Metal Monday: Heavy Montreal guide

Heavy Montreal (though c'mon, wasn't Heavy MTL kind of a cooler name?) is less than two weeks away, and we at CJLO are no slouches when it comes to doing stuff with the festival. In addition to giving away passes on air (which you can still win on Friday, July 31 on Beyond That Graveyard III from 9 - midnight and Grade A Explosives on Sunday, August 2 from 4 - 6PM), we've been doing interviews on site for the past two years and have always had an awesome time of doing so. Before I start let me say that a lot of this is lifted from the Heavy FAQ page located here: http://info.heavymontreal.com/. Let me also preface this by saying that I'm basing a lot of this on previous years, and it may be different this year, so be forewarned. I guess to paraphrase all great festival sites, “lineup is scheduled to change without notice.” This being said, for those whose first time attending will be this year, I thought I'd write a helpful article for what you should expect when you go, in a numbered list, since apparently that's how everything on the internet must be written now.

1. Bring a backpack with the essentials

This may seem obvious to those that have been to a previous outdoor concert, but bring things you may need with you. Heavy will let you bring in backpacks, so take full advantage of this fact. Make sure you pack things you may need, such as sunscreen, sunglasses, a beach towel or blanket to sit on, maybe a poncho or umbrella for if in case gets rainy, and definitely a water bottle, though you might want to bring it empty, as you may be asked to dump it before entering the festival. According to their FAQ, there will be places to fill it while you're on site so you can stay hydrated, which is super important to, you know, not pass out and have to be taken to away on a stretcher. You are also able to bring food for personal consumption, so pack a sandwich and fruits or chips or... whatever. This bring us to...

2. Food

There will be food there, including some generic burgers, hot dogs, and, the Quebec staple, poutine. I think there was also a Subway stand last year too, if my memory is correct. These will set you back at minimum 7 bucks, but I propose something different for those that are looking to get a bit fancier. Food trucks have been steadily taking off here in Montreal, and a lot of them are delicious and worthwhile. Last year, festival goers were able to check out the food porn delights of Winnie Burger, Smoking BBQ, and my personal favorite (and home of the foie gras poutine), Au Pied De Cochon, so you may want to plan to bring a bit of extra cash. And if we're talking about planning...

3. Plan your schedule ahead of time

The schedule is currently up for you to look at (http://heavymontreal.com/lineup/schedule), so make sure you map out your days, and accept that you may not get to see all you want to see. I found the mobile app fairly helpful and it's available on both the Apple Store and Google Play stores. It lets you plan everything out, and gives you notifications before the bands you want to see jump on stage. There are also the schedules they hand out as soon as you arrive at the festival, so you can use those if you want to leave your phone at home. This gives you a great opportunity to...

4. See something new

A lot of people will be drawn by the headliners since they're headliners and people know them, but if you have some time between bands you want to see, try to catch something you aren't familiar with, or maybe show up a bit earlier than the bands you want to see and see a smaller band. These guys work hard to make new music for people to enjoy, and who knows, one day they could be headlining a festival, and you can say you were there when they were just starting out. My point is try to see as much stuff as you can. Of course this is in direct contrast with...

5. For the love of Satan, try to leave early

Most people are going to stay until the end of the night, and despite the fact that the roads around there are not normally traversed by a huge amount of people and Montreal's subway system is adequate, the sheer number of people flooding these two things at once causes massive delays and traffic. If you can duck out early, even if only during the last song, your chances of not being swamped by a mass of people is WAY higher, so keep that in mind. Speaking among being among crowds of people...

6. Remember the after parties

Heavy usually has after parties following each night of the festival that feature even more bands. Last year's Swashbuckle / Rainbowdragoneyes double bill at Katacombes was hilarious and insane, which by my standards means totally great. This year's celebration of 25 years of Fat Wreck Chords at Metropolis looks to be a bit more, shall we say, pricey, but is probably a great bet if you're a fan of punk. Make sure to keep checking the main site to see what other things might get announced. Speaking of related events...

7. For the nerds: Don't forget Grimposium

A group of us from CJLO attended last year's Grimposium, created and hosted by Concordia University' professor Vivek Venkatesh. Aside from being a super awesome dude in general, he also is into extreme metal of all varieties, and this year he's expanded the symposium on extreme music to include a book launches, panels on topics such as “Issues in Metal Journalism” and “The Future of Extreme Metal”, some film screenings, and shows featuring Gorguts and Between the Buried and Me. With all of this stuff there's really no excuse to not go and hang out with like minded metal people. And since you'll be interacting with others, remember to...

8. Be safe and be courteous to others

Though metal is thought of as being a place where weirdos cut themselves to sacrifice their blood to their dark lord or whatever, we within the community know that's only partially true. You will be around a lot of people so take care of yourself. Be wary of others who are super drunk and belligerent or generally being a dick. Also, if you are going to be out there... don't be that belligerent dick. People are trying to have fun and enjoy themselves, and you being an asshat doesn't help, so just don't. Also, the same metal etiquette rules that we all know still apply: if someone falls in a pit or whatever, help them up, and be mindful of where people are when you're swinging your arms around looking like an idiot.

Hopefully these tips will help you to have an awesome time moshing in the outdoors. Make sure you tell the interwebs what you like and don't like while at the fest through their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also, if you see any folks in a CJLO shirt, feel free to say hi! Keep it loud, keep it heavy, and remember: metal rules.