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The eighth edition of Montreal’s punk music extravaganza, better known as Pouzza Fest, kicked off the festival season over the Victoria Day weekend, taking place outdoor at Quartier des spectacles and indoors at several establishments centered around the area. 

This year’s fest featured some returning Pouzza alumni like MU330 and The Creepshow, while welcoming some new bands like Reel Big Fish and Face to Face. Punk music has always been known for its political message, and War on Woman and Anti-Flag made sure that fire kept burning at the outdoor stage on Saturday night. 

One of the fest’s many highlights was Montreal’s own Grimm Skunk’s performance on Sunday night. The Quartier des spectacles was packed for the local heroes making their long anticipated appearance at Pouzza. Other notables were Get Dead and Brutal Youth; both bands gave it all on the Foufounes stage. A Wilhem Scream’s sold out show was also a hit, which sadly for this reporter started long after the closing of this town’s metro system.  

It’s great to see the fest grow larger year after year. Even with the rain on Saturday night, the outdoor stage was still packed with wet eager fans. After three short days of music, comedy—yes, Pouzza Laughs at Theatre Sainte-Catherine—and softball, everyone was left exhausted and wanting more, already waiting to see what number nine has in store. 

1. (main picture) MU330 getting their ska on.

2. War On Women made a statement.

3. Shawna Porter lead singer from War On Woman.

4. Anti-Flag closed out the first night of the festival. Justin Sane foreground, Chris Barker middle and Pat Thetic on drums.

5. TJ Maher from the Nashville band Ghost Town Remedy.

6. The Mad Murdocks at Foufounes Electriques.

7.  Trevor Keith of the Southern California band Face to Face. Danny Thompson on drums.

8. Pouzza Fest fans.

9. Making a return to Pouzza Fest Kenda “Twisted” Legaspi of The Creepshow.

10. Wasted Potential making the most of their show at Foufs 2.0.

11. Stephen Brodsky and his screaming guitar of the Brooklyn New York band Mutoid Man.

12. A bit of rain Saturday night couldn’t stop the show.

13. Sam King of Get Dead (middle), Tim Mehew on Bass (left) and Scott Powell on drums.

14. Ramones fan Brad Manners of the band School Damage.

15. Quebec rock icons Grimskunk put on a show Sunday night. Peter Edwards left and Vincent Peake on right.

16. Getting bloody, Patty, lead singer of Brutal Youth.

17. The end of another Pouzza Fest, we are not worthy.

After a great first night at Distorsion on Wednesday, things were looking good for the festival. Unfortunately, it made it hard to live up to that first night. Thursday started off poorly with the first band hitting the stage almost an hour late. With a four band bill and a start time of 9 p.m., time is precious. No one wants to be at a show late on a weeknight. 

Corridor finally took the stage with a very typical opening set. Their early songs were drawn out indie rock jams that melded into each other without ever providing something that would grab your attention.  As background music it is perfect, but not very engaging for a concert. They showed flashes of brilliance towards the end that were unfortunately never developed into anything. Their mediocre songs overstayed their welcome, and their good songs were painfully short and too little too late.

Moonwalkers followed up with something a bit more promising, but ultimately suffering from many of the same problems. They picked up the pace with a thumping rhythm section that got the crowd moving a bit more than before. Their songs were short and sweet, but ultimately repetitive. They made up for their average sound with a solid stage presence and style. They finished up their set with a particularly long jam that overstayed its welcome to the point that the room lights were turned on. While i appreciated the punkness of it, it only further delayed an already late show. 

Next up was Spaceface, which finally brought something interesting to the stage. A band featuring Jake Ingalls, a current member of the Flaming Lips, they brought the theatrics and a trippy psychedelic sound you’d expect. Contrasting the previous bands gloomy aggression, Spaceface provided some bright and bubbly upbeat music with a space disco feel. The highlight of the night was when they brought into the crowd a multicoloured play parachute. Yes, the kind you would use in gym back in elementary. They also tossed some balloons in for good measure. Ingalls then led the crowd through the typical games one would play with a giant multicoloured parachute. While Spaceface was not the headliner, they very well could have been with the performance they delivered.

It is now 11:45 p.m. and The Besnard Lakes, tonight’s headliner, are still nowhere to be seen on stage after finishing their soundcheck a few minutes earlier. On a weekend, having a show last far past midnight is tolerable. On a Thursday though, it’s just annoying. They easily could have had the opener on an hour earlier, so everyone could still get a goodnight sleep. There are very few bands I prefer seeing over sleeping, and The Besnard Lakes are not one of them. With the last bus home at 11:54 p.m. I chose to leave. I was told their show was incredible, for what it’s worth.

First and foremost, I must give the Kalmunity Music Week 2018 a standing round of applause for creating an excellent event with numerous artists from home and abroad spanning numerous genres.

As part of the week, the collective hosted a hip-hop night featuring Washington D.C’s own Sa-Roc (a.k.a Goddess MC), and she did what she usually does: put on a great performance.

A lil’ more about that after, because as part of that night, KVC had local Montreal artists represent by giving the crowd some hype performances to get them ready for Sa-Roc. We heard from Jahmal Whosane, who lit up the crowd with nice vibes of conscious hip-hop. We also heard from Sereni-T, a well-known artist that can spit bars that will make you wish you could rewind the whole track so you can listen to it again (unfortunately, it was a live event, so I didn’t want to bother her). She is also a regular performer at Le Cypher Nights, so you can catch her there if you haven’t heard her already.

New to me was Dix-iple Deca, whose great stage presence and wicked lyrics definitely had me bopping my head. We had the pleasure of hearing some songs from Sam.I.Am Montolla, whose singing style and voice are amazing; from the highs to the lows, her voice is so smooth. Alexander Basics, another new artist to me, was really nice, with a wicked flow and tight lyrics. Meryem Saci also graced the stage, giving the crowd some thumping R&B and hip-hop sounds.

We can’t forget the hosts of the evening keeping the night going smooth, Scynikal and Dshade. They did a great job hyping up the crowd with their energy and jokes in-between sets. Playing music that night was DJ Seriousblack, whose mix of old skool and underground was indeed music to my ears.

All that leading up to what we were all waiting for; Sa-Roc and her DJ, Sol Messiah. There are several female lyricists out there that have come to the forefront of being major players in the hip-hop scene and Sa-Roc is definitely one of them. She stepped on the stage and immediately showed us why she is one of the best out there today. She had the crowd bumping and vibing to every song. She was engaging which, as a fan, you appreciate. Her style and lyrics are on point, and you can tell that the crowd was really vibing to all she had to say. We had the opportunity to listen to one of her latest tracks “Forever”, which is a great song (and has a must-see video). All in all, Sa-Roc us took us on an amazing lyrical journey. Definitely looking forward to the next time she is in Montreal!

For too long the drone has been overshadowed by the tyrants of melody & rhythm. We call upon all drones to come together annually to form a massive drone. 

CJLO - 1690AM, Sender__Receiver and Weird Canada are proud to present: Drone Day 2018: a global celebration of drone music, happening this Saturday, May 26, from noon to 1 PM.

This year, a small group of local musicians featuring members of AIM LOW, Piith, Brigitte Bardon't, Kyoto est Mort, Così e Così and more, will be gathering on Concordia University's Loyola Campus for a very special one-hour drone under the high ceilings of the Loyola Chapel. 

We'll be live-streaming our drone starting at Noon and you can tune in via Mixlr: http://mixlr.com/cjlo1690am. Visit our Facebook event page for more info!