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Friday

The first thing I noticed after getting through the lax security was the reorientation of the festival grounds. Last year, Palomosa’s premier, the smaller Jardin stage was under the Tois Disques sculpture by blahblah. Instead of dancing under this creative brutalist concrete being, we were in a muddy pit of AstroTurf surrounded by festival bars all selling the same expensive drinks ($10 for a blue PBR is crazy).

Food options: three food trucks, well, one was just a cart. Or vegan quesadillas you made at home that the lax security let you take in (thank you)

Isla Den

Kicking the whole festival off at the Jardin stage, Montreal’s ethereal pop musician, sort of a dreamy hyperpop along the lines of early Petal Supply, or, if Milk & Bone were more danceable and electronic (and cooler, in my opinion). The crowd started small but continuously grew. Everyone was very cool-looking and dancing around, and there was still enough space to comfortably smoke a cigarette. Isla Den’s set was half DJ, half live. I really enjoy it when artists mix their skills and creations in this way. They mixed SOPHIE, Charli XCX, and Drain Gang songs and performed some new releases. It was a beautiful performance with the wind making the fog machine dance in the lowering sun.

9/10

The background of the Jardin stage was an electrical box and a recycling bin. Who decided to put the stage there? Why didn’t they have any background? Did no one think it looked funny? 

MGNA CRRTA

This New Jersey girl duo opened up the main stage, and when I say opened, I really mean opened: five minutes before they were set to start, workers removed the gates to the other half of the festival grounds, people, mostly scene kids sporting neon and tails, literally ran to the stage. Their set was pretty baller; they played all their hits, nicely mixed into the rest of their set with some unreleased songs. The two baddies alternated between the mic and the mixing board, and relied heavily on the siren and ‘bew bew beeww’ (you know the one) sound effects, like, almost every 20 seconds there was some sound screaming at me. They made up for it with a giant bubble gun, shooting bubbles into the crowd at the peak of their 30-minute-long set. It was epic, I like them a lot. My favourite quote was “if you’re a girl make some noise, if you’re a boy make some noise, if you’re not a boy or a girl make some noise”, I think the nonbinaries were the loudest. 

9/10

So glad I have a raccoon tail on my backpack. Really blending in (not sarcastic).

I think I follow everyone here on Instagram.

The Hellp

The Los Angeles band opened up their set by announcing that one of their two members was Canadian, which the crowd responded with moans and groans that loosely translated to: ‘okay, well, we’re in Quebec..’. He kind of looks like Jared, my CJLO comrade, who was very pleased when I told him this. They played all their hits, of which there are many (I like them a lot), and about half of the crowd were really into it. The other half of the crowd was just yapping, and since this was still a daytime set, the music was not loud enough at all for me to really lock into it. Their stage presence was pretty much exactly what a toned-down LA version of The Dare would be: black suit and tie, ignoring the audience and often just looking at the floor of the stage. 

7/10 

You know that feeling when you’ve been generally overwhelmed, but you can’t tell which sense it is that needs a break till you take your sunglasses off and finally feel like you can see again? I felt a lot better once the sun started to set and I revealed my eyes to the public. The festival grounds started to fill up a lot, which relieved the grating sense of perception I feel in alt-queer-coded-cool-kid crowds. I could let my eyes glaze over the sea of normies that grew around me. 

Mechatok, Minna No Kimochi, MCR-T, TDJ

Back at the astro terf pit (the Jardin stage) was a lineup of DJs that all sort of blended together for me. There was no screen at the Jardin stage naming the artists, and I kept wandering off. I had little idea who was who and what time it was and what was going on. I would bop around in the crowd and get distracted by delivery trucks doing their business on the other side of the fence. Eventually, I’d go off into the woods to watch the moon peaking in and out of clouds, almost full. The crowd had shifted from weirdo-freaks with various types of tails incorporated in their outfits to a very alt.jpeg Pleateau-core vibe. Not a bad thing, as I enjoyed being able to fade into anonymity, just kind of boring. The DJs were good, but not enough to lock me into the music. 

5/10

Save me hammocks under the trees … save me… 

Fcukers

As the day waned to night and the artists’ names on the posters got larger, the audio got louder and clearer; I could actually hear and enjoy the music while not being in the thick of the crowd. I didn’t really know this band, but I knew I would love them. The sun was setting into dark, wet quick quick-moving clouds, the horizon pink. The music was good, the singer’s voice was sexy, and I was vibing.

