A Devil’s Din

ArtsMusicStage

The snowstorm seems to be done and the weather for the next few days promises to be nicer, but we still can’t go outside at night or hang out in groups during the day. Fortunately there are Montreal shows you can check out this week from the comfort of your home.

Let’s get started:

Geordie Theatre’s The Little Mighty Superhero & Celestial Bodies

2021 marks Geordie Theatre’s 40th year of performing plays in schools as well as original youth-oriented works for the general public. And they’re not about to let the pandemic cancel their birthday party.

The Geordie Theatre Fest is back! It started yesterday with staged readings exclusively for schools, but this weekend, everyone can enjoy some virtual theatre that is good for the whole family.

On Saturday, they will be streaming live performances of two original plays:

  • The Little Mighty Superhero, written by Marie Barlizo and directed by Liz Valdez is “a heartwarming journey of a young boy’s quest in rediscovering imagination and memory in the face of fear and the unknown.”
  • Celestial Bodies, written by Jacob Margaret Archer and directed by Geordie Artistic Director Mike Payett, is “one girl’s cosmic journey to truly owning, literally and metaphorically, the space she occupies.”

The 2021 Geordie Theatre Fest runs Saturday, February 6th with The Little Mighty Superhero at noon and Celestial Bodies at 3pm and 5pm. For more info or tickets, please visit geordie.ca

Virtually Visit the Wheel Club with A Devil’s Din

Montreal-based psychedelic rockers A Devil’s Din will be playing The Wheel Club in NDG this Friday. More specifically, the band will be performing at The Wheel Club, but the audience will attend virtually via Facebook Live.

This isn’t just a chance to see a band playing in 2021 in a traditional real-world venue instead of from their homes, it’s also helping to keep the venue afloat so they can re-open to the public when the pandemic subsides. It’s free to watch, but the audience are encouraged to donate to the venue and the band.

Think of it like going to a show with no cover, then putting something in the hat when they pass it around between sets. Also, you can use the money you save by buying your drinks at the dep to give a little more to the venue.

A Devil’s Din Live Webcast at the Wheel Club starts Friday, February 5th at 8pm. To watch free and for info on how to donate, please visit the Facebook Event Page

Featured Image from Celestial Bodies courtesy of Geordie Theatre

If you know of an event that you feel should be covered, please contact arts@forgetthebox.net or music@forgetthebox.net

No promises but we’ll do our best

ArtsFestivalsMusic

After a brief pause from local shows last week to give the proper respect due to The Hip, we’re back at it with four very cool and very different events taking place this week. All are at smaller venues with low (or free) ticket prices and none are on the same night as each other so why not go to a few of them?

Evan Taylor Jones

If you’re looking for a great show tonight then head down to the Wheel Club where singer/songwritier/guitarist/former The Voice contestant Evan Taylor Jones will be bringing his unique brand of soulful rock to the stage in support of his new EP The Sunray Sessions Live. Evan’s style shows a clear and deep connection with the roots of rock and Motown brought into the 21st century and given a contemporary feel.

Anyone living outside of Montreal should take note that this summer tour seems to be stopping in every city on the eastern side of this continent. So if you can’t make it tonight I suggest you check out the full list of shows on Evan’s Facebook page and hopefully find a stop near you.

Evan Taylor Jones plays The Wheel Club, 3373 Boulevard Cavendish, Thursday, August 25th, 8:30 pm (Doors at 7).

If We Are Machines + A Devil’s Duo + CFCQ and the Piss of Assurance

On Friday night you can head to everyone’s favorite dive Barfly and check out an evening of indie rock headlined by Vancouver’s own If We Are Machines. This summer the six piece psych rock ensemble is traveling from one end of the country to the other and back again on the very accurately named “Ocean Waters Tour”.

Joining them on stage will be two local acts: A Devil’s Duo (members of A Devil’s Din) and CFCQ and the Piss of Assurance making this quite an amazing lineup especially when you consider that tickets are only five bucks!

(Author’s Note: When I say the Barfly is “everyone’s favorite dive” I do so with empirical evidence, try googling Dive bars Montreal or looking up any poll for Best Montreal Dive Bar and you’ll see what I mean.)

If We Are Machines,  A Devil’s Duo and CFCQ and the Piss of Assurance play Barfly, 4062A Boulevard St Laurent, Friday, August 26th, 9:00pm, $5.

Saturday in The Park (N.D.G Arts Week)

Girouard park and the surrounding area has been full of action these past few days while in the midst of hosting N.D.G Arts Week. This multidisciplinary fest celebrating music, theatre, art, dance and much more has all sorts of events going on this week so check out their schedule and find a little something for you.

The big event for music fans will be Saturday in the Park where a mix of Hip Hop, Jazz, Funk, R&B and Soul will come together in a very open and all inclusive way. The first two hours of the event (5 to 7 pm) is an open mic hosted by Eleuthera. Anyone interested in getting up on stage should send a message and sound sample to  ndgopenmic@gmail.com.

