Pop Montreal goes till Sunday, so keep it locked to CJLO for coverage, sessions, POP tips!