8/10

M.I.A.

The crowd was huge. People were hyped. She had swagger, a stage full of dancers, and a live band with a steel drum. It sounded great. Her dancers were cranking that Soulja Boy. She's been in the game a long time, but a lot of her music is too left field for a festival audience to know her songs that came out 10 years ago. It felt a bit like that early Charli XCX clip: “I thought this song was big in Germany??!!”. That was her first fumble. The second fumble was her comment on the 1970s revolution vibes, something about if Bob Marley had a dance routine, our parents would’ve been too busy dancing to care about changing the world. Dancing should always have a place in revolutionary movements. About halfway through, she stopped her set to start talking. The mic was mixed for singing, not speaking, so it was difficult to understand what she was saying; it was difficult to make out and did not make any sense. She started off by saying she was okay being called a Trump supporter, that we can have “red pills and pills that are blue”. She's always been a bit on the weird politics side and has often been chastised for it, but since 2020, her anti-vax and tinfoil hat views have gone a bit viral. She’s probably somewhat right about 5G being bad for us, but I can’t stop myself from laughing when the foil blankets came out on stage. It felt like she was trying to start a dialogue with the audience, or at least urged us to consider more about the future of Palestine, that we shouldn’t always be reacting from a defensive place. The future of Palestine is not up to the audience of Palomosa, or Westerners in general; it’s up to the Palestinian people, of whom we are trying to defend, because they are under attack. I don’t know if she was getting responses from those in the front of the crowd, but it felt like she was just yelling at us about how disappointed she was with Trump, as if she had hopes he would do something good. Everyone was confused and annoyed. There was a brief “F Donald Trump” chant; eventually, she donned a kaffiyah and finished her set with her top three songs. Her annoyance with us was palpable, but what did you expect, trying to talk to a crowd of hundreds of inebriated festival goers? 

I really want to give her some grace and come to the conclusion that we agree on the important basics of anti-colonialism and anti-zionism, with some concerns about the level of technology our society is surrounded by, but as CJLO’s program director commented, she seems to have spent too much time on Twitter and not enough on podcasts. 

Saturday

It rained all morning. The weather really threatened to repeat what happened on last year’s day two: rain, all day, dreary, cold, wet, with little shelter and a lack of hot drinks. A lot of people still showed up to the fest, but there was a stark difference between those in full rain suits and those in t-shirts and short shorts. Thankfully, just before I got on my bike to head to the fest, the sky cleared up and the glorious sun warmed and dried the world. It ended up being a beautiful day. Thank you, weather beings. 

This whole day, I stuck to the main stage. Day one felt a bit chaotic with constantly going back and forth, trying to catch bits of everyone. I passed by the Jardin stage at one point in the late evening, and it was just walls of noise, lights and people. I was not enticed by the astroturf pit. 

Cecile Believe

This Montrealais alt-popstar is underrated. I feel like not many people know of her, but those who do come to her opening festival set and they throw down. She was very grateful for us, and the vibe was really great. She played all her hits, including her ‘new’ song with SOPHIE. It felt a bit like her POP Montreal show last October, her being a bit surprised she has such cool and dedicated fans who find her sets too short. I remember at the end of her show last year, everyone cried for an encore, but she didn’t have anything prepared. Someone in the audience said they would be happy if she just played something from Spotify and sang along with us. I felt this was still true here. 

7/10

The camo gays are here and I love them!

Loukeman

This Torontonian DJ has really great songs, but this was more of a DJ set than original music, which was a bummer for me cause I was really not vibing to this sorta straight-normie-boarderline-skater-club music. It didn’t help that two of his Boys (friends? Entourage? Polycule?) came out on stage with him, and I was transfixed by their grills. What is this, 2007? What is going on? The gay members of the crowd, which included members of Montreal’s Ribbon Skirt, seemed to agree with me and moved along to the music in a non-committal way, waiting for it to get better. It did get better, thankfully, when he played gay music (Pink Pantheress).

2/10

I don’t really understand the draw of the VIP section. Yeah, it's next to the stage, but also, it's next to the stage, the view sucks, and there's no price difference at the bar. It's really just tables, but you have to stand at the tables. I just don’t get it.

