Pop Montreal

Last Wednesday I traveled to Montreal with a friend to catch some live music, take in the scenery of the city and do all things Pop-related (drink, socialize and listen)!
A brief list of the acts I took in include You Say Party, We Say Die!, Woodhands, Amos the Transparent, D'urbervilles, The Wooden Sky, Brasstronaut, Green Go, Leif Vollebekk, Shad & Semi Precious Weapons. Whew. All that in two days you say? Indeed.
Montreal possesses a charm that is unlike any other urban city in Canada. It's old and new at the same time, a juxtaposition that warms the soul and excites the senses. I've only been a handful of times and I will continue to visit as long as it's charm never wears off.
Personal highlight from Pop Montreal were Woodhands on night one (Wednesday). They performed at the Portuguese Association building after You Say Party, We Say Die! played at La Tulipe. The electro-nerd rockers played to an energized crowd who had a brief break between sets (the clips played prior to woodhands) because Montreal police pulled up and walked around the venue. The best part of Woodhands' set was a hipster kid who climbed on stage to crowd surf and eased into the audience like an old man getting into a bathtub. It was carefully planned and executed, and as a result the kid surfed atop hands for what felt like an eternity (but was more like 10mins, still a feat!).
My Thursday started out with a seminar by Patrick Vien, CEO of Warner Music International at McGill, followed by a trip to Pop headquarters for passes and a brief run-in with Vincent Moon (of Blogotheque AKA Take Away Shows). The evening was full of folk rock sounds courtesy of Amos the Transparent from Ottawa & the Wooden Sky from Toronto, followed by the amazing energy of the D'Urbervilles of Guelph, ON. Each band performed at the Jupiter room on St-Laurent and the D'Urbervilles set floored me.
On my last night I ventured out independently to see Leif Vollebekk, who came highly recommended to me from a friend who'd spent the summer in Montreal and made his acquaintance. Leif performed at the Prince Au Parc and his set of folky looped sounds with atmospheric violin additions and incredibly quarky vocals was a definite highlight of the weekend. I scored a CD from Leif by chance at an industry meet-and-greet at the Symposium early in the day and it's been constantly playing in the background of my days ever since.
There is so much more to say about Pop Montreal and all it's performances and moments of excitement, confusion and exhaustion but I'll leave it at this: if you're thinking about a festival and you like french cuisine - go to Pop Montreal. The people are fantastic, the bands will more than likely surprise you and the city is worth the trip in and of itself.