Pop post-mortem

Before I get all mush here about how much I love Pop Montreal, let me first bring a little yin to the yang with a couple of disappointments at the fest. My first stop of the festival, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, was catching Jay Reatard for the third time at a sold-out Sala Rossa, but even in the couple of months since his last visit, it seems that his rock has gotten progressively more stock. Gone are the chaotic moments and quick saves that made his previous, unpredictable set at Pop Montreal so exciting. I was pretty gutted not being able to get into the way-sold-out

Diamanda Galás show on Saturday, Oct. 3, so I went to catch Brazil’s tropical-psych kings Os Mutantes instead, which proved to be an all too safe snoozefest. Way too much Club Med and Jazz Fest side-stage shit there that propelled me directly to the bar halfway through their set.

Now that we’ve got my whining out of the way, Pop Montreal otherwise truly delivered in spades, starting on Thursday, Oct. 1, with Maserati and Mono at la Tulipe. Maserati turned the cozy venue into a post-rock paradise while Mono remained as majestic and haunting as ever. Halfway through Mono’s set, I had to make tracks to l’Olympia to catch what would prove to be my personal favourite show of the fest, Butthole Surfers. Low-end going off like concussion bombs, absurd corporate sponsors, singer Gibby Haynes three sheets to the wind, three screens blaring psychedelic images—it just doesn’t get any better than this! I wasn’t the only one loving the show, as it seemed like Gibby was having more fun watching his own band than actually participating in the dementia. Reaching way back to songs like “The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave” and “Moving to Florida” ensured I left a happy man.

Friday’s highlight was easily Lydia Lunch’s band Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, with Lunch actually smiling and laughing between songs while still managing to show the youngsters how it’s done. The Pirates of the Lachine Canal showcase at Casa was once again the place to be afterwards, and I managed to catch the psych-punk of Terrible Twos, but the real jewel of the night was Detroit’s Human Eye, whose Chrome-style punk rock freakout just killed.

Saturday night further proved that the fest was definitely owned by long-in-the-tooth rockers when legendary krautrockers Faust mixed psychedelia, improv and their take on Living Theatre at the Ukrainian Federation. Just awe-inspiring. After the Os Mutantes fiasco, I managed to squeeze into Thee Oh Sees, who’d packed la Sala Rossa, and chose to set up near the soundboard at the back of the room with a cobbled together P.A. Easily the most fun show of the fest, despite my not being able to see or really even hear the band.

By Sunday I was officially spent, but managed to catch an impromptu set by Treasure Hunt at Mount Zoomer. If you haven’t seen their double bass/drums onslaught yet, better hurry as they might not be around for long.

SEE YA AT OM…
JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM