M pour Montréal: 20 Years of Showcasing Artists

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

M pour Montréal; 20 years Montréal has been launching, and revitalizing the careers of emerging artists both foreign and abroad.

By offering a platform to artists on the come-up as well as legends on a comeback, it fosters a unique experience for concert goers, industry insiders and innovators to share their skills and share a moment.

Here are a few of this years highlights:

Digable Planets at Le National

Friday night was one for the books.
As evidenced by everyone’s Instagram on Saturday, the whole world gathered for Digable Planets. It might’ve been the concert of the year, which is saying a lot since McCartney was in town 3 days prior and nobody under 60 was talking about it after Planets hit the stage.

The place was packed, Le National‘s stamp girls had to process over 700 attendees within 45 minutes of the doors and that was over 2 hours before they took the stage.

Crédit Photo : Martin poste-Vinay / Mattv

The bar at the entrance was hell, but inside was pure fire and delight. Packed wall to wall like sexy, soulful sardines was a who’s who, of old heads, creators, fans, and aficionados.

You couldn’t walk 5 paces without seeing a face you hadn’t seen in 5 years or old homies or business partners who’d come out to get turned up to the live instrumentals running with military precision tied together with improv like clockwork. The band was right, they were tight, and a special shoutout goes to the girls on trumpets, the sax, the two old heads guitar battle and the drummer who didn’t skip a beat. Montréal had the funk that night and the entire thing hit us hard, in the childhood.

Crédit Photo : Martin poste-Vinay / Mattv

Digable Planets are hype masters. Your highschool crush Ladybug Mecca (Mariana Vieira) never lost a step and the same can be said for team lead and lady killer Butterfly (Ishmael Butler) and soul of the group Doodlebug (Craig Irving). Honed over decades of shared experiences their palpable tap-in, tap-out chemistry, and stage presence could be felt bouncing off each other and the walls, straight into your bones.

From their homage to D’Angelo, through their classic hits, touching on a few funk and soul covers to breathe new life into old tricks, Le National became a church and gathering of soul & Escapism. We channeled Black Caesar, as we witnessed lyrical assassins killing it on stage deep into the encore that hit like a ton of bricks.

Digable planets jazzy bebop/rocksteady steez infused with Brazilian rhythms, Rock, buckets of Soul and a strong helping of Street is timeless. It was timeless then and it will be thus, eternally; which is why celebrating the 30th anniversary of their album Blowout Comb made us feel yesterday, today, and tomorrow all at once. Their legacy is undeniable and their energy was inescapable.

The 90s were back and stronger than ever, and in bringing Digable Planets, M pour Montréal truly put an exclamation point on their 20 year anniversary. They might be 10 years apart but you know the organizers looked up to these guys coming up.

Crédit Photo : Martin poste-Vinay / Mattv

The Franklin Electric at MTelus

Saturday was a complete change in register.

Homesteaders and preppers, guard your panties because The Franklin Electric is in town and these guys Fuck. They stole their name from the Franklin Electric company founded in Bluffton, Indiana in 1944, and if you’re not careful, they’ll steal your girl too.

Formed by Jon Matte in 2013 in Montréal, this homegrown collective of heroes was welcomed with open arms back into the fold of our fair city over at the former Metropolis, now part of the entertainment branch of Telus’ ever expanding empire.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

Security covered every entrance, exit, floor, nook, niche, cranny, it felt a little authoritarian to be frank, but what’s heavy security for a moment’s entertainment. It gave the impression we were in the presence of something important, rare and of high value. Like a talking head government celebrity stooge might be lurking around the corner.

The event was sponsored by Evenko and they’ve got us all by the balls, and people really like The Franklin Electric, so I have to tread lightly here. If you like that folky early 2000s, beardy, guitar twangy, hat wearing, indy country thing; bands like Half Moon Run, The Lumineers, Mumford and Sons, or the Paper Kites (all of whom were formed before) then you’ll love this Canadian/Québecois variant.

Ranging from happy and hopeful to heartbroken, and melodically morose, his Country ballads, and Folk anthems get the ladies swooning and the boys longing for the plains.

