The Man, the Main
and the motor

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

It’s no secret that “the Man” has been strong-arming a lot of the live music venues along St-Laurent in the past six months. Oddly enough, the more Big Brother cameras creep up the Main, the more violence and general buffoonery seems to be happening out front of the lame dance clubs. On weekends, the street is clogged with coked-up, body-sprayed suburbanites chowing down on two-dollar chow mein. In case you haven’t noticed, it seems like St-Laurent on a Saturday night now has all the cultural diversity of Kingston, Ontario. My own neighbourhood in the Plateau, lying right in the heart of vomit and baby-laxative-cut cocaine, got so shitty with these drunken lunkheads and uptight condo dwellers that I finally had to move.

STRUM-RUNNER: H-Burns

Not all is lost, though. New venues seem to be springing up everywhere in the most unlikely places. St-Henri has been going great guns for a couple of years, with promoters like Pirates of the Lachine Canal now doing legit and legal shows at the cover-band venue Bar de Courcelle, as well as DIY spaces and living rooms. In more good news, the Green Room recently scored a victory at City Hall and is now actually allowed to have dancing again (WTF? Are we living a real-life Footloose now?). The right to dance, though, is only a small victory. The review for their “salle de spectacles” licence for Green Room and the adjoining concert venue Main Hall is still coming up in September. You can still sign the petition, with full information listed, at www.mileend.ca.

One of the venues recently hit with legal harassment is Casa del Popolo, which despite contributing an immeasurable amount to our city, culturally, was slapped with the formality of having to serve food with each initial drink order. Because of this fine-print law, business has been down, but thankfully, this stipulation with their licence was enforced while their alluring summer patio was in full swing. Winter will become another story.

Thankfully, the fine folks at Casa/Sala could catch a whiff of the Axe body spray in the air and have just joined forces with local promoters (with a ton of heart) Blue Skies Turn Black, and are launching a new live venue in September. Knowing full well that the Plateau is going to hell in a handbasket, they’re opening it in the heart of… Parc Ex! The new venue, Il Motore, is located at 179 Jean-Talon W. and boasts full lighting and sound, and can handle a capacity of 250 people (maybe 300 if the Pitchfork kids leave their backpacks at home). The club is now booking bands for a modest rental fee that should be within most bands’ budgets. If you would like to play Il Motore, email info@casadelpopolo.com—the September calendar is still open.

Lots of shows that deserve your attention happening this week, starting Friday when Montreal ex-pat King Khan brings his Shrines to town with the Sunday Sinners at la Sala Rossa. Instrumental doom-meisters Squalor, Dopethrone and President Camacho shake the foundations at Katacombes on Friday. Finally, fans of Nick Drake, Palace Brothers and Gram Parsons should rejoice when the sweet strum of France’s H-Burns hits Quai des Brumes on Wednesday, with Mercury Mouths pulling up the rear.

COUNTDOWN TO THE STOOGES…JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM