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Pete Douglas from the Live Wire Show (Saturdays, 9-10 am on CJLO) reviews the 10th anniversary of the Montreal International Reggae Festival.

Canada has some of the world's most renowned sound engineers, but there are some that are clearly lost when it comes to certain genres of music, for example: world beat. 

Reggae music has a pulse that must be felt to really be enjoyed at an outdoor event such as the Montreal International Reggae Festival (MIRF). I noticed on the first two nights of the festival that most of the artists spent a great deal of their time trying to get the backline sound engineer to adjust the mix of the band on stage. So one can take it that, if the sound on stage was not to the liking of the musicians, then what came out of the mix on the front line was, "Reggae Lite".

I was listening to a live broadcast of the festival in my car on my way to the event, and I could not believe what I was hearing. My first thought was that it's a live broadcast, so the sound was coming directly from the mixing board, but upon my arrival at the festival, I discovered that on the very last day of the festival they finally had the correct mix that was required all along for an outdoor festival. 

From the press release that was sent out to the media by the promoters of the festival, 2013 was one of its best years, with close to ten thousand in attendance for the three-day festival. In view it was not, however, one of its best line up of artists over the ten-year period of the festival (to the best of my recollection, I may have missed a couple). One of the best festivals to me that I have ever attended was the night Gregory Isaac finished his set and a fireworks display started on the other side of the river. 

The Friday night session clearly belonged to the first family of reggae, Morgan Heritage. Although one could sense their frustration on stage because of the mix, they delivered a set that had all in attendance grooving. I liked their new approach on stage. Instead of coming on stage and doing the hits from a great catalog, they were engaging with their on-stage antics.

Shaggy was the man on Saturday night. Maybe it's because I am more familiar with his music, but Bennie Man did nothing as a closing act that made me want to write home about. Bennie did his thing, and the crowd was into it in the beginning, but they seem to have gotten bored as his set went on. Shaggy went into his bag of tricks as a seasoned entertainer and I was impressed, seeing that it was my first time seeing both him live on stage.

Kes the Band was cheated with an early evening set. The crowd in attendance on Saturday came out in numbers because of them. Again the sound did not do any justice to the band. They are a Soca band, but from where I stood, the lead vocalist was trying his best to get the crowd into it, but once again, the soundperson at the mixing board, defeated the purpose. 

Before I go into the final day of the event, a Montreal band called Inword was the runaway hit of the festival. But then again that's my personal view. I have played their album Purify time after time and I just like what I am hearing for a local band. The song "A Gain" off their new album is a well-written song.

I missed another great Montreal artist, Jah Cutta live on stage, but he gave me a great interview anyway. Again another artist that was on too early in the afternoon.

Having seen Freddy McGregor a million and nine times, the tenth edition on the MIRF clearly belonged to the man Cocoa Tea. He not only had those in attendance dancing and singing to his hits and the cover songs that he did, but for a veteran, his voice does not seem to have lost even a quaver note. His presence on stage was so spell binding that I started practising my bass guitar again (well, that feeling lasted for a week). His band was well rehearsed and so tight on stage that not even the wind could pass through. His song choices were just the right ones for the festival, and he was rather engaging with the audience. I have seen many reggae acts from the likes of Peter Tosh, Jacob "Killer" Miller & the Inner Circle Band, and Culture, but I must confess that Cocoa Tea has been one of the best live acts that I have seen in a long time.

My only beef with this year's edition of the festival is that, too much time was given to the DJs between the acts. A couple of the artists were clearly out of their element, and please train your sound engineers to acquaint themselves with the different genres of music, especially world beat. Also, the hosts of some of the shows may be big in other parts of the world, but Montrealers don't always connect with them.

It is said that the road to success is a never ending journey, and it was nice to witness the highs of the tenth edition of the MIRF, because I have seen many of the lows. They are well on their way in making the festival a great success.

Asian-American hiphop pioneer/super-producer CHOPS (of the Mountain Brothers) joins into speak on his career and his latest project Strength in Numbers!

Schools in the province are being told by the PQ government that tax hikes in the face of budget cuts are now unacceptable… as well as the possibility of school boards being done away with altogether.

According to CTV, the Parti Quebecois government told the boards that the recent increase in school taxes are no longer acceptable. Since hikes received a furious response from both suburban and rural residents.

Especially those in the 450 area, where the PQ most needs votes to win an election.

Quebec English School Boards Association member, David D’Aoust says the hike was their last resort after funding to school boards was cut by 100 million dollars earlier this year.

Premier Pauline Marois now says that the government will tell school boards where to make cuts if they’re not willing to do it themselves.

This after both English and French school boards met with Marois and Education Minister Marie Malavoy two weeks ago to discuss how there is no room to cut without cutting services to students.

The PQ has also suggested doing away with school boards altogether, which The Coalition Avenir Quebec supports, while the Liberals oppose.

Susanne Stein Day of the Lester B. Pearson Board says eliminating school boards would require altering the federal constitution.

