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Presented by POP Montreal and Oh Hi

Commander Clark doesn't play it cool. He first popped up on our radar during POP Montreal 2014 when he was invited up on stage to co-host Psi Factor and the Cougar's Str8 Talk interview with Ty Segall and Mikey Heppner. He gushed, he over-shared, he played a Ty Segall song on kazoo. So like, who was this guy with a comic book persona who wasn't afraid to dork out in front of a room full of strangers? Naturally, we had to find out.

Commander Clark Group played a few plum shows all over POP; we caught them for a Friday afternoon show at Empire Exchange amid racks of vintage dresses and coats. Hiding behind a curtain of hair, rocking violently, and beating up an acoustic guitar, the Commander took us through a series of intensely personal songs. In between he said hi to folks he knew in the crowd and talked about feeling like he was beginning to make it in this town, how he didn't know everyone's name, but that people seemed to know his. All the kind of chatter that makes you want to ask if he's aware that what he's saying is OUT LOUD. But the Commander doesn't play it cool. He relayed the story of working long hours in the weeks prior to the festival putting up posters around town. He said he was so exhausted and sad that he "just wanted to walk out into traffic". One gets the sense that this is not hyperbole on the Commander's part: he seems always so close to the edge, his skin so dangerously thin that you're actually scared for him. Of course it's this kamikaze vulnerability that makes him such a compelling performer to watch. The Commander just never, never plays it cool.

I'm pleased to see Commander Clark not just making a name for himself in town, but also that he seems to have found a community in the Oh Hi collective. Artists looking out for each other and promoting each other's work is just the best thing.

As we walked away from the store after the show, the venue technician passed by on his way for a coffee and overheard us mention Commander Clark's name. He turned around and without hesitation said, "that's a special, special guy". Damn straight.

--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. Finder her on the Twitter @Susie_Qc.

Presented by POP Montreal, Blue Skies Turn Black, and Vice

The question you hear most when you tell someone you've been to see a band who made their start in the '60s, as The Sonics did, is "but can they still rock?"

Yes, yes, emphatically yes.

From the moment they hit the stage, The Sonics did not relent, hammering out simple chords nice and loud, with plenty of snarling saxophone out in front. In their matching embroidered black Western shirts, The Sonics took us through their catalogue of classics while easing in plenty of new material from their 2015 release, This is The Sonics. Current bass player and vocalist, Freddie Dennis, took the vocal honours on most of the new selections with a deep classic rock howl that put me in mind of Burton Cummings at his filthiest (that's absolutely a good thing in my book). Original lead vocalist and organist Gerry Roslie sang most of the classics, with a rendition of "Psycho" early in the set that really got the crowd moving. On the topic of the audience, I absolutely loved the diversity of fans I saw on the dance floor: rockabilly purists in their deadstock shirts, skinny-jean pop kids, and mulleted metalheads all nodding along happily in a true testament to the wide appeal and wider influence this band has.

Between-song banter was generally brief so as to keep the party swinging, but when they did speak, it was to shamelessly plug their new record on sale at the merch table at the back. I don't blame the fellas, really, and it is a great record, but the sales pitches felt a little stagey and lacked the kind of sincerity and warmth I would expect from artists who have been in the game this long. I suppose I'll grudgingly admire their hustle.

After an encore including two of their best-known songs, "Strychnine" and "The Witch", The Sonics exited in true rockstar fashion, bundled out by security, fan boys pressing vinyl towards them in hopes of a signature, rushing down the stairs holding their best girl's hand, and into a waiting bus surrounded by a phalanx of hooting fans. Their bus tore away to chanting and applause, The Sonics waving from inside the bus. Cool as they may be, they couldn't hide their smiles.

--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. Finder her on the Twitter @Susie_Qc.

POP You Did Me Wrong

It was day two of POP Montreal, and after consuming my fill of veggie dogs & beer at the Quartiers POP barbecue and taking a quick cat nap, I made my way to Théâtre Fairmount and got there just in time to catch Les Marinellis opening for Mikal Cronin. It was quite disappointing to discover the band playing to a virtually empty room. That big open space in front of the stage was probably the worst thing about POP Montreal this year, and this particular performance by the band was lacklustre as a result.

Hey wait! Believe me, I'm not faulting Cedric, Alix, Jef, Ben, and Alexis! I know what they can do. Les Marinellis have lots of raw personality and spunk when there's an audience there to actually see and interact with them. The band truly shines when people are around to dance like maniacs to their brand of rock 'n' roll. I think tacking them on to the beginning of a Mikal Cronin show did the band a great disservice, especially since Les Marinellis were one of the few home-grown francophone acts (besides Les Breastfeeders, Félix Dyotte, and Cœur de pirate—were there more?) playing the festival.

Adding them to The Sonics show would have exposed the band to a wider audience that "gets" who they are and what they're doing, and I think the band would have been much more pumped to be there with their people. This was certainly a POP programming error that will take a little bit of time for this fan to forgive and forget. On the up side, Cedric Marinelli was dressed in tattoos and sequin hot pants, and I finally grabbed a copy of their latest record, Île de rêve (P.Trash), all beaten and chewed up by the band.

--Stephanie Dee has been a radio DJ at CJLO for more than a decade, and was once the editor of the CJLO Magazine. Follow her @tweegirl on Twitter and Instagram. What do the Yeti dream of? Find out every Friday night at 8-9PM on Yeti Dreams, only on CJLO 1690AM and cjlo.com.

Hosted by Danny Aubry

Stories by Pauline Nesbitt, Saturn De Los Angeles & Danny Aubry

Produced by Patricia Petit Liang & Pauline Nesbitt