The annual punk/hardcore/metal festival presented by local promoters Blackdot takes place this weekend. What’s that? Your friends are all at Osheaga but you can’t afford it/are afraid of massive crowds/hate it with all your guts? Well this festival pretty much falls on the total opposite end of the spectrum as far as summer music festivals go.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 1
Noothgrush + Iron Lung + Haymaker + Mammoth Grinder + AHNA @ La Sala Rossa
The opening night of Montreal punk/hardcore/metal festival Rrroooaaarrr features two shows, one at La Sala Rossa and another right across the street at Casa del Popolo. My pick for the night would have to be Oakland sludge metal band Noothgrush.
Show starts at 8 p.m., $20 at the door.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2
Cro-Mags + Powertrip + Enforcers + Weak Link @ Katacombes
Legends of the 80s NYC hardcore scene Cro-Mags are coming to Montreal for what promises to be a lovely afternoon performance. Also, free BBQ and drinks (while supplies last so get there early).
Show starts at 2 p.m., $20 at the door.
Blasphemy + Black Witchery + Funebrarum + Innumerable Forms + Hellacaust + Oath @ La Sala Rossa
Blasphemy, a black metal band formed in Vancouver, released two albums in the early 90s and people are still losing their shit. They released a live album in 2001 and have been coasting heavily on their cult-fame status for quite some time. I’m not hating though, nope. I think it says a lot about a band’s influence and staying power when people are still coming out in droves to see them, especially when they haven’t released new material in 20 years.
Show starts at 9 p.m., $35 at the door.
Mental Abuse + Omegas + Long Knife + Hounds of Hate + Ajax + Wild Side @ Casa del Popolo
Mental Abuse were a highly influential 80s hardcore band from Jersey. Rumours that their vocalist, Sid Sludge, was dead had been circling around for years but he finally put them to rest by reforming the band in 2013. This guy is for real. One time, his car broke down in the Lincoln Tunnel so he abandoned it there and hopped on a bus to go hang out with his friends.
I’ll be hitting this show mostly because I never tire of watching Omegas play live and you never really know if it’ll be their last show. These guys are getting old and have moved on to bigger and better things so there’s a huge possibility that they might call it quits any day now.
Show starts at 7 p.m., $15 at the door.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3
Revenge + Incantation + Abyss + Sabbatory + Occult Burial + Phobocosm @ La Sala Rossa
There’s something about cold places being great spawning grounds for black metal. Revenge hail from Alberta and their sound is so extremely heavy, so brutal and downright barbaric it’s terrifying. This line from a Pitchfork review of their 2012 album Scum.Collapse.Eradication sums it up nicely: “This is black metal ground down to its ugliest, most primal essence, spat out at furious powerviolence tempos and dredged through a filthy morass of down-tuned death metal.”
Show starts at 7 p.m, $35 at the door.