CJLO Magazine's editor-at-large Stephanie Dee writes about day two of POP Montreal. Check out the hashtag #cjlogoespop, and follow @Tweegirl on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-the-minute commentary, video, and photos taken during the festival.

I begrudgingly worked all day, day-dreaming about all the art exhibits and artist talks I wanted to attend but couldn't, and when the daily grind was finally over I headed on up to Quarters POP at 5:30 pm for the Media Mixer. 

Worried that I wouldn't know anyone there, I was so glad to run into Florent and Jesse from the band CTZNSHP, Adrian Warner (who I was with at the AIM LOW show), and Pat No from Bonsound at the event. I also met Steve Jordan, founder of the Polaris Music Prize, who was kind and very nicely dressed. He even knew what CJLO was! I felt like a fish out of water standing there in my jeans and a t-shirt, especially when Daniel Seligman (who I interviewed over the phone on my radio show the week prior) came by and no one introduced me to him. I just stood there awkwardly blushing and drinking my free beers. Ah, the perils of sportswear.

As the mixer started to wind down, things got really weird because at this point I noticed that the DJ was spinning 45s at the wrong speed! Young MC's "Bust a Move" and Sir Mix-a-Lot's "I'll Roll You Up" were playing at what seemed even slower than 33 1/3 RPM. I went over to find out what's up, and I even knew how to fix the problem, but the DJ refused to let me touch the turntables. That was frustrating, but quite comical.

CJLO was co-presenting an event with Blue Skies Turn Black at Théâtre Rialto, so I plugged in my headphones and ran on up to du Parc and Bernard listening to Ty Segall. The theatre was pretty empty when I got there, which made for some pretty sweet Instagram photos.

Théâtre Rialto

Bobo & Chris, sans Chris, opened the show. A solo Bobo had shaved part of his head for the performance, except for the bottom part so he could look like a clown—though I don't think he was dressed like a stereotypical clown, nor was he wearing any clown makeup; maybe he wore a big red nose and shoes? To be completely honest, I can't remember because it was a performance that I desperately want to forget. There were some really weird, echoing, and jarring effects on his vocals, and what I guess was some weird-ass Quebecois circus music. I watched Bobo's ummm... "song" and "dance", complete with a canned applause track, for a grand total of about two minutes, then I sat in a corner close to the CJLO merch table, pressing the earplugs I was wearing deeper into my canals.

I will copy here, some of the Facebook chatter among the CJLO peeps about Bobo the next day:

Lucinda posted: there are only three genres now: proto-Bobo, post-Bobo, and Bobo

Daniel replied: he was terrible
Beansie replied: proto-Bobo is my jam
Lucinda replied: Daniel how dare you (jk I was trying not to cry)
Mobs replied: post-bobo...it's all we can aspire
Beansie replied: bobo tribute band

Stephanie Dee posted: Tonight's #CJLOgoesPOP itinerary [...]

Mobs replied: I personally cannot wait for your bobo review
Stephanie Dee replied: I only briefly mentioned that he was there, but I've only written the first draft...
Lucinda replied: why isn't he the focus of your review just wondering
Stephanie Dee replied: I was trying to forget...
Beansie replied: No one puts Bobo in the corner
Stephanie Dee replied: Bobo put me in the corner!
Beansie replied: that is funny because that is literally what happened.

Beansie > Lucinda: In the 1st day of the Year 1 AB (Anno Bobo), I have found your USB.

Lucinda replied: blessed be Bobo's light
Mobs replied: bobo is in all of us
Beansie replied: may the body of bobo be with you
Mobs replied: the power of bobo compels you
Lucinda replied: let us pray to the Bobo trinity: the Bobo, the Bobo, and the Holy Bobo
Beansie replied: and Chris, the mother of Bobo.

Well my dear Bobo, you certainly made an impression.

The Rialto really filled up by around 9:30 pm, then the room went dark except for the light from the exit signs and iPhone glow. Tim Hecker (at least I think it was Tim Hecker) took the stage. The pulsating wobble, low hum, deep rumbles, and layered ambient sounds were meditative, and I stood there imagining how cool it would be if, out of nowhere, Tim Hecker busted out a high-string metal guitar solo. Well, that didn't happen but I really enjoyed his music.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Tim Hecker

Up next was bass saxophone player Colin Stetson. Let me tell you, Stetson is one strong, intense, and talented guy. I was in awe watching his performance and stood baffled and mesmerized wondering how, in addition to playing that mammoth brass sax, this solo and seemingly minimalist artist managed to add the percussion and deep howls to his music. The show was very moving, and I knew that Colin was one of my tweeople when he dedicated the song "Among the Sef" to the lonely, misunderstood whale in the North Pacific Ocean that sings at the wrong frequency.

Shout out to the dude sitting at the side of the stage, pencil sketching the performance.

--Stephanie Dee hosts Champions of the Local Scene (Wednesdays, 6-7 PM) and Twee Time (Fridays, 8-9 pm). Follow her on Twitter @tweegirl.