Pop Montreal isn't so much a music festival as an endurance test. With five days of top-notch shows running from noon to 3am at venues across the city, you make your plans and then see how long you can stick to them. My score was maybe two hours.But that's okay, because there's way more to Pop Montreal than checking off a list of artists you want to see. More so than any other festival I've been to, Pop Montreal is as much about the music as the city and the experience. Whether you're seeing a show a beautiful old church, walking between venues with a crew of people you met at the last one, or hitting an after party at 4am, the vibrance of the Montreal music community is the real attraction. Here are the top ten moments that made my Pop Montreal totally worth all the exhaustion.Seeing Sun Kil Moon and Chuggo in the same night
Mark Kozelek, aka Sun Kil Moon, is known for his profound, nuanced, literary songs and accomplished classical guitar playing. Chuggo is the opposite of all of those things. Sun Kil Moon's show started with an announcement that talking and flash photography were prohibited throughout the set. Chuggo's show started with a fist fight. Sun Kil Moon sat on a stool throughout his show, Chuggo poured liquor down the throats of audience members. It's impossible to imagine two more dramatically different artists, but Pop Montreal let me see them back to back, and for that I will be forever thankful.Stumbling upon Bomba Estero's show
It was 2am on Wednesday, rain falling from the sky, and it seemed like the whole city had shut down. I trekked up to a massive church in Mile End where the only late night show was happening, and as soon as I opened the basement door, a wave of heat hit me in the face and suddenly I was in the middle of a giant dance party. The band was Bomba Estero, an alternative Cumbia band that's huge in Colombia and most of Latin America. A couple fans I talked to said they normally play arenas back home. Their fever-pitched set was the most energetic thing I saw all week, inspiring dancing from no less than the normally stoic Win Butler.Steve Albini teaching me how to cook
The man who produced Nirvana's classic albums and made the 90s grunge sound is also really into cooking. This much was known from his weirdly fantastic food blog, mariobitalivoice, but on Thursday of Pop, he actually cooked in front of people for the first time. It was much more than a celebrity curated lunch. Albini hung with the two dozen people in attendance for two hours and gave us thorough details on how to cook his favourite foods. At the end, we ate hanger steak that he prepared for us. It was so surreal that I almost had to remind myself what was happening.Hearing Ronnie Spector tell her hard-as-fuck life story
As the lead singer of The Ronnettes, Ronnie Spector performed on some of the greatest pop songs of all time, including "Be My Baby," "Baby I Love You," and "Breaking Up." By now it's pretty well known that her producer and ex-husband, Phil Spector, was an abusive control freak who threatened her life on too many occasions. But nothing prepared me for her semi-theatrical "Beyond the Beehive" show where she recounted her life story in tearjerking detail. We heard about the times Phil Spector locked her in a closet to avoid distractions, how he refused to let her tour with The Beatles out of jealousy, how she kept returning to alcoholism because rehab was the only place where she felt free, and so much more. The night's musical performances were as masterful as the stories behind them were upsetting, and I left feeling privileged to have seen a living legend in her element.Being afraid of Lydia Ainsworth's snake
A couple songs went by in Lydia Ainsworth's set before I realized the weird squiggly contraption next to her was a goddamn snake jungle gym with an ACTUAL snake slithering around on it. Talk about going Spinal Tap with your set pieces. What made it weirder was asking a couple friends, "Do you see the actual goddamn snake crawling around on that thing?" and having them say, "Nah, what are you talking about?" Was the snake only in my imagination??!! Anyway, the music was great, check her out.Wondering why Eamon McGrath isn't more famous
The punk-rooted country/folk singer Eamon McGrath is one of the most ballsy and engaging songwriters in Canada, and it beats me why the dude isn't famous as hell. His midnight set at O Patryo Vys included hard-hitting, no-bullshit songs about everything from hard drinking and small-town desperation, to Stephen Harper and girls. His two best albums, Exile and Thirteen Songs of Whiskey and Light, are essential listening.NOT the Win Butler and James Murphy DJ'd after party
