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Pop Montreal Report: Wednesday

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Pop Montreal Report: Wednesday
As you all likely know, the Pop Montreal festival is taking place October 4-8 this year at various venues throughout the city. Today begins a series of daily reports where I'''ll be giving my thoughts on the shows that I caught the night before. Don'''t look for this to be an exhaustive list, of everything that went down every single night; I don'''t get paid nearly enough to go zigzagging across the city every night so I can see ten minutes of every show. Instead, my goal is to catch three sets every night, and provide you with some details, a few pictures, and maybe a few other goodies. Enjoy!
Darling Arms @ Le Divan Orange - 8pm:
Or, maybe not''¦On my way to the venue, the bus I was on broke down. After consulting the bus schedule and realizing that the next one wasn'''t coming for thirty-five minutes (!) I decided to start walking towards the venue, and try to flag down a cab. Unbeknownst to me however, I clearly stepped into some nebulous anti-taxi matrix, since I didn'''t happen to pass a single one in the twelve blocks that I walked (in the rain mind you.) Checking my watch, and realizing that even if I did catch the next bus I would only be able to stay at the venue for all of five minutes before having to leave for the next stop on the itinerary, I decided to cut my losses, and head directly towards the next venue. Arriving a bit early, I decided to lick my wounds at the Lebanese restaurant next door, and eat some totally unsatisfying re-heated falafel. Thanks Montreal Transit System!
Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome @ Quai Des Brumes '' 9:30pm:


After contemplating suicide/a career change over too-dry falafel, I was feeling pretty downtrodden. Thankfully, this was counteracted by what was a crazy situation over at Quai Des Brumes.
Picture this set-up: a narrow little dive bar, where the front end tables are all filled with typical hipster-types, while the bar at the back is surrounded by drunken, surly working-class francophones who had likely been there since happy hour, heckling the band as they ran through sound check. I guess the bar didn'''t want to piss off their regulars, so they allowed them to stay. Hilarious stuff.
For those who don'''t know them, Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome is a young (and I mean young) synth/dance-punk band out of Calgary, Alberta. I'''d been looking forward to seeing them in action for awhile now, as I'''d heard their live show was ''"an experience.''" I can now safely say that, yes, yes it is. Bass players wearing fluorescent undies, singers convulsing on the floor, these guys aren'''t for the faint of heart. The foursome ripped through a chaotic set that frequently included frontman Craig Fahner going out into the audience and singing right in peoples faces. Good times. They played a pretty even mix of originals and covers, most notably ''"Love Will Tear Us Apart.''" I could see these guys breaking out (if they left Calgary anyway.) If you get the chance to see them live, do it.



Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome - Half Retarded

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Vashti Bunyan @ La Tulipe '' 11pm:

Going from teenage, thrashy dance-punk to a sixty year-old British folk songstress isn'''t the smoothest of transitions (even if she happens to be pals with Devendra Banhart) but that'''s what I did, and I don'''t regret it at all.
Up on stage, Bunyan looks like someone who'''s just returned to the music scene after a thirty-year layoff; she seemed meek, gentle, and genuinely shocked and appreciative that people knew and cared who she is. This isn'''t an insult; it was very endearing. With an intimate little band accompanying her. Bunyan breezed through a setlist comprised of material from both of her studio albums. Each song was prefaced by a quick explanation of the when'''s and why'''s it was written. It was graceful, and other-worldly. Here'''s hoping we don'''t have to wait another thirty years for her third album.
The lack of pictures is because none of them came out right in the venue's lighting. Alas, I am no photographer.
Vashti Bunyan - Lately

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Dave Park

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