Tiny Fest 2023 Day 1: Diverse and Intimate Shows in the Heart of the Plateau

Tiny Fest 2023 kicked off Friday, October 6th across the Plateau venues Casa del Popolo, La Sala Rossa, and La Sotterenea. This year marked the third iteration of the micro-festival produced by Montreal booking agency Worst Dad Ever, sponsored by CJLO 1690 AM and Norla Hats. Despite the rainy weather and the first crisp evening air of fall, Montrealers packed into the three venues beside Boulevard Saint Joseph to watch short sets from beloved local artists plus more bands from across Canada and the United States. 

Starting the night upstairs at La Sala Rossa with local duo Bodywash, the dreamy shoegaze act was joined by several accompanying musicians to create a layered and heavy sound. With Concordia’s own Rosie Long Decter on keys and main vocals and Chris Steward on guitar, Bodywash shook Sala Rossa with moody but highly danceable tunes. A standout from the set was the song “Kind of Light” off of their 2023 album I Held the Shape While I Could, which the band admitted to having never played live before, though you wouldn’t have been able to tell. 

Across the street at Casa del Popolo was a cozy set by Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter John Roseboro. As I entered the cave-like venue, the audience was mostly sitting on the ground, as if they were kids and Roseboro, a particularly engaging kindergarten teacher. Armed with just an acoustic guitar, Rosboro’s quaint songs featured intimate lyricism paired with Bossa Nova-inspired strumming. Between songs, Roseboro had a casual and quirky stage banter, often leaning into self-deprecation. Near the end of his set, he asked everyone to stand up and sing along with the aid of lyric sheets which were previously distributed. This Casa set was the perfect comforting vibe for a rainy fall night.

Back across the street, in the basement venue La Sotterenea, TVOD (Television Overdose) put on a raw and sweltering post-punk show. The six-piece Brooklyn band performed a sweaty and electric set with vocalist Tyler Wright entering the audience and finally hanging off the ceiling lights and jumping off the stage speakers. Songs like “Mantis” and “Alien” got the audience dancing, without a pit opening up quite yet. 

After a brief break to set up, local surf-punk band No Waves took the stage at La Sotterenea. The young trio energized the crowd with their brash but charming presence and garage rock tunes. It became clear why this was an all-ages show, as only a few songs in, a mosh pit opened up full of kids who couldn’t be older than CÉGEP age. However, the crowd defied their youthful stereotypes, as the pit maintained itself well, with no falling casualties to be seen. No Waves did ultimately have a few technical issues with their guitar pedals. However, whatever embarrassment the band may have felt was not experienced by the audience, as their charismatic stage banter more than made up for the technical flukes (even if sometimes the distortion was on so heavily that you couldn’t quite make out what they were saying).

No Waves at La Sotterenea ended Tiny Fest day one on an energized note, as the whole evening highlighted the diversity of underground music both here in Montreal, and in scenes across North America. Stay tuned for CJLO’s coverage of day two of the festival, October 7th, 2023. 

Aviva Majerczyk is the magazine editor at CJLO 1690AM. She is also the host of The Alley, a folk-rock show airing Fridays at 11:00 AM.