by JOHNSON CUMMINS

I DJed at the opening of a new venue in town called les Saints, right in the heart of town at St- Laurent and Ste-Catherine (aka Little Winnipeg). With Starvin’ Hungry, Nitrosonique and Psychotic 4 working out the bugs onstage, this may prove to be the best mid-sized venue in the city. The sight lines are excellent at full capacity, while les Saints will remain a really comfortable room even at sparsely attended shows. It even gets swank, with flatscreen TVs capturing the bands on stage for those who don’t necessarily want to veer to the front. The sound was a bit iffy throughout, but I’m chalking that up to opening-night jitters. With promoters like Greenland and Blue Skies already giving the venue the thumbs-up, Montreal concert-goers should prepare to be hanging out there a lot.

With Montreal now sporting more live music venues than ever before, it’s nice to know there are people still sticking out their necks and risking noise complaints and police hassle to put on shows with more of a party vibe. Occasional makeshift venue the Bread Factory (617 St-Remi) is still doing shows and will be hosting Montreal’s Pony Up! on Friday night. Despite their record doing well on Canadian campus radio and garnering favourable reviews stateside, the ladies have been keeping it on the D.L., so make sure you catch them at this hush-hush show with the Coloured Lights and Abigail Lapel. Also happening on Friday night is the return of Dead Messenger, who join forces with musical miscreants Cousins of Reggae at Casa.

Along with venues popping up everywhere, there is also a rash of new labels starting up around town. There’s Storyboard, home to Ladyhawk, and tonight will mark the launch of Fig Records when they celebrate their first release from Toronto’s psych-poppers Saffron Sect. They feature the former keyboard player from Flashing Lights, but gone are the rave-ups, leaving room for sitar drones and perfectly executed orch-pop. Helping celebrate the birth of Fig Records will be Emerald Cloud Cobra and Sailor White. On the wheels of steel are DJ Thomas Von Party and, in my not so humble opinion, the best DJ in the city (along with Crawdaddy Simon, natch), the man behind the Come Together nights at Zoobizarre, DJ Transpleasantexpress. He’s splitting Montreal soon, so make sure you don’t miss this. It’s all happening at Green Room.

Saturday night is a no-brainer when Partyline (ex-Bratmobile) play with the always-awesome Kickers and Tennessee Twin, while DJ Lynne T provides the vinyl interludes. Sunday night is a bit more stacked, when the punk rock ’n’ roll sounds of the Aversions mingle with those of two bands from Beantown, Relationships and probably the best-named band ever, Muffstache, at Playhouse. Also on Sunday night is Vetiver, featuring Andy Cabic, a member of Devendra Banhart’s band Hairy Fairy. Expect exquisite psych-folk and flirtations with ’70s California cocaine rock (think Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk). Also playing are Orillia Opry and Basia Bulat, at la Sala Rossa.

GOT A SHOW COMING UP? LET ME PLUG YA. jonathan.cummins@gmail.com

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