Matte’s deep sing songy voice is like aged wine, and when he spoke to his audience in both English and French, asking us if “anyone out here healing?” and telling us what we all have in common is love and fear like a blue jean, salt of the earth Swayze out of Donnie Darko, you could see the people’s eyes aglow. If it wasn’t for the booming drums you could’ve heard a pin drop, a collective moan, and a collective trickle on the Telus floor. If he wasn’t a country singer he’d be a cult leader.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

It’s campfire music, to enjoy with a light drink, your dog, and the love of a good woman, or among a bunch of dudes who love a good sing-along.

It’s not necessarily my jam, but I can see the attraction. If you’re into rounded edges and backwoods trails, this might be the medicine you seek… But me, I likes my edges.

It’s the kind of catchy, bluegrassy, repertoire that could play on an early 00’s YA series about a horse girl with 2 crushes, one of whom is a dark eyed, abuse surviving, troubled teen from the big city.

He ended the show with a dimly lit, hypnotic collectivism that had me wishing I wore a Bolo tie unironically. The crowd, quiet and entranced, soaked it up like the precious last drops of ceremonial wine from the goblet.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

Rowjay, Kinjii and the Next Wave at Club Soda

Next up we hit Club Soda and if the last show had been characterized as campfire valium, these guys were straight Quebec meth on crack.

Rowjay with special guest Kinjii took to the stage with an army of underage children on the come up and it was, above all else, pretty Fking hype. Whenever there’s a ton of Fleur-de-Lys flags, underage kids in a moshpit and a thugged out dwarf draped in Cuban links, you know you’re not in Kansas anymore, and this show delivered that and more.

I had never heard of Kijji and I’m gonna be honest, I was hoping the whole time that he was secretly some black producer’s Yodel Kid but the energy with which he took his 30 kid entourage into the lime lights that night is undeniable. I don’t think any of em’ are old enough to drink, but I don’t think that’s ever stopped em’ know what i mean? Cause they are wild, wiley, and wildin’ out.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

Forget that overbearing feeling of being watched that characterized the former Metropolis, on this night, Club Soda is wide open and here, freedom rang.

I vaguely remember being his age, so I get the vibe. He’s the next generation of trashy life loving degenerates of which I have long ago graduated. He’s building a future from the ground up and attempting to carve something out in his image, one that breaks ties with the past and forges something new, while also being straight retarded. The broke teens he’s inspiring today are gonna be the clients of tomorrow.

He’s the self-styled CEO of a new independent wave capturing the youth of Quebec right at the cusp and their love and loyalty for the country that made them is palpable.His favorite flower is La Fleur-de-Lys, he wears it on his heart and on his sleeve and as long as he moves with love, and inclusion, over fear and ethnocentrism, we could end up with a positive catalyst for change on our hands.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

Now I’m gonna be honest, I don’t really fuck with Rowjay, but just because I don’t fuck with Rowjay, doesn’t mean you can’t fuck with Rowjay. This Vrai Flexeur has been reppin’ Québec hard over in France, Switzerland and Belgium for the last 3-4 years or so.

Rowjay’s fan base is loyal, devoted, energetic, young af, with disposable income and all the time in the world to do whatever the fk they want.

The place was packed with a generation of eclectic youth and even though nobody there remembers the referendum, (shit, they don’t remember last night) tonight, they came together to build a moment, some memories, and new momentum.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

They all dressed like different clic clichés from a 90s teen movie, so every crew was motley, af, with goth kids hanging out with sports jersey kids, chilling with the kid in the flannel shirt. Everybody a character in their own movie, and I like it.

Roy Jays strength is his speed of delivery, and he surprised us with his new shit, an autotune abomination I’m sure the kids will love, cause normally if I hate it, it’ll be favored, and grow into something super popular… Like Jay Leno or Pete Davidson.

The moshpit only got crazier when he took to the stage and that’s gotta mean something.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

The Free Label Brings Disco Back at Le Ministère

Over at Le Ministère The Free Label knocked the doors off the Fucking hinges. Disco is back, it never died, it was just slept on, and these dudes awakened that sleeping monster.

