For a Sunday night, Montreal had many options for concert goers on Nov 4th. Metalheads seemed divided between seeing Behemoth at MTelus or Windhand at le Belmont. Personally, I was originally planning on seeing some good ol’ Quebec grindcore at l’Entre-Nous. That is, until I got word that Fucked Up would be in town, along with hardcore sound-alikes Mil-Spec.

Photo: Colin Medley

“I hope that show becomes my most important memory of 2018,” says Montreal’s Helena Deland with a laugh.  Deland is referring to her headline performance at this year’s edition of M for Montreal, the four-day festival spotlighting rising local talent for industry folk and music fans alike.  The show is the culmination of a whirlwind year of gigs for the singer-songwriter, including a U.S tour in the spring (including a performance at Austin, Texas’ venerable SXSW festival) and European one last month.

On this legendary day, Edmonton’s power metal outfit Striker and British Columbia’s Unleash the Archers invaded the shores of Montreal.

On Saturday night, a sold-out Rialto was hot and ready for one of Montreal’s finest indie singers of his generation. After two opening acts, first Cherry Monday, followed by Guy’s#, the young faces in the crowd started chanting and hollering at Homeshake as he was preparing his equipment on the stage.