What's Happening?

We Just Wanna Have Some Fun, Down At The Rock And Roll Club

With Hanukkah well under way and Christmas so close, Prince Palu can almost feel the drowsiness of the tryptophan overdose creeping up his legs, there are still a few things this weekend worth putting on the boots and hats and scarves and mittens and oversized coats for. We are Quebecers, either born-and-bred or ardent transplants, be we Francophone, English and/or other, it will take a little more than some snow and wind to keep us cooped up like a bunch of Vancouverites. So get out there and continue to vote with your spending habits and support local bands and artists. Meet new friends and wish old ones a happy holiday. You can also wish your new friends a happy holiday too. Anyway, this is what Prince Palu thinks is worth your time and money.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

It is sometimes hard to get up and out of the apartment when the weather turns all wintery, but Le Divan Orange (4234 St-Laurent) has the perfect way to ease you into the night. The weekly Divan Orange Camp every Thursday features a monthly artist in resident and cheap drinks to help get your engine running. This month the artist (or camper) in resident is Olivier Bélisle It is a 6 à 8, so you can still pretty much do any of the other suggestions for Thursday and it is free!

Was there a new band that garnered more buzz in 2014 than Toronto's Alvvays? If you want to see what all that buzz is about, you can catch them when they set-up shop at La Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent) tonight for one more Montreal show before the year is done. Joining them will be fellow Torontonians, Moon King, who will be heading to Europe in the new year for a pretty extensive three-week tour, and local no-fi electro-pop noise duo, Look Vibrant. $15 and doors at 8:00.

For all you last minute holiday shoppers, there are a whole lotta choices for you this week. Starting tonight over at La Tour Prisme (6600 St-Urbain, studio 505) you can once again chip away at your gift buying at the Cutest Art Fair everrrrrrr. Over three dozen local artist and designers providing a plethora of gift options, plus DJ shakti-in-flux and DJ Ethel Eugene providing the tunes. Everyone is welcome, except haters and bad vibes. From 4:00 to 10:00 PM.

While you are up in this neck of the woods anyway, once you get your shopping done, you could head up a couple more blocks to Breakglass Studio (7250 Clark, third floor) to catch two great local bands, SOLIDS and Heat, perform for the Live From Breakglass Chrismukkah party/live broadcast! Tickets are $10, doors at 8:30.

If you were looking to be a little bit more involved with your Thursday night fun, while simultaneously being creeped out and slightly aroused, POP Montreal is presenting a party that will cover all your bases. Urock L'Amour Party des fêtes will commemorate both the 100th anniversary of Cinéma L'Amour (4015 St-Laurent)—it only became a porn theatre in 1969, but was built in 1914 as Le Globe, a combination live performance hall/movie theatre—and the 10th anniversary of the reoccurring POP Montreal event uRockaoke (live band Karaoke). If you love getting your rockstar fantasies tickled in a karaoke box, then you are gonna cream your pants when you do it with a live band. What better place to pop your uRockaoke cherry than in the seedy confines of Cinema L'Amour? Party starts at 10:30. $12 at the door.

For something with a wee bit more twang, The Johnny Cash Machine present a Rockabilly Christmas at Le Divan Orange, with The Jitterbop Boys and the coolest rockin' daddy-o Eddy Blake along for the fun. In fact these fellas might just whip up so much fun that I wouldn't be surprised if the Man in Black himself paid a visit as the ghost of rockabilly Christmas past. Also, a big congratulations are in order to Eddy and the lovely Tara Belle, for the arrival of their second beautiful daughter. $10 at the door, show starts at 9:00. If you were already at Le Divan Orange for the Olivier Bélisle 6 à 8, this means you have an hour to pop out, grab some food and try to soak up a bit of the alcohol before heading back for round two.

Friday, December 19, 2014

What would an edition of 'What's Happening?' be without a good ol' garage rock 'n' roll shindig? Thankfully for us all Analogue Addiction are presenting Fuad & The Feztones (featuring members of the legendary Montreal garage band The Gruesomes), local legends in the making Loose Pistons and Ghost Vines, the brand new music project of Matt Lee from Devil Eyes at Quai des Brumes (4481 St-Denis) for the low price of $8! Philippe Lavoie will also be DJing. Doors at 9:00.

