A SUBDUED POP MONTREAL
Indie stalwart keeping things very simple
As if music festivals didn't have enough issues to contend with these days, the front staircase to the POP Montreal building on Parc Avenue was undergoing repairs with the 20th edition fast approaching. All should be well when the quintessentially local gathering goes down from Sept. 22-26, at a number of Mile End venues, but you never know with construction around here.
Of course, it's not the stairs that has organizers scrambling the most. For the second straight year, POP Montreal will be a subdued affair compared to the venuehopping-till-dawn extravaganzas scenesters would mark on their calendars months in advance. The lineup mostly consists of locals — both up-and-comers from the ever-changing scene and familiar faces who have grown alongside POP.
There are festival favourites like Polaris Music Prize-winning goth rapper Backxwash, experimental post-rockers Suuns, decorated rock acts the Dears and the Besnard Lakes, and the new project All Hands/make Light, pairing Efrim Menuck from Godspeed You! Black Emperor with Ariel Engle (La Force). Two rappers from Toronto, Cadence Weapon and Dijahsb, will be making the trip, as will Winnipeg punks Vagina Witchcraft.
Like last year, most shows will be streaming online on POP'S website, so even though reduced-capacity RSVPS are going fast, it's still possible to enjoy the festival from home.
“I think everyone was secretly hoping things would be back to normal in September, but obviously that's not happening,” said POP Montreal creative director Dan Seligman. “We were always fairly conservative in what we were planning, in terms of capacity and artists. One thing we learned from last year was to keep things as simple as possible.”
There's already been some movement regarding the lineup. Two international touring artists, Soccer Mommy from Nashville and Pomme from France, were dropped from the fest and replaced with a few new acts, including former locals Islands. Artists the world over have hit the road again, but there are still unknowns when it comes to navigating borders and airports, so don't expect exports gracing Montreal stages with great frequency just yet. Even the Islands inclusion was something of a happy accident.
“It was definitely cool to get Islands for our 20th anniversary,” said Seligman. “We wanted to have a nostalgia theme. With Islands, Nick (Thorburn) from the band played the second POP ever with Unicorns.”
Islands are in the midst of a U.S. tour in support of their latest album, Islomania, but after a venue in the northeast wouldn't agree to the band's proof-of-vaccination requirement, they found an opening to come to their former hometown.
Seligman said POP shied away from booking American acts (the Soccer Mommy show was an Evenko co-production), and some dream acts in their sights just didn't make sense at this time. They also had postponed bookings from 2020 they attempted to honour this year, such as Atlanta rapper Cakes Da Killa. All this to say, we're a long way from normalcy when it comes to organizing festivals.
“We had (American jazz saxophonist) Pharoah Sanders,” Seligman said. “That was ready to go for the Sunday. And I think he was actually ready to do it this year, but with the Delta wave, it was just too risky for them, which is totally understandable for an 80-year-old.”
While POP is known for attracting living legends, from Burt Bacharach to David Byrne and Giorgio Moroder in the past, it's also an important springboard for new Montreal acts seeking early champions. For instance, Backxwash was an unheralded opener her first time around at POP, but quickly advanced to headline status as her reputation grew. Without regular opportunities to play live these days, a POP placement could be considered more important than ever.
A pair of local musicians, Maryze and Eve Parker Finley, have made waves on social media recently for their engaging Tiktok presences, but they'll get a chance to do what they do best — perform live music — at POP.
Finley, who released her debut album, Chrysalia, last December, said she's looking forward to the opportunity.
“I made a decision right before the pandemic hit here to take my music and creative career more seriously. Suffice to say, the needed lockdowns threw a wrench in that plan,” Finley said via Twitter. “Being home so much over the last year and a half gave me more time to focus on songwriting and other creative ventures, which helped me gain an audience on social media through comedy and music. But I always longed to be back on a stage sharing music with people IRL. I actually didn't realize how much I missed it until I had my first IRL show since the pandemic began.
“I'm so excited to be able to play POP Montreal for people this year. I'll be playing with a band, also something I have missed so dearly this year, and it should be a beautiful space outside in Mile End. We're obviously not out of the woods with the pandemic yet, but I'm glad we can hold space for sharing art in community again in as safe a way as we can, because that's how we cannot only survive, but thrive.”
Other artists will be looking to promote their new projects. Fernie, a fresh-voiced R&B artist from the West Island-based Kids From the Underground crew recommended to Seligman by Patrick Watson, has already sold out two shows — one at Clubhouse Rialto and the other at Le Ministère.
Montreal-based Leïla Lanova has received accolades in the French-speaking parts of Europe, and she'll introduce her spacey pop sounds to a hometown crowd.
A Grammy-nominated artist for her work with Snarky Puppy and Bokanté, Malika Tirolien will present songs from her latest solo album, Higher.
Finley, Lanova and Tirolien's shows will be held at L'entrepôt77, an outdoor, enclosed venue on Bernard St. E. This repurposing of a long-abandoned industrial structure has quickly become an important gathering spot in the neighbourhood at a time when public spaces have been sorely needed, and it's where a lot of POP Montreal's festivities will occur. Even in rigid pandemic times, the spirit of POP'S spontaneity will live on at this space.
“We've been doing events there all summer,” said Seligman. “Everyone who goes there says it's such a great space, so that will be one of our central venues for the festival. It's outdoors, but it will be covered, so I think if anyone's nervous about going to shows, even if we're taking all the necessary precautions with COVID passports, it will be as safe as possible.”