Quote of the week

“The number one worst cover song—Celine Dion covering AC/DC—is sacrilege.” —Total Guitar magazine editor Stephen Lawson, on the singer’s duet six years ago with the band Anastacia at a concert in Vegas. Their version of “You Shook Me All Night Long” was branded an “offence” against music.

Crackdown on fun

Attention noisy drunks and the establishments that serve them: the downtown Ville-Marie borough wants you to shut up, or else.

Late last week, the borough amended its penalties for noise violations, increasing fines against both individuals and businesses responsible for any ruckus caused. For individuals, the fines can increase from $300 to $1,000 for a first infraction, from $1,000 to $3,000 for a second and from $3,000 to $10,000 for repeats. For institutions, fines jump from $1,500 to $3,000 for a first, from $3,000 to $6,000 for a second and from $6,000 to $12,000 for repeats. Ville-Marie is the first borough to boost fines in the city. They come into effect this Saturday, June 28.

“We at the borough felt that the bylaw, which is common to all boroughs, was a bit mild, and it was time to step it up,” says spokesman Jacques-Alain Lavallée. “This is really about terrasses. As the eastern part of Ste-Catherine is pedestrianized (through the Village), we wanted to make sure the locals have some peace.”

Lavallée says the rules will be enforced after midnight during the week and after 3 a.m. on weekends.

Martial protest

Thursday, July 3, Quebec City marks 400 years since explorer Samuel de Champlain stepped ashore at the abandoned Iroquoian settlement of Stadacona and founded the first permanent French colony in North America. Not everyone will be in a celebratory mood, though, as activists spearheaded by the Quebec City-based Guerre à la guerre Coalition will be converging on the festivities to highlight the plight of Canada’s native peoples and to protest against the war in Afghanistan.

“We think it’s important to have an anti-colonial perspective put out there, especially in Quebec where these issues are pushed to the side,” says Patrick Cadorette, an organizer with Block the Empire, which is mobilizing a contingent of Montreal protesters.

The main target of demonstrators will be a ceremonial march by soldiers from CFB Valcartier, recently returned from fighting in Afghanistan. “We want to disrupt the parade as much as possible,” says Cadorette, while adding that the protests will be “family friendly.”

Buses leave July 3, at 7 a.m., from in front of Concordia’s Hall Building (1455 de Maisonneuve W.). To reserve a seat or for more info, call (514) 848-7583 or visit j3.amp-montreal.net.

by Christopher Hazou

PEEPing Mont-Royal

Around this time of year, Mont-Royal Avenue likes to get a little weird. Paysages Éphémères is the city’s annual nod to the artists who disproportionately populate the area. For two months, the avenue will play host to installations and performances by nine groups of artists from around the world.

“Mont-Royal is not just a commercial street,” says guest curator Stéphane Bertrand. His concept for this year is Paysages Éphémères/Espaces Publics (or “PEEP show”), which he intends to be “more mobile and ephemeral” than previous exhibits.

“We want to see how we can appropriate the space, find new ways of being in public space,” he says.

One way the space will be appropriated is the “half funeral procession, half-parade” on Wednesday, July 2. Led by performance art collective les Fermières obsédées, who will travel in a police-escorted limousine, the spectacle will deliver a coffin representing over-consumption to Place Gérald-Godin, in front of Mont-Royal metro.

Look out for other projects—many directly related to the neighbourhood—including sculptures made from residents’ recycling boxes, a broadcast of locals’ dreams on loudspeakers and a sculpture of a car made from bicycles.

Info: paysagesephemeres.com

by Matt Jones

Faggity returns

After a brief hiatus, Head and Hands’ Faggity-Ass Fridays will be kicking back into gear this Saturday, June 28, at their new Mile-End location, the Playhouse (5656 Parc), before returning to their regular Friday night dance parties at the same location for the months of July and August.

And what, exactly, is a Faggity-Ass Friday, you ask?

“It’s a queer-themed fundraiser for the Sense Project, our sex education program,” says organizer Christina Foisy. “The whole idea is to create queer-friendly spaces in neighbourhoods like Mile-End, spaces that are alternatives to the Village. We have an anti-violence policy where we want everyone to treat everyone with respect, we have gender neutral bathrooms and we provide safe sex materials at the door, everything from condoms to gloves to lube, pamphlets on everything you could possibly speak of, and, of course, information about the Sense Project. I guess you could say it’s kind of a politicized space.”

Rocking the joint this Saturday will be the bands Wet Nose Hero and Swamp Sex Robots, the Dead Doll Dancers, DJs Plastik Patrik, Sinik and Xavier T, with the whole deal being hosted by Montreal’s fave drag queen Miss Velveeta Spandexxx.

The fun starts at 10:30 p.m. Suggested donation is 10 bucks.

by CHRIS BARRY

Rear-view mirror

16 YEARS AGO - JUNE 25–JULY 2, 1992

On the cover: A BMW in front of a row of triplexes, signifying, somehow, co-ops. Funding cutbacks are threatening them, as are the increasing number of “yuppies” moving in, says former member “Maurice.” “Could you imagine if everyone in your apartment building decided they didn’t like you and kicked you out of your home?” he asks.
•Generally panning the big-budget summer sequel releases (Batman Returns, Lethal Weapon 3, Alien 3), Martin Siberok takes a shine only to Whoopi Goldberg’s Sister Act.
•Discussing the cover art of their latest album Between 10th and 11th, which features a bunch of rapidly ripening bananas, Charlatans UK bassist Martin Blunt says, “I think we offended a lot of East Germans, because there’s a joke in West Germany about how East Germans have never seen a banana.”
•David Shannon accuses Pride parade organizer Normand Jolicoeur of “fifi-fascism” after it’s announced “drag and leather queens were not welcome at this year’s festivities,” due to the media’s tendency to focus only on the flamboyant.

>> George Carlin One of the original barrier-busting comics of the ’60s, George Carlin was proud, “in a perverse way,” of his American legal legacy. His “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” (for the complete list, see Under the Logo on the cover) led to an appearance before the Supreme Court, which ruled them not suitable for prime (or any other) time. But besides being profane in an era that was only getting ready for it, Carlin was an early and candid drug user and an opponent of the Vietnam War and religiously imposed mores and hypocrisy. An expert at wordplay and a huge influence on generations of comics, he was also funny as fuck.

Insect >> Drilling for oil Republicans, as they tend to do, are getting all gung-ho for offshore drilling—which has been frozen for 27 years, thanks in part to George W. Bush’s father. But last week, the President urged Congress to lift the ban, saying high oil prices demand it. Never mind that any exploration off the coast of Florida (whose governor, Charlie Crist, supports it, and may be John McCain’s running mate) won’t result in any price changes before 2030, or that oil companies already hold leases on 68 million acres on and offshore they haven’t drilled. The last thing Republicans need as they head to electoral defeat in November is to be painted as the Big Oil party. But they aren’t doing anything to change that.