by LORRAINE CARPENTER

For years, Montrealers have balked at the booking of artists such as Roni Size, Marianne Faithfull and the Dears at the Jazz Festival. Of course, only the most ardent purists were really complaining. Fans of electronic music in particular have been treated to the Jazz Fest’s midnight series of DJs and live beat-meisters, and now it’s another festival’s turn to bring the young ’uns into the fold, with their dancing shoes on.

FestiBlues marks its ninth edition with Electroblues, a soirée of “glamour, decadence, raw power” that promises to channel the dark realm of the blues’ roots, the six-string density of blues rock and the beat-laden base of modern electro. Curator DJ Frigid selected four local bands (Many Mental Mistakes, Dandi Wind, Encre Noir and his own live act, Frigid), two DJs (Mekanik and Cherry Cola) and a VJ team (Athanore) who all fit the bill in their own unique way.

“Blues has influenced a lot of music, obviously, and electro is a really wide term,” says Frigid, thankful for all the stylistic wiggle room he could get. Many Mental Mistakes, a three-piece band featuring Eva Stone, express their alterna-bluesiness with, Frigid says, “an experimental way of playing. They jam a lot, live—they can play six songs that will last 35 minutes and the same six songs two weeks later might last 45 minutes.”

Dandi Wind, meanwhile, forgoes what Frigid deems the “stiff and square” electro stylings of Miss Kittin and company for a harder, tribal sound, while the debut performance of Encre Noir, led by renowned visual artist Zïlon, promises “urban poetry read over a dark, slightly industrial sound with beats,” a moody, downtempo counterpoint to the rest of the program.

As for Frigid, who launches his debut album next month, he’ll play a set followed by a screening of his new music video, both showcasing the latest evolution of the act from what Frigid calls “the big electro, androgynous, super-glammed up” look and sound to something slightly more bluesy, and slightly less clean.

“The album is a lot heavier, a little darker and more intimate,” he says. “[In the video,] I just wanted to show something more real, so it’s still kinda trashy, but I get very dirty—I’m in mud at one point.”

Blues is rarely associated with razor-sharp aesthetics, but the Athanore VJs have been hard at work for three months preparing visuals for each act, and stage presence was one of Frigid’s key criteria as a curator.

“The bands won’t just be standing there, singing their songs. Zïlon, of course, is very visual—he collaborated with the VJs for a special concept. I’m always very stylish, Dandi Wind is colourful and crazy, and Eva Stone as well. It’s too much—[Many Mental Mistakes] were wearing plants for one show. It’s going to be a wild performance.”

Many Mental Mistakes, Frigid, Dandi Wind, Encre Noir and DJs Mekanik and Cherry Cola at Club Soda on Saturday, Aug. 12, 8:30 p.m., $14

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