POP Montreal: Thursday

POP Montreal returned for its annual weekend of concert after concert spread over 5 days, with over 400 artists and bands playing at over 50 venues across the city. On Thursday, CJLO staff attended a few of the shows POP had to offer

Lisa Rupnik

There are a few times in life when things feel just too good to be true. You can’t help but pinch yourself and rub your eyes like an old Bugs Bunny cartoon. It was this giddy feeling that I had when the POP Montreal lineup was first announced. The poster for the festival lineup read like a doctor’s eye chart, but one name was clearly in focus: Beverly Glenn-Copeland.

After he cancelled his 2023 tour due to illness, I amongst many other fans had set our sights low that we could perhaps never see the legend perform. Legend, he is as he has a story even too good for the movies. Being one of the first black students to study music at McGill, Beverly Glenn-Copeland had a very steady if not modest success for the majority of their career. The lack of mainstream acceptance didn’t stop him from creating, I mean what great artist would? Glenn-Copeland collaborated with a bunch of different artists on a bunch of different projects throughout the course of his career, even working on the iconic show Mr. Dressup. 

It wasn’t until his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies was re-discovered by a Japanese record collector, Ryota Masuko in 2015, that the spotlight was put on Beverly Glenn-Copeland. The album has subsequently received numerous awards, topping many best electronic album lists and has been re-issued by multiple companies. Beverly Glenn-Copeland would have been 71 at the time. 

There couldn’t be an artist more deserving of the outward pouring of love and admiration, his music really is like a gift. Keyboard Fantasies especially reads like a love letter to life itself. The music is so simple, beautiful and perfect. Finding connection and meaning through small moments and appreciation for nature. 

Festivalgoers who bought their tickets in advance (like I did, the second they went on sale) were surprised to see an announcement put out by Beverly Glenn-Copeland just days before he was set to perform. He and his wife Elizabeth, who is an artist in her own right, posted a video online stating that Beverly Glenn Copeland was diagnosed with dementia and that this would be his last tour.

The video was shocking, and struck a personal chord with all of his admirers. I personally, was sharing the video with the people I felt closest with telling them, you better come out to the show it will be something like you’ve never seen before. 

The night of September 26th came as routine as any other night. I was running all day trying to get everything done, including getting to the show on time. That rush came to a sudden halt as soon as I entered the Rialto theatre. It was warm and cozy, like visiting your friend's living room. And a couple of CJLO friends were there, turning their heads around behind their seats and giving cute little waves. 

When Beverly Glenn-Copeland came on he was met with a standing ovation that never ceased to end. In fact, the audience's cheers were so overpowering that Beverly Glenn-Copeland in a joking manner told the audience “If you keep clapping we’re not going to be able to play!” and later said that he deeply appreciated the warm reception. The theme of the night really was that warmth you find in friends. This was reflected by Beverly Glenn-Copeland was on stage with many musicians with gleaming smiles on their faces. Not only did he have his wife Elizabeth on stage, he was also there with his frequent collaborators on piano, percussion and a full children’s choir. The band started with a stripped-down acoustic version of “Ever New” and from that point on the audience was simply enchanted. 

Throughout the concert, we heard many different songs, poetry and stories acting as a sonic collage dedicated to Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s life and career. The audience was moved by his touching stories and also his witty sense of humor, adding in funny little songs he wrote when he was younger about the likes of chicken and dancing. In fact he had ended the concert with a beautiful and heart-wrenching version of “Prince Caspian’s Dream”, a song off his 2023 album The Ones Ahead. The audience was in awe, only to see Beverly Glenn-Copeland and his wife come back on stage and do a little acapella song dancing and smiling together. With Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s final words being “It’s important to end these things on a light note”. 

Lisa Rupnik is the station manager at CJLO and co-host of The Last Stop. She is also an avid record collector, a “no nonsense” film lover and feels that her personality can be best defined by her two favourite bands: YMO and Sparks.

Sam Kitch

This was my first ever POP, and after the neverending high praise it gets around the station, I assumed that my expectations were much too high. Turns out they weren’t! The idea of a festival spread out across a city irked me a little, but the concept works perfectly; too tired? Go home and sleep! Want to get to another show? Take the metro! No longer are festival-goers appetites held hostage by wildly overpriced food trucks, just hit up one of our city's many great hotdog establishments mid-show, and you’re good to go. As wild as it sounds, a sprawling, city-wide festival really does kick some ass. 

My first stop was actually over a week before POP officially started, at Kimya Dawson’s borderline surprise appearance, back on the 12th of September. Kimya heralded her own mini-festival with 3 openers to support her nearly 2-hour long set. Up first was local duo Thanya Iyer and Pompey, playing back-to-back sick-to-your-stomach-type tracks. Songs that make you want to call your mom or ask the stranger beside you on the metro for a hug. A perfect example of this is Pompey’s snug tug, a truly devastating track that switches sporadically between soft and tender melodies and crashing distorted instrumental breaks. After Pompey and Thanya Iyer’s somber performance came self-described punk rapper Myles Bullen. While I can say Myles’s music is not for me, Hobo Johnson fans will find solace in his work.

The following act was more up my alley - and the crowd's as well. Moments after Bullen walked off, the Bollywood-inspired Montreal drag queen Bijuriya strode on stage to thunderous applause, stirring up the parking lot of onlookers instantaneously. Filtering between tightly choreographed moves and witty raps about the cultural state of curry, Bijuriya crammed more entertainment into her 15-minute set than some bigger names display in a 2-hour stadium performance. This eclectic collection of talent, from South Asian bars to heartwrenching ballads, seemed to line Kimya Dawson up perfectly.