Why do we let celebrities DJ? Okay, sure, it seems to make sense when it's a musician from a beloved band, but what about Win Butler's guitar playing abilities makes anyone think he has DJing skills? One of the most hyped events at at the whole festival essentially added up to two buddies sharing a Spotify playlist of their favourite songs. That would be cool if we will chilling in James Murphy's living room trading tapes, but it fell flat at a dance club where people expected actual, top quality DJing. Most attendees were there just to be in the same room as the dudes from Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem, which was apparent from the lack of dancing and abundance of staring at the DJ booth.Mellowing out at The Plant's day show
By Sunday afternoon, my exhaustion had looped back around on itself to the point where I turned into a zombie-like creature who didn't need food or rest. That's when I thought I'd try hitting some day shows. I roamed over to The Plant, a giant loft space backing onto the train tracks that's smack next to the original Hotel 2 Tango, aka, the legendary jam space where Godspeed You! Black Emperor used to live and arguably where the Montreal indie scene as we know it today was born. Call me obnoxiously new age-y, but that building has an aura about it. Even a band like Smokes, who played an awesomely loud and energetic set, came off as soothing.Eating all the beef brisket and poutine in the world
I'm not afraid to say in public that I went nuts on Montreal's greasy spoon and Jewish deli scene while I was there. With all the shows going on and long walks between venues, it's really easy to forget to eat at Pop Montreal, and this resulted in me having a few too many piles of Quebecoise junk food at embarrassing hours of the night. The Main's smoked meat poutine is exactly what it sounds like, and it's simultaneously the most amazing and disgusting food in the world. I literally might have died Sunday night without it.Having feelings at The Unicorns reunion
I'm pretty jaded on reunion tours these days, and went to this one more out of obligation than anything else. I mean, I couldn't NOT go The Unicorns' first Montreal show in a decade. Everything changed as soon as I got inside and felt the excitement in the air. It was as if everyone had checked their last ten years of aging at the door and were giddy as teenagers to see their favourite band. I ran into two friends near the entrance, did some shots at the bar, and went off into a crowd full of old fans singing along gleefully to "Jellybones." A couple of us tried walking to Pop's closing party afterward, but gave up half way and went home. We'd already closed off Pop in the best way possible.Greg Bouchard's favourite act is beef brisket - @gregorybouchard
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Mark Kozelek, aka Sun Kil Moon, is known for his profound, nuanced, literary songs and accomplished classical guitar playing. Chuggo is the opposite of all of those things. Sun Kil Moon's show started with an announcement that talking and flash photography were prohibited throughout the set. Chuggo's show started with a fist fight. Sun Kil Moon sat on a stool throughout his show, Chuggo poured liquor down the throats of audience members. It's impossible to imagine two more dramatically different artists, but Pop Montreal let me see them back to back, and for that I will be forever thankful.Stumbling upon Bomba Estero's show
It was 2am on Wednesday, rain falling from the sky, and it seemed like the whole city had shut down. I trekked up to a massive church in Mile End where the only late night show was happening, and as soon as I opened the basement door, a wave of heat hit me in the face and suddenly I was in the middle of a giant dance party. The band was Bomba Estero, an alternative Cumbia band that's huge in Colombia and most of Latin America. A couple fans I talked to said they normally play arenas back home. Their fever-pitched set was the most energetic thing I saw all week, inspiring dancing from no less than the normally stoic Win Butler.Steve Albini teaching me how to cook
The man who produced Nirvana's classic albums and made the 90s grunge sound is also really into cooking. This much was known from his weirdly fantastic food blog, mariobitalivoice, but on Thursday of Pop, he actually cooked in front of people for the first time. It was much more than a celebrity curated lunch. Albini hung with the two dozen people in attendance for two hours and gave us thorough details on how to cook his favourite foods. At the end, we ate hanger steak that he prepared for us. It was so surreal that I almost had to remind myself what was happening.
