Case the place>> New or simply renewed, Montreal haunts and hangouts
worth investigating abound
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Crescent Street Pub 1221 Crescent, (514) 866-5959 Nestled among the lower Crescent standbys, this plucky little space—a boxy but charmingly decorated first floor for shows, with a pool room/chill space upstairs—prides itself on offering live indie-rock and alternative-music shows, an anomaly in its neighbourhood, and moreover offering them at no charge. Add friendly service and affordable pints, and you’ve got a standing good bet for random drop-ins. Who knows who might be playing, and given the no-cost admission, what’s to lose? (RB) Jupiter Room 3874 St-Laurent, (514) 288-8998,
jupiterroom.com
Standing
The Main 3523A St-Laurent, (514) 499-7098, themainbar.ca The Union Jack has left the building and London is now the Main, a bar, lounge and supper club with warm and cool colours and 21st-century design, and a terrasse overlooking the party scene on St-Laurent below Prince- Arthur. From Thursday to Sunday, resident DJs Sixx, Image and NTrance offer up R&B, hip hop and house, spread out over the complex’s four spaces. Reservations are recommended for the restaurant, which serves a selection of “global tapas” for every taste. Recent special events, for the 21+ crowd, have included Arabian Nights, featuring bellydancers, live percussion and theme décor. (LC)
My Hero Gallery 3655 St- Laurent, #206, myherogallery.ca
My Hero is a loft space smack dab at the corner of St-Laurent and des
Pins, playing host to an art space as well as a live-music venue. Past
shows have included the Hot Springs, Think About Life and, most
recently, Vancouver’s Ladyhawk. Starting on April 13, you can check out
the art show This Story Is Drawing. Although this is not a regular live
venue, coowners Michelle Williams and Sarah Byrnes promise to be
booking more live shows in the small loft. “Sarah is leaving for Japan
in the fall, so there will be a lot more shows here now because, well,
I don’t really know shit about art,” says Williams. (JC)  Obeko Suite Obeko Suite 3554 St-Laurent, (514) 284-9233 A
fairly new addition to a street under construction, Obeko is
beautifully designed, providing comfortable booths for patrons to relax
and drink in, as well as a gorgeous bar and lots of room to move. You
can expect to hear the sounds of classic R&B, funk and soulful jams
when you step into this nightspot located just below Prince-Arthur on
the Main. Check out DJ Goldenchild on Fridays and Goldenchild with DJ
Kidd on Saturdays. (SC)  Club Pearl Pearl 2021 St-Denis, (514) 402- 6157,
myspace.com/clubpearl2021 The basement grotto once known as
Kunta Lounge has been transformed into a stush and cozy club, complete
with bottle buckets, hoping to attract a more mature and professional
crowd. The white-onwhite decor is a far cry from the African motif they
had going on previously, but you can bet there’s still room to get
down. Check them out Thursday to Saturday nights for a variety of
events and parties. (SC)  La Plage La Plage 4653 St-Laurent, (514) 842-0000,
laplagelounge.com Roots reggae has found a new downtown home
in the form of la Plage, which has been hosting a barrage of live acts,
shows and events as of late. From Vander and his Bass Ma Boom Sound
System to DJ Krinjah, Kalmunity, Kya Kindu and Singing P, you can bet
there’s some roots-related business going on inside this place each and
every week. Once an Italian restaurant, you can find La Plage between
Villeneuve and Mont-Royal on St-Laurent. (SC)  Pub St. James Pub St. James 380 St- Jacques W., (514) 591-4997
Finally, a
place that offers a night out and some great food under one roof. Pub
St. James is quickly becoming famous for its $20 open bar concept,
happening Wednesday to Friday from 5–7 p.m., but thanks to chef Vincent
Pazzari, people are eating well too. Enjoy a Yellow Beet Carpaccio
salad with a Penne Pollo e Portobello pasta dish, or even a 16oz. AAA
steak. It’ll all go down good in the end. (SC)  Rockette Rockette 4479 St-Denis, (514) 845-9010 Now
open
from Wednesday to Saturday, Rockette has plans to expand to a seven-day
operation come summer, with a terrasse out back and a small stage for
live rock ’n’ roll and country on the first floor. The narrow,
two-level space has pool, pinball and fusbal to play with, and a small
dancefloor for moving to country trash on Wednesdays, courtesy of
Inepsy’s DJ Hearse, Chainsaw Rock ’n’ Roll on Fridays with les
Prostiputes’s DJ Pâté and a variety of events on Thursdays
and Saturdays— previous happenings include parties hosted by Urbania
and Bang Bang magazines, and a DJ night by les Invincibles. (LC)
 Le Social Le Social 1445 Bishop, (514) 849-8585, lesocial.ca
Holy swank! And yet so funky and down to earth. That’s what happens
when a labyrinthine, three-storey Montreal heritage building—once the
vanity home of an early Montreal real-estate bigwig, later a
bordello—finds itself hosting parties by the likes of the Kops Crew,
such as their recent banger with ?uestlove of the Roots. Formerly le
Manoir, le Social’s complex layout allows for a variety of
permutations, with fresh soirées for students with an ear for
hip hop and neo-disco (Delish Detroit’s Thursday nights, or Loose
Joints on Fridays), a jazz night cooking, and also a gastro-pub and
lounge in the works for the noontime and 5-à-7 crowds too. The
elegant, oldschool woodwork and décor are to die for.
(RB) |
in the Jupiter Room, you can’t help but feel the ghosts of
debauchery still lingering from when the location played host to Bar
St. Laurent (aka BSL) in the mid- to late-’90s. More recently, the
Jupiter room hosted bands like the Gossip, and is best remembered for
its long-running l’Eighties Night hosted by Orion, but after some time
off for renovation, the Jupiter Room has graduated from grimy watering
hole to posh digs. Management has assured that plans are already
underway for a weekly live music night, but right now are filling
Wednesdays and Thursdays with DJ nights that cover rockabilly, indie
and pop with a spacious dancefloor. (JC) 
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