From hip hop to synth pop to nerd rock and back again we’ve got it all in this week’s preview. Well actually we’ve got three things and then it repeats. Apologies, I was going for an exciting first sentence and overshot a little.
On a very expected note: keep an eye out next week for our Pop Montreal preview which will be coming to you on Wednesday in order to coincide with the start of the fest.
SonReal
Coming to town next Tuesday is Vancouver based Hip Hop artist SonReal who after years of hard work pumping out great music for free is finally starting to put together some real buzz both here and south of the border. Such is the life of an artist in 2016, give them great stuff for free and hopefully at some point you’ll get a return on your investment.
It’s good to see that all the hard work is paying off as this current tour is taking SonReal to all corners of North America and has him playing to increasingly larger crowds. I suggest that it’s best to see him now because next time he’s in town it might be a little harder to get tickets… and a little more pricey.
SonReal plays Théâtre Fairmount, 5240 Avenue du Parc, Tuesday, September 20th, 8:30pm (Doors at 7:30), $20 + s.c, buy tickets from the box office.
Honey Beard + La Mécanique
For anyone looking for something to do in the UQAM area of town on Friday night, I suggest you head over to M Bar where Toronto based electro synth pop duo Honey Beard will be taking to the stage as part of their Canadian tour in support of their debut album Thousand Million Things. Joining them will be local act La Mécanique who are a rather new group that also draw heavily on those synthtastic sounds that should make you want to get up and dance.
The music might feel 80s inspired but the drink prices will remind you of the 90s as the organizers have promised a happy hour with pints at $4 and pitchers at $10. With the cover being only $5 this is the hands down ideal show to check out this week for students on a budget.
Honey Beard and La Mécanique play M Bar, 1245 Saint-André, Friday, September 16th, 10:00pm , $5.
Double Experience + East of Sunday + Lunar Trees
On Saturday night Ottawa nerd rockers Double Experience will be taking over The Pioneer’s stage for the first show of a cross Canada tour in support of their newest album Unsaved Progress. If you’re not catching the references I’ll spell it out: this band is passionate about video games which is reflected in the underlying themes of their music.
More apparent to non-video game savvy listeners is that Double Experience are a solid rock band with well crafted and catchy tunes that have crossover appeal to fans of different music genres.
Rounding out the bill are two local acts, East of Sunday and Lunar Trees who are great rock bands in their own right. Put it all together and this show is a full evening of rock and roll for the reasonable price of 10 bucks!
Double Experience, East of Sunday and Lunar Trees play Resto Bar Le Pionnier, 286 Lakeshore Road, Pointe-Claire, Saturday, September 17th, 8:30pm (Doors at 8:00), $10, 18+.
11th annual Hip Hop You Don’t Stop
For fear of it getting drowned out by the Pop Montreal coverage, we’ve pushed the preview of this important community event up by a week. Next Wednesday to Sunday (21st to 25th) a series of multidisciplinary events focused on the arts is taking place in the Côte-des-Neiges and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce boroughs aimed at engaging young people and inspiring them to participate positively in urban arts and Hip Hop culture.
A schedule on the facebook event page will show you the overall list of activities that gives a full picture of the scope of this festival. Being a music column we’re going to focus on the Queens and Kings Showcase which highlights talented young artists in the Montreal Hip Hop scene who will be performing this year under the theme of “Artistic collaboration between men and women.”
The event culminates on Sunday at N.D.G (a.k.a. Girouard) Park with a day long event entitled Elementakiza which is an interdisciplinary, intergenerational day long series of performances and activities combined with a barbecue, tacos and jerk chicken on the menu. You can even get your hair cut!
All activities in this festival are free and all-ages and I’m betting they really don’t care if you actually live in the community. If you’re not a kid or have kids you can still participate by being part of the crowd and showing your support.
HHYDS Showcase Queens and Kings plays Centre d’Essai de l’Université de Montréal, 2332, boul. Édouard-Montpetit 6th floor, Friday, September 23rd, 6:00pm (till 11pm), free.
HHYDS Elementakiza happens at Parc Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, corner Sherbrooke and Girouard, Sunday, September 25th, 11:00am (till 1opm), free.
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!