A set so deep that after an hour and a half the electric crowd, still buzzing, bombastically clamored “1 More Track!” through throats sore from screaming all night. The boys had driven down from Boston at 6am just to be with Us, they consider Montréal their second home since their manager Simon Pelletier (Congratulations on the new light and life!) is from here.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

The Free Label are a fking Disco party. They encompass everything good, eclectic and international about the genre. Funk, camaraderie, soul, improv like second nature with elements of Salsa and Merengue served up with a smile, sweat and sexiness.

Their camaraderie is infectious, like old friends coming together riffing off each other, shit, if they had a podcast I’d listen because the chemistry makes me feel like I’m a part of the club.

They are the embodiment of a hype tequila sunrise, and a sincere breath of fresh air. It’s the kind of fun you usually only have in the summer, near the elements and their full of life affair can’t help but inspire excitement and a little horniness… It’s sexy, light and playful, and like the perfect seduction the audience came in droves.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

Josh Tsakas sultry voiced alto range, coupled with the band’s baby-making stylings imbues a transported audience with life. And transported is the operative word here because a few minutes with these guys and you’re on a beach somewhere drinking Mai Tai’s with Singapore Slings on the side.

Guitarist Malik Mungo’s quick fingers and slow hand can take you back from to the 60s, straight through the 90s and straight back to now in zero seconds flat. Jacob Thompson was playing the keytar like it was going out of style, and if you thought it had, you were wrong, he resurrected the motherfucker…

Everybody’s on point and I don’t necessarily have the word count to express the tightness on display here, but sufice to say their live set was the best show of the night and if Bruno Mars and Chromeo had a baby, that baby would grow up to have a crush on these guys and display their posters in her locker.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

Kiwi Jr. Brings 90s Indie Vibes at L’Esco

Over at L’Escogriffe Kiwi Junior more than satisfied with some 90s, surfer, garage rock.

Leading man Jeremy Gaudet’s got an unassuming charm I fuck with. He looks like a cross between Doug Jones, Raine Maida, Goard Downie and Rian Stipe somehow, but shorter. And he dresses like he takes a lot of notes.

They sound a little like a less electronic the Bravery, or a less cliché/predatory Weezer. With 60s rockabilly guitars and drums on occasion delivering a kind of infectious thing. It sneaks up on you bit by bit and before you know it, your tapping your heel to the rhythm and your hips start to warm up a little, and these solid build ups are followed by fun or ironic finishes that leave you wanting more. Add to that the occasional Dylan vocal delivery scheme and you’ve got a nice little recipe.

Photo credit : Melanie Vallieres / Best Kept MTL

They’re white hat geeks that use their powers for good. With clever lyrics, little pretense or pretension, vocals that sound like a higher pitch REM guy going out to the ones he loves, and melodies that remind us of The Strokes, they too have a 90’s sorta charm that fit perfectly into a 20 year anniversary.

A nice tempo, good shredding, and above all nostalgic, like how you could really listen to this while walking home in the rain, on a warm summer eve, a little tips, after a magical night, as a teenager or something. As though they could break into Closing Time, at any moment.

I think I’d be friends with these guys, like they’re not the cool dudes at a party, but the ones with the best opinions and thoughts, making them sorta the coolest dudes at the party. They’re Windsor Ontario, they’re Michigan, and they’re celebratory youth anthems from the perspective of those that were there and never forgot, for those who are here now, and ready for more.

20 Years of M for Montréal

M for Montréal has been launching and revitalizing the careers of initiates and legends both local and abroad for 20 years now. It might’ve gone through a few facelifts and name changes but the core has remained the same since day one. It’s core tenament has always been to bring people together and to get folks to cross the ile while sharing styles and culture and a bucket load of cash. It’s a festival of inclusion and cross pollination. 20 years on and 20 years strong, united in stacks, beats, breaks, streets and heat; it’s the vibe we need now more than ever. Long may she reign.