JEPSEN PART OF ECLECTIC LINEUP FOR DISC FEVER
Discothèque blowout will turn Place des Festivals into a celebration of dance and music on Canada Day
You can dance if you want to …
It’s called the Montreal International Jazz Festival, but of course we’ve all known for years that “jazz” can mean everything from Afrobeat to Bob Dylan. And that’s just fine. So few people are going to complain, or even be particularly surprised to learn, that the fest’s main outdoor site at Place des Festivals will be transformed into a gigantic disco club on Saturday night.
The event is called Discothèque, and the fest will help salute Canada’s 150th birthday with a 90-minute celebration of Canadian dance music. The eclectic lineup includes Carly Rae Jepsen of Call Me Maybe fame, Montreal electro-pop newwavers Men Without Hats, Acadian hip-hop/etc. band Radio Radio, pioneering Quebec rap ensemble Muzion, aboriginal singer-percussionists the Buffalo Hat Singers and DJ Champion.
There will be 24 musicians, five singers and 35 dancers backing these artists.
“It’s a DJ show, but with the music played by musicians,” said singer-songwriter/rocker Yann Perreau, who is in charge of stage direction for Discothèque.
“All of the songs, except the first and the last, are going to flow into each other just the way the songs would if it was a DJ spinning the tunes,” said Perreau.
“Basically, the idea is to create une grosse boîte de nuit en plein centre-ville.”
The only act that will not be on the main stage is Men Without Hats, who will appear for a special section on a smaller stage.
“They’ll appear a bit like UFOs
right in the middle of the show in another context,” said Perreau. “Our house band won’t be part of that. It’ll really just be Men Without Hats.”
Men Without Hats frontman Ivan Doroschuk is looking forward to the big disco gig, which will come a day before they play their own jazz-fest show at Club Soda.
“We can’t wait,” said Doroschuk. “We’re pretty close with Carly Rae Jepsen and her crew.”
“I don’t know what to expect, but I love it when an offer like that comes my way,” said Jepsen. “I also love Montreal. It’s one of my favourite places in all of Canada. I already have my poutine places that I want to go to, and some of my favourite shopping is done there. So it’s going to be a nice little holiday/work-cation.”
Jepsen is also looking forward to checking out the other artists on the bill. She’s happy that it’s such an eclectic lineup, which she says is perfect for Canada’s birthday bash.
“Isn’t that the beauty of Canada?” she said. “It’s the perfect celebration, of bringing different worlds together in one place. That’s the best thing about festivals like this. You never know what the take-away will be. Such as new discoveries, of people you haven’t ever heard of before. I love listening to music just as much as I love performing it. So I can’t wait to get into the audience.”