The rest of the event (7 to 10 pm) will be a big jam session with the collective #LeCypher featuring Urban Science and whole group of artists from different genres. If you like improvised music and/or sitting in parks then this is the show for you. ProTip: bring a lawnchair!

Saturday in the Park occurs at Girouard Park, 3500 Avenue Girouard, Saturday, August 27th, 5:00pm to 10:00pm, free.

A Cosy Night with Pomme

This Monday the French singer-songwriter Pomme will be over at Le Verre Bouteille for an intimate evening of music which is a perfect way to hear a musician who describes her style as “des ptites chansons écrites dans des ptites chambres.” If this was a movie I’d say that Pomme is cast perfectly as the “cosy” acoustic artist that people want to go and hear on a Monday.

Pomme plays , Le Verre Bouteille, 2112 Mont-Royal East, Monday, August 29th, 8:00 pm (Doors at 7), tickets available through Indie Montreal, $11.85.

Know a band or an artist that should be featured in Shows This Week? Maybe a show FTB should cover, too? Let us know at music@forgetthebox.net. We can’t be everywhere and can’t write about everything, but we do our best!

* Featured image of Pomme via Instagram

ArtsMusic

On tap this week, we check in with the boys from A Devil’s Din who are set to launch their second album, excessive use of the backslash occurs in describing Mykki Blanco, relief is offered to allergy sufferers and two songs are reviewed based on their drum fills. With all that promised how can you not read on!

A Devil’s Din Skylight Record Launch and Listening Party

If you’re looking for something to do tonight then look no further than O Patro Vys where local prog/psch rockers A Devil’s Din will be launching their second album Skylight in style with a listening party.

Along with a CD of the aforementioned album, if you show up you’ll get music (in the form of Light Bulb Alley’s own Jimmi Quinn spinning some tunes), art (in the form of Hyperdoodling), magic (could be a joke, not sure), and a vegan buffet (definitely not a joke, vegans never joke about a good buffet).

To wet your appetite FTB has secured the rights to the exclusive premier of the new track Phaze Ulysses and I must say if the rest of the album sounds like this, it’s in your interest to pick up a copy. Lovers of a good drum fill (something which is a lost art in modern pop music) will especially take note of this driving powerful tune.

A Devil’s Din release their album Skylight at O Patro Vys, 356 ave Mont-Royal East, Thursday, May 26th, 8:00pm, $10, 18+.

Courtney Barnett

On Sunday you can head over to the Metropolis and see Melbourne native and recent Grammy nominee, Courtney Barnett. After the success of her first full length album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit the singer songwriter has been on quite a high and that has manifested itself into a North American tour.

Known for a deadpan delivery of lyrics that have a storytelling wit, Barnett has a way of capturing the listener and drawing them into the song with her. For any sufferer of allergies I suggest you check out the track Avant Gardener as it might become your personal anthem.

Courtney Barnett plays Metropolis, 59 Sainte-Catherine East, Sunday, May 29th, 8:00pm (Doors at 6:30), $29 ($32 at the doors), buy tickets through Metropolis box office.

Mykki Blanco + Doldrums + Gayance + River Lance

If you’re looking for a great dance/hip hop show (for a great price too!) you can go see Mykki Blanco at Théâtre Fairmount this Friday. The American rapper/writer/activist/performance artist/clearly very busy individual who is impossible to sum up in a sentence is on tour right now and not to be missed.

Joining Blanco on stage will be a trio of other performers, Doldrums, Gayance and River Lance making this a very full evening of music that will most likely inspire you to get up and dance. Actually, why wait till Friday, check out this new track from Doldrums and get up and dance now.

Mykki Blanco, Doldrums, Gayance and River Lance play Théâtre Fairmount, 5240 Avenue du Parc, Friday, May 27th, 9:00pm (Doors at 8:00), $20, buy tickets through Théâtre Fairmount box office or at the door, 18+.

Ought + Palm + Complications + The Submissives

If you want to get your indie rock on this week I suggest you head down to the Matahari Loft on Saturday where a (mostly) local collection of artists will be hitting the stage for a jam packed night of tunes. Back home after a brief but hectic US tour this month, this week’s “coolest band you should have heard of” Ought will be headlining the event.

Joining them will be the lone out of towers Palm and two more local acts Complications and The Submissives.  With the styles of these bands being difficult to classify and very different from one another this is by far the most eclectic show this week.

Actually you can hear a wide variety of styles in just one track by Palm. Yet again we find a tune dripping with sweet juicy drum fills which I know we all enjoy. Mmmmmmm drum fills….

Ought, Palm, Complications and The Submissives play Matahari Loft, 1673 Mount Royal East, Saturday, May 28th, 9:30pm (Doors at 9:00), $10, buy tickets through lfttckt.