In this time of office holiday parties it can be a little lonesome and sad for anyone who is self-employed and works from home. That is why for the second straight year local artist Gabrielle Laïla Tittley and her friends are hosting Party des Autonomes II, the office holiday party for the self-employed. This party happening at Astral 2000 (1845 Ontario E.) will not only give you another chance to get your karaoke on, but also to give back as the night will also be a food drive as well. So warm up them vocal chords in the shower and bring some non-perishable food and get ready to make an ass of yourself in front of the whole "office".

Proving that their name is not just about finding words that rhyme, local record label Dare to Care also want to make sure that everyone has the chance to go to an office holiday party. They are throwing their Party de Noël at Le Divan Orange and making it open to everyone. No cover at the door and DJs spinning all night. Put on your nice clothes and get there early.

Do you ever find yourself wondering if you prefer pop, folk, or synth when it comes to your favourite type of indie music? Being an indie music fan is not always easy, so to make it easier to find the answer to the above question, La Vitrola (4602 St-Laurent) will host King Karoshi, The Vasts, and Forgotten Fix in a three-way battle royale to see just which type of indie music is tops. If at the end of the night you still haven't found your answer, but have enjoyed the music, then I guess in some way you have answered the question, haven't you? At the very least you helped support three local bands and got to hang out in Montreal's best new venue of 2014. Show at 9:00, $10 at the door.

If you were looking for a slightly more gloomy vibe to your Friday night, then head up to Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent) were Nadja, thisquietarmy, and Black Walls will deliver a triple bill of all the droning, ambient, dream sludge your little shoegazing heart can desire. $10 and doors at 8:30.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

A couple more chances to make a political statement with your dollars and make your Christmas gifts a little more unique happening Saturday. Costume designer and burlesque dancer, Lavender May, owner and operator of Lavender May's Closet, a women's vintage clothing and accessories online store, is hosting Lavender May's Pop-Up Holiday Sale at Loft 1601 (1601 St-Laurent) noon - 11:00 PM. There will also be vintage mens outerwear, home accessories, taxidermy, art and other goodies available from some of Lavender's friends. For a full list of participants check out the Facebook event.

Further up the Main at Sala Rossa the Super Bazar/Foire Artisanale des fêtes gets underway at 11:00 AM. It will feature 25 different participants covering a wide spectrum of different wares, a special craft zone for children and a special holiday menu at the Sala Rosa restaurant. The event runs until 5:00 PM and happens again on Sunday at the same times.

The temperature for Saturday night is supposed to hover around -7°C with partly cloudy skies. Not the worst you could get at this time of year, but not the kind of night you want to be spending outside for very long. Fortunately for us, Sean Foster & The Vaqueros will be heating up the intimate space at Quai des Brumes with their stripped down psychedelic-folk rock. If you haven't heard Sean Foster before, this might be the best place to be introduced, with the red velvet drapes the perfect backdrop for this local troubadours lyrics, Brian Smith's funky cajón and of George Donoso III's intricate guitar work. You should also check out the documentary the band released earlier this year called Psychedelic Troubadour: 6 Days on the Island, filmed during a tour of Cuba. Sharing the double bill with them will be Chinatown's vocalist and guitarist, Félix Dyotte. I'm not sure if Chinatown is done or just on hiatus, but at least you can still go and see Félix, right?

Need a little bit more slow grinding and booty shaking on your Saturday night? Montreal's queer friendly, hip-hop party throwers, Cousins Party present their monthly party up at La Vitrola with special guests Pablo Montoya and Dreams Come True. A portion of the money will be donated to the Ferguson Defence Fund and the Eric Garner Family Support Fund. As they say, "Come correct, come positive and come to have fun!"

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Sunday things begin to slow down as either (A) promoters and bands figure that everyone has run out of money, or (B) are locked into family functions. However if you indeed have not run out of money and want to spend big chunks of it on a worthy cause, then there is a family function happening at Maison Symphonique de Montréal (1600 St-Urbain) when the brother-sister duo of Rufus and Martha Wainwright and a bunch of friends, including Louis-Jean Cormier, Ariane Moffatt, and Amy Millan, present Noël Nights. All proceeds will go to the Kate McGarrigle Fund, which supports cancer care and research at the McGill University Cancer Centre and the McGill University Health Centre Foundation. If the $60 - $75 price range of the tickets is too rich for you, but you still want to help you can make a donation at the Kate McGarrigle Fund. Any gift over $15 will get a tax receipt.

--Prince Palu hosts The Go-Go Radio Magic Show every Friday night from 6 to 8 PM. Tune in, turn on, freak out!