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As the lead singer of The Ronnettes, Ronnie Spector performed on some of the greatest pop songs of all time, including "Be My Baby," "Baby I Love You," and "Breaking Up." By now it's pretty well known that her producer and ex-husband, Phil Spector, was an abusive control freak who threatened her life on too many occasions. But nothing prepared me for her semi-theatrical "Beyond the Beehive" show where she recounted her life story in tearjerking detail. We heard about the times Phil Spector locked her in a closet to avoid distractions, how he refused to let her tour with The Beatles out of jealousy, how she kept returning to alcoholism because rehab was the only place where she felt free, and so much more. The night's musical performances were as masterful as the stories behind them were upsetting, and I left feeling privileged to have seen a living legend in her element.Being afraid of Lydia Ainsworth's snake
A couple songs went by in Lydia Ainsworth's set before I realized the weird squiggly contraption next to her was a goddamn snake jungle gym with an ACTUAL snake slithering around on it. Talk about going Spinal Tap with your set pieces. What made it weirder was asking a couple friends, "Do you see the actual goddamn snake crawling around on that thing?" and having them say, "Nah, what are you talking about?" Was the snake only in my imagination??!! Anyway, the music was great, check her out.
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The punk-rooted country/folk singer Eamon McGrath is one of the most ballsy and engaging songwriters in Canada, and it beats me why the dude isn't famous as hell. His midnight set at O Patryo Vys included hard-hitting, no-bullshit songs about everything from hard drinking and small-town desperation, to Stephen Harper and girls. His two best albums, Exile and Thirteen Songs of Whiskey and Light, are essential listening.NOT the Win Butler and James Murphy DJ'd after party
Why do we let celebrities DJ? Okay, sure, it seems to make sense when it's a musician from a beloved band, but what about Win Butler's guitar playing abilities makes anyone think he has DJing skills? One of the most hyped events at at the whole festival essentially added up to two buddies sharing a Spotify playlist of their favourite songs. That would be cool if we will chilling in James Murphy's living room trading tapes, but it fell flat at a dance club where people expected actual, top quality DJing. Most attendees were there just to be in the same room as the dudes from Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem, which was apparent from the lack of dancing and abundance of staring at the DJ booth.Mellowing out at The Plant's day show
By Sunday afternoon, my exhaustion had looped back around on itself to the point where I turned into a zombie-like creature who didn't need food or rest. That's when I thought I'd try hitting some day shows. I roamed over to The Plant, a giant loft space backing onto the train tracks that's smack next to the original Hotel 2 Tango, aka, the legendary jam space where Godspeed You! Black Emperor used to live and arguably where the Montreal indie scene as we know it today was born. Call me obnoxiously new age-y, but that building has an aura about it. Even a band like Smokes, who played an awesomely loud and energetic set, came off as soothing.Eating all the beef brisket and poutine in the world
I'm not afraid to say in public that I went nuts on Montreal's greasy spoon and Jewish deli scene while I was there. With all the shows going on and long walks between venues, it's really easy to forget to eat at Pop Montreal, and this resulted in me having a few too many piles of Quebecoise junk food at embarrassing hours of the night. The Main's smoked meat poutine is exactly what it sounds like, and it's simultaneously the most amazing and disgusting food in the world. I literally might have died Sunday night without it.Having feelings at The Unicorns reunion
I'm pretty jaded on reunion tours these days, and went to this one more out of obligation than anything else. I mean, I couldn't NOT go The Unicorns' first Montreal show in a decade. Everything changed as soon as I got inside and felt the excitement in the air. It was as if everyone had checked their last ten years of aging at the door and were giddy as teenagers to see their favourite band. I ran into two friends near the entrance, did some shots at the bar, and went off into a crowd full of old fans singing along gleefully to "Jellybones." A couple of us tried walking to Pop's closing party afterward, but gave up half way and went home. We'd already closed off Pop in the best way possible.Greg Bouchard's favourite act is beef brisket - @gregorybouchard