It's the time of year again where the city’s heartbeat is a little more uptempo. The streets are plastered with pastel coloured posters with beautiful faces on them. Shops, restaurants and venue doors are left half-open despite the start of the autumn cold. And anyone you may bump into in the mile end area will be either coming from or going to one thing: Pop Montreal and Pop Montreal.

For the last few years prior to the pandemic I had been quite fortunate to attend FME, Festival de Musique Émergentes in Rouyn-Noranda. So much so that the festival is now something I always anticipate. So after a couple of years' absence and this being the 20th anniversary of the festival, I was particularly excited about heading up to this year's edition. The usual seven hour drive turned into an epic test of patience when every road ahead was traffic jammed.

Montreal streetwear and skate brand, Dime brought their Glory Challenge back for its sixth edition last Saturday. Despite a two year gap due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their audience has continued to grow. Brand new challenges were being presented, and there was no shortage of skaters eager to conquer them. However, the goal isn't fame or fortune. “Getting together and having a community, that’s why I’m here,” said Leon Dechapdelaine, a skater hailing from Quebec, who was invited to the event.

There was an electric undercurrent of excitement as fans shuffled into the Corona Theater last Monday night to see legendary post punk/new wave act, Echo and the Bunnymen. The band is currently on a tour of North America celebrating over 40 years since the band’s incarnation in Liverpool’s punk scene in the early 80s. 

2022 has seen a lot of action for synthwave in Montreal. April saw Dance with the Dead rock Les Foufounes Électriques and just before that, Carpenter Brut having stormed through M-Telus. The double bill of Perturbator and HEALTH on September 8 brought another taste of the niche genre, this time at the Corona Theatre.