Marie Davidson

Another Montreal musician with a half DJ, half live set, I am really appreciating this type of performance. However, I don’t know if I was just too close to the stage, but her presence kind of scared me. Maybe it just wasn’t dark enough yet to let my guard down yet but I found the evil-leather-brunett-Rocky-Horror vibe a bit too much for me at that moment. If it were closer to Halloween, I would’ve gotten into it, but I just was not feeling it in the summertime sunshine. Her stage presence was really phenomenal, and I felt fairly locked into it, but the way her vocals were getting mixed muddled anything she was saying to the audience. Something was going wrong on the equipment side of things, and her set was interrupted by tech dudes and later just abruptly ended. No idea what that was about. 

4/10

At least they play MF DOOM between sets 

Yeule

This was so rockstar. So alien sex god grunge rockstar power aura. Very band-that-would-play-in-Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer. I loved it. It felt really reminiscent of Yves Tumor's performance last year, with the lights and the sunset and the complete disregard of the audience because the band is just too cool for that. The live drums and guitars and leather jacket, and tiny shorts had me entirely transfixed. They played from their two most recent albums and even whipped out a violin bow to play their guitar, very cool but really brief, I would’ve loved a bit of experimental noise solos from this, but perhaps a festival setting is not the place for that. But it was the most involved I had seen the crowd yet, so maybe it would have worked! This set was great, but there were music video clips playing on loop on the stage screen that were a bit too distracting. 

9/10

I ran into my ex’s best friend’s ex I liked on Hinge, who never messaged me back. He gave me a hug. Okay

Rebecca black

She is just like a paramedic, finger right on the pulse. Even though during the earlier sets I had been surrounded by queers with tails, it felt the gayest during her set. I was really impressed by the vibe curation of this set; this felt like the most put-together and professional performer of the whole festival. The stage had prop protest signs with slogans mirroring homophobic protesters at pride: HOMO SEX IS LIFE. Her two dancers were beautiful buff gays in tight bedazzled camo tank tops and bleached buzzcuts, holding a camo banner with her name on it, which she climbed over at the beginning of her vocals. The screen behind her was perfect, bright colours flashing her name and flames with her lyrics; it was perfectly captivating and not distracting, and followed the music perfectly. I did not realize how much of a dedicated fan I was until I realized I knew all of her songs and had emotional connections to all of them. Two of her recent albums (Rebecca Black Was Here; SALVATION) corresponded to big breakups I’ve had, so yeah, it felt really good to scream along. This was her third performance in Montreal this year, and it did feel a bit gym teacher-y with a lot of ‘jump!’ and ‘hands up!’ sort of commands, kind of felt like a scene in But I’m A Cheerleader. Still, though, I did what she asked.

10/10

Yes, she did play her 2011 viral sensation Friday, yes, she played it in the middle of one of her more recent songs, yes, it was incredibly epic. Yes, recession pop is here, and camo is so back.

Arca

A lot of people came just for Arca. Which I don’t really get, like, if you’re going to pay for festival tickets, why don’t you come for at least some of the day rather than just the headliner? There are other cool artists. Do y’all not want the bragging rights of seeing Rebecca Black play Friday in 2025?

Arca mostly dj-ed but did play some original music. She minimized the size of her tube top within 10 minutes of being on stage. It was very cool and she is very beautiful, but I couldn’t really get into it. I haven't listened to much of Arca, but what I have heard is more of her earlier music instead of the more Latin beats she played. Yes! I am a poser :)

Arca saw Princess Sienna hanging out in the wings and invited her out onto the stage. I really had no clue who this was, but learned she is some sort of local Instagram trans woman artist sensation, I don’t know, I do not engage with the internet in that niche. It was cool to have additional sexy entertainment on stage, but I got a bit annoyed as it continued through the rest of the show, mostly from the repeated screaming into the mic. All of the vocals were peaking. It wasn’t great, but everyone seemed to be having a phenomenal time, and that's what matters. Someone gave her a Venezuelan flag with her name spraypainted across it, she draped it across her shoulders and took a moment to comment on peace and love, that that is what it's all about. This is how you address the greater political climate at a festival show. 

