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Next fest to test
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The new kid on the local festival block is known as Cool Fest, now in its sophomore year. With over 35 noise, electronic, punk rock and free jazz bands strewn over three days, Cool Fest 8 is jointly produced by local promoters Fluorescent Friends and the Ample Collective, and is quickly gaining ground on the international underground scene. The impetus for the festival started simply enough for local musician and co-promoter (now residing in Ottawa) Blake Hargreaves, of Dreamcatcher, Thames and Cousins of Reggae. “I just really wanted to see these bands,” says Hargreaves, “and kind of came up with this wish list. Once you start something like this, though, in Montreal, there’s always going to be a lot of people that start popping up and offering to help take it to the next level.” Hargreaves could use the additional help, as the organizing and promotion of a festival hosting over 35 bands, including numerous bands from New York City, Chicago, Baltimore and Orlando, is a daunting task to say the least. Oddly enough, things have been going smoothly for this festival, still in its teething stage. “The only real headaches I’ve had so far was trying to convince Americans to come to Canada in the middle of winter, but we found some Americans who are cool with the cold, and they’re coming.” With Cool Fest 8’s ridiculously low ticket prices ($10 a night, $15 for an all-inclusive wristband), Hargreaves and his co-promoters will walk the slippery tightrope between breaking even and financial ruin, but with its burgeoning reputation on the international noise and experimental scene, attendees have already been confirmed from such far reaches as Indiana. Damage and dronesIf Hargreaves finds the promoter hat a tad ill-fitting, his enthusiasm obviously comes from his fan perspective. “I know MV Carbon performed with Tony Conrad so I’m really excited to see if that influence has rubbed off on her, and what she’ll do with it. I’m also excited to see the collaboration of Zaimph [aka Marcia True, Cool Fest’s recipe for success rests mainly in its homespun, grassroots enthusiasm, but it’s the cutting-edge programming that should put it in the upper echelons of likeminded events, like New York’s successful No Fun Fest. Friday night, you are not to miss locals Black Mammoth, whose joyful, bratty noise and mayhem should reduce the room to a puddle. Next up, Toronto’s Disguises should further liquefy the crowd if the volcanic blast of their CD, Post Mortem Depression, is any indication. Saturday, things pick up even more with a set from New York drone artist Axolotl (aka Karl Bauer). Having previously collaborated with fellow Cool Fest invitees Mouthus, Axolotl’s keyboard-and-viola-generated drones are manipulated through cheap guitar pedals, enveloping the listener in a meditative state. Locals Panopticon Eyelids bring a bit more rock to the fest—their improv guitar jams should recall a young Thurston and Lee, before they figured out what a chorus was. Members of noise duo Metalux, Jenny Graf Sheppard and MV Carbon, will also do two solo sets on Saturday, while the power drone of highly anticipated guitar/drums improv duo Mouthus is sure to inflict damage. Finally, on Sunday, the festival flexes its eclectic muscle with the punk rock of Ottawa’s Holy Cobras—think the Oblivians filtered through the Velvet Underground. Hargreaves even gets in the game with a short set by his band Dreamcatcher while, as mentioned earlier, Zaimph and Mattin should agitate and surprise. Capping the festival off will be the treated guitars, feverish vocals and glitchy electronic loops of duo Metalux, which should prove to be a festival favourite. AT LA BRIQUE (6545 DUROCHER, |
Bassett of Double Leopards] and Mattin, which should be really different and interesting to see how they work together. I’m definitely really excited to see these bands, but at the same time, I think it’s really important that people come out to see it because that’s really what this festival is all about.”