ArtsMusic

So many shows this week! Get to it.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4

CKUT presents: Squalor + Cheap Wig + Balltripper @ Cabaret Playhouse

Squalor’s experimental noisy sludge + fuzzy lo-fi wailers Cheap Wig + the psychedelic stoner punk of Balltripper = a good time.

Show starts at 9 p.m., $7.

Skurge + Feefawfum @ Barfly

Do you like your thrash with a fair amount of free jazz thrown in? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Show starts at 10 p.m., $7.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5

Castle + Buffalo Theory + Tunguska Mammoth + Abyssed + Near Grey + Watcher @ Foufounes Électriques

San Francisco’s Castle are great and all but there are some solid openers representing Montreal here. Get there early not to miss Watcher and Near Grey.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., $10 via Xtrem Productions or at the door.

Golden Tombs + The Hydrothermal Vents @ Casa del Popolo

Man, Golden Tombs are such a trip to see live. Go get lost in their cinematic psych-influenced spaghetti western-meets-folk.

Show starts at 9 p.m., $6.

La Forêt rouge (cassette launch) + The Crib Death of the Un-Cool + Goddard x Pelchat @ 185 Van Horne

La Forêt rouge was formed in 2002 by Olivier D’Amours (GGRIL, Monocytes) and David Dugas Dion (ex-CRABE, David and the Woods, Gens Chrétiens) and made long improvisational compositions influenced by psychedelic post-rock. They were ahead of their time and then, after a brief existence, the band went on an indefinite hiatus. They are back and will be releasing a new cassette on Montreal label Cuchabata Records. Supporting them are The Crib Death of the Un-Cool — made up of Sam Shalabi and Chris Burns, two legends of the Montreal underground improv/experimental scene — and free jazz/noise duo made up of James Goddard (Public Transit, Skin Tone) and Alex Pelchat (Shining Wizard, Drøm Før Du Dør).

Show starts at 9 p.m.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6

A Devil’s Din + Balltripper @ Barfly

Psych-rockers A Devil’s Din and Balltripper both lost their gear and jam space to a fire recently and are putting on this show (with borrowed gear) to help raise funds to replace what they’ve lost. For those who’d like to help out but can’t make it to the show, they are accepting donations through money transfer at adevilsdin@gmail.com.

Show starts at 6 p.m., PWYC.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7

Andrew Sisk presents The Passing of the Buffalo + Aim Low @ Casa del Popolo

I will let the event description speak for itself here: In the spring of 2011, Andrew Sisk scanned the stacks of a used bookstore and spotted the thin, aged spine of an antique book titled The Passing of the Buffalo. Published in 1916 in Vancouver, the prologue caught Sisk’s eye as it spoke of the fate of one of North America’s first natural resources, the wild buffalo. Through the book’s prologue, five acts and epilogue, the author details the rapid decline of the buffalo in a beautifully poetic and educated tone from behind the mysterious pen-name, Buckskin. Its verses reveal a warning for our time and a beauty long forgotten.

Sisk was inspired to spread the book’s message through music and pay homage to a great work.

Show starts at 8 p.m., $8.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8

Witching Hour Full Moon Halloween Party: Collision of Dimensions @ Theatre Rialto

This sounds like it’s going to be totally crazy. Witching Hour have made a name for themselves throwing parties that include many kinds of media and other more unconventional activities like yoga and meditation. There’s always a live music component — usually electronic DJs and bands — as well as live painting and film screenings. Marie Davidson headlines this edition curated by No Exist and QuebékisŤanz.

Doors open at 8:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 in advance at Phonopolis, X20 and Cheap Thrills; $12 at the door.

ArtsMusic

Looking to see some shows this week?

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19

Man Man + Xenia Rubinos @ Cabaret du Mile End

Experimental multi-instrumental duo Man Man released On Oni Pond, their 5th full length release, in September after some time off. The band took the time between this release and 2011’s Life Fantastic to “reboot” and “reconstruct their sound.”

They’ve always had extraordinarily entertaining live performances to go along with their rollicking 50s-influenced rock n’ roll. Expect a party.

FIDLAR @ Il Motore

Skate-influenced garage punk band FIDLAR will make you feel young again, like you have no responsibilities and all there is to do is get drunk and hang out with your dumb friends. Fuck it, dog, life’s a risk.

No Bones @ TBA

Montreal’s No Bones are back from a short European tour and are throwing a party to celebrate the release of their self-titled 7″. This is one of those secret shows punks like to organize so there’s no announcement of the venue. The FB event says the address of the venue is on the tickets, which can be purchased at Sound Central (4486 Coloniale), Cheap Thrills (2044 Metcalfe), or online here.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22

5th Projekt + A Devil’s Din @ Barfly

If you didn’t check out A Devil’s Din last weekend when they played as part of Montreal Psych Fest, here’s your chance. The Montreal band is supporting Toronto’s 5th Projekt for what is sure to be a hauntingly cinematic psychedelic experience.