7/10

All in all

This was better than last year, definitely helpful that the headliner didn’t drop out at the last minute, and it didn’t rain for a whole day like last year. The festival seems to be finding its niche a bit more, and the lineup and organization of artists made more sense and blended a bit better together, though there were still some abrupt vibe shifts. The food options seemed very limited, but security did let me bring in snacks. It is very strange to me that there was no merch tent. I wanted merch. I wanted to stare longingly at an $80 Yeule hoodie or something. 

It was an interesting weekend to spend in a very different subculture than what I normally partake in (raves in the woods). So many eternal thanks to Palomosa and CJLO for inviting me back to be a weird, cynical mid-20-year-old at this festival <3

All Photo Credit: Ashley Bellam

There is something quite unique about the band Wet Leg. The band's idiosyncratic style of what some may call “talk singing” gained them a massive following across the world. I was introduced to Wet Leg through Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist. When I first heard their song “I Don’t Wanna Go Out’, I was completely enamoured by their artistry, and they immediately gained a spot in my top ten bands to see in concert. Arriving at Mtelus that night, I knew I wasn’t the only one with the same passion for the band.

 The crowd’s demographic surprised me somehow. I was expecting an audience of indie college kids who are too cool to be seen in anything not vintage, but instead, I found a lot of millennials with their beers, ecstatic for Wet Leg’s performance. That’s the thing about Wet Leg’s sound, its relatability and its instrumental versatility invite anyone to enjoy it. 

 They began their set with the new hit single “Catch These Fits”, a song that encapsulates the aggressive passion that breakups can create. Seeing it live elevated the song’s experience as the lead singer encouraged us to chant and scream. They continued on with their hit single “Wet Dreams” from their debut self-titled album. The instrumental and its incorporated hand claps made the song’s live performance incredibly interactive. The live performance was paired with smoke machines and strobe lights, which added to the audience’s excitement. However, I believe it did not pair well with the structure of the venue.

 Mtelus is terribly ventilated; the smoke machines only worsened this factor. Wet Leg makes music for people to dance, scream, jump and clap to. The venue made that nearly impossible. Luckily, I was adopted by a group of 30-year-olds who offered me water and told me, “We dance together, we sweat together, we’re all gross”. The solidarity within the audience was admirable, though it didn’t completely ease how suffocated we felt. 

The crowd fell completely in love with the lead singer, Teasdale. Her stage presence made you feel like you were on stage with her, dancing along. It was incredibly refreshing to see an artist who is proud of their artistry and is delicate with their storytelling.

 When they played ‘Davina McCall”, I spotted several lesbian couples singing and staring at each other lovingly. I was incredibly moved; though the song is not explicitly queer, it was refreshing to see how the queer community adopted the song as their own. Wet Leg just has this ability to invoke passion in others in various ways. Their song “Ur Mom” embodies the anger that you feel when someone you used to know has changed negatively. Teasdale asked us to scream as loud as humanly possible in the last verse of the latter. The audience was asked to scream a total of three times as the artist insisted it wasn’t loud enough. The last scream was powerful; the sound lingered in my mind hours after the concert. In that moment, as I felt the anger in the crowd, I felt like I knew who each person was thinking of. It was cathartic. They ended their show with an encore of “Chaise Longue”; the audience could not be more pleased. I then hurried, filled with excitement, joy and ten-dollar water, to go to the opening of Montreal’s queer club “Club DD’s”. It felt like my heart was started by jumper cables to a car. It was the greatest way to start the numerous concerts happening in Montreal this fall.

Taina is also the co-host of Whatever She Wants, on air Wednesdays from 12-1pm

It was a gloomy Monday when a line wrapped around the Beanfield Theatre, waiting for Ellie  Rowsell, Joel Amey, Theo Ellis, and Joff Oddie, also known as Wolf Alice, to light up the stage. 

As the first notes of “Thorns” echoed through the room, the crowd’s energy turned electric. Rocking an eighties-inspired striped blue bodysuit, glittery eyeshadow and big black boots, the scene felt reminiscent of an old prom night, with Ellie dancing in front of a shimmery fringe background. Thorns is a clear testament to Wolf Alice’s ability to create a smooth, almost theatrical pop track,  blending lush vocals with punchy instrumentals, a recurring pattern in their new album, The Clearing. The band continued by playing a selection of songs from their older albums, immersing the audience in a blend of shoegaze, rock, and pop- genres they mesh seamlessly to create an atmosphere that’s both gritty and glamorous. 