A staple in any kid-with-weird-parents childhood, Dawson’s (she/they/grandpa) spanning influence has helped give the world bands like The Strokes, Interpol, The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, and The Dare. Dawson remains a cult icon and she wears that badge with honour, opting to stick to intimate venues and backyard gatherings. That's exactly what this performance was. Over an hour and a half, Dawson performed any song the crowd yelled, interspersed with anecdotes about wrestling, family, and stupid exes. It felt more like a family gathering than concert, with Kimya “Grandpa” Dawson spreading her wonderful, anti-establishment gospel to a parking lot full of eager grandchildren. A wonderful way to kick off a kick-ass weekend.

The air Thursday night was ripe for bar-to-bar trekking. 6 acts in 6 hours, cutting-edge cyber-psych to legendary hyper-pop, all in one night; that’s what POP is all about! My night started on the edge of Park Extension, in the humble institution, Bar Le Ritz PDB. After a vague kerfuffle at the door, props to the bumbling CJLO mag editor who forgot his press pass, I was in, and just in time to catch 514 native Una Rose. I like to think that rather than making music, Una casts spells. Synth notes float through the air like shards of wind chimes forgotten by time, coming together just briefly enough to be noticed, then falling back to earth. Una floats atop this sonic wall, whispering about loneliness, love, and the occasional shitty ex-boyfriend. Perfect music to sway longingly to –one of my personal favourite concert moves. 

Following up Una Rose’s somber performance came a complete tonal 180 in the shape of Toronto duo Mother Tongues. Mother Tongues’ music is almost physically tangible as it comes out of the speakers, blaring through any 2-beer haze felt by its onlookers and filling even Bar Le Ritz with a noticeable energy. Their sound is reminiscent of Alvvays, if Alvvays existed in a weird, cyber-punk futuristic version of urban Canada. Punches of synth surround the distorted guitars and crawling drum lines that come commonplace in any psych rock. If commercial space travel becomes available in my lifetime, Mother Tongues new album, Love in a Viscious Way, will be the first thing that plays on my intergalactic aux. 

Though I was already late for the next show I had planned to check out, once Toronto singer/songwriter Luna Li took the stage I genuinely could not move an inch closer to the door. While this was due in part to the sardines-like condition of most Bar Le Ritz shows, what really kept me in place was Li’s phenomenal stage presence. Within the first 6 tracks, Li switched between electric and acoustic guitar, harp, keyboard, and violin, all while maintaining a beautiful level of vocal clarity. The performance oozed raw musicality, most notably when Li ditched the microphone for a 20-minute instrumental set. Very rarely do I find myself leaving a venue with a complete loss for words; but there I was, full-speed hoofing it down Park Avenue, unable to form a coherent thought about what I had just witnessed. Without a doubt in my mind, I believe Luna Li was somehow able to perform a complete analytical mind wipe on me, with nothing but raw talent. If that doesn't inspire you to immediately check out her work, I don’t know what would. 

The energy in the basement of the Rialto was noticeably different from Bar Le Ritz, but it was a welcome change. After over 2 hours of synth-pop and psych-rock, I was more than ready for a sonic shift, and the hyperpop blasting through the venue's double doors greeted me like an old friend. Playing the crowd in was Montreal local and hyperpop artist Sineila. Fulfilling the self-produced solo artist stereotype like no other, Sineila’s 45-minute set consisted of her singing and dancing her heart out, taking breaks only to change the instrumental playing from her precariously positioned laptop. While it can often lead to lacklustre performances, this DIY-DJ format fit Sineila’s style perfectly, and when matched with her undying on-stage energy, actually made for a pretty endearing set.

It also made for a big shock when the next act of the night, Faux Real, took to the stage with an entirely different energy. Over the next hour or so, I witnessed more sweat-drenched clothing being ripped off than I would like to admit, as the French-American twins hopped from stage to audience to stage to audience to stage to audience… (once is enough, let's be real.) While their performance was a little lost on me, the almost entirely millennial crowd surrounding me were enthralled - to each their own! As the energy died down, and the permanent sweat stains left on the stage by Faux Real began to dry, I felt myself start to fade. By this point it was 1:30, and, having started my POP experience at 6, I was ready to curl up on the eternally sticky floor of the Rialto and call it a night.

Thankfully, I was jolted awake by the reason I was even out that late: hyperpop legend Cecille Believe. Having spent over a decade in the music industry, with writing and production credits for names like SOPHIE and Kero Kero Bonito, Cecille Believe has made a name for herself as one of the most forward-thinking and creative minds in the genre. Her brief setlist reflected this, with powerful, ethereal hits coming at the audience one after another. With how respected alternative pop has become this year, I’m constantly surprised how Believe has been able to run under the radars of most mainstream audiences, but in all truth, that's where her music ends up making the most waves. The term “your favourite artists favourite artist” is highly applicable when talking about Believe, as one of the most important things she brings to the genre and music as a whole is her influence. Playing an assortment of cuts off of her newest EP, and her featured song on the new posthumous release from SOPHIE, Believe performed as well as someone can at 2 in the morning on a Thursday. While Believe’s set did leave me wanting a little more, I still left the Rialto feeling excited about POP, and eager for more to come.