Under hazy orange lights, the familiar chords of “Bloom, Baby, Bloom”, mesmerized the audience. Ellie’s powerful vocals, intertwined with the band’s jazz and rock-infused instrumentals, made for a performance reminiscent of iconic 1970s magnetic rock and pop sound. Everyone in the room was singing to their friends, dancing without a care; the band obviously knows how to captivate an audience. While Beanfield Theatre hold around a thousand attendees, this performance could have easily electrified much bigger stages.  

Wolf Alice followed with more tracks from their new album; each met with louder cheers from the audience. After a giant disco ball lit up every corner of the room, the band carried the dreamy atmosphere into “How Can I Make it Okay?” and “Safe From Heartbreak (If You Never Fall in Love)”.  For the latter, Ellie invited Chloe on stage, who had eagerly held up a sign asking to sing along. 

The song’s mellow guitar and bass meshed beautifully with Ellie and Chloe’s voices, making it one of the most intimate moments of the night.  

The band continued the night with tracks from various albums. Some highlights include “Yuk Foo” and “Play The Greatest Hits”, both angsty rock songs with hints of punk and shoegaze. As flashing lights and sirens filled the room, Ellie sang through a megaphone, offering a raw performance with a hint of Riot Grrrl energy. After a captivating performance of “The Sofa”, the final track from their new album, the band announced they were done for the night.  

The crowd, however, had other plans. As soon as the band exited the stage, the cheers grew louder than before, nearly shaking the venue. Less than two minutes later, bright lights bathed the stage as the band returned for an encore. It felt like the end of a coming-of-age movie as everyone in the crowd soaked up the last few minutes of music. Wolf Alice ended the show with “Don’t Delete the  Kisses”, which was nothing short of magical. The theatre was painted in a pink tint with bubbles floating around. It was one of those moments you know you’ll miss while you’re still living it. The song’s nostalgic, dreamy essence reduced the world to just the room for a few minutes. What began as a grey evening ended as a glamorous, enchanting, and unforgettable night. 

No artist sounds quite like Spill Tab. The genre-blending songs merge alternative pop with jazz nuances. Claire Chica, the creative force behind these entrancing tracks, is a 28-year-old singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. Born in Thailand, raised in Paris, and now based in LA, she crafts English and French songs layered with energetic rhythms, desire, nostalgia, and angst.

On September 26th, Chica brought her colour-changing lamps to decorate the stage of Bar le Ritz for the Pop Montreal Festival. Inviting the audience into her world, she made the venue feel at home as she introduced her new album, Angie, released on May 16th, 2025. An album that I’ve been constantly listening to since its release. Drawing from a horrible breakup that inspired the album, she created a cathartic experience that the audience could feel through her beautiful voice and crazy instrumentals. Between songs, Chica and her bass player entertained the crowd with jokes, keeping spirits high while resolving technical issues and setting up equipment. Nearly every song from the new album was performed, including the thirty-second "Morning Dew Interlude," giving the audience a chance to absorb the album's musical complexity. As a spontaneous addition, Spill tab performed "Runner" by Alex G, inspired by a moment of boredom during soundcheck. The set ended with "Assis," with Chica stating it was great to be somewhere where her French songs could be understood.

Before Spill tab was Maddie Davis, the opening act, who set the tone with her alt-rock/pop music. She was joined by a guitarist and a backing track as she performed tracks from her new EP “Smile at the Good,” released July 18th and a couple of songs from her last EP “RAGE”. Following a similar structure to Spill Tab's set, she included one cover. Her rendition of “The One That Got Away” by Katy Perry was even sadder than the original, thanks to her melodic, reverbed voice and the echoing electric guitars. Although I hadn’t heard of her before, her songs “What if?”, “RAGE,” and “Goodbye for Now” stayed with me long after the concert.

The September 16th show of Spill Tab and Maddy Davis was perfect for anyone going through a breakup with its sad, vengeful, and nostalgic themes. I heavily suggest the new Spill Tab album, Angie, to all who want to widen their music taste; it’s guaranteed to impress you!