Posted by After spending the last nine years living with musicians, I can say with confidence the Montreal music scene more than just alive and well; it’s kicking. It’s hard to believe how many venues, festivals and concerts pump the sounds of so many talented individuals, nearly all within walking distance from one other on this tiny island. From traditional Irish folk music to heart pounding electronic beats, with festivals featuring the world’s best in jazz, reggae, and new technologies, you can literally experience a different genre of music, live, indoors, outdoors, every night of the week, every week of the year.
We’re not talking music for karaoke here!
Several factors have contributed to Montreal’s ability to produce award-winning bands, singers and musicians alike. For starters Montreal has some of the lowest rent for apartments and rehearsal spaces in North America. Combine this with thousands of coffee shops, restaurants, bars and clubs, and suddenly you have a hotbed where musicians can work and afford to live in the city, while honing their talents and evolving as artists. Also, with several internationally renowned colleges and universities in the downtown area alone, students from all over the world can develop fanatical loyalty to up and coming musicians, as they spill into the smaller venues and bars for cheap beer and live music.
Bars
Bars like Brewtopia and Grumpey’s are often filled with local musicians, and offer the new and experienced alike the chance to showcase their skills during open mic nights, all leading up to headlining bands on the weekends. You could also squeeze into Barfly on St-Laurent, where The Dears and The Wolf Parade have rocked out to 65 people cheering as if they were 650. I was recently watching the Ladies of the Canyon at The Green Room, a cozy artist’s bar up in Mile End. The room was packed, the beer was cold, and the singing was extraordinary. There are plenty of small shows like this all over the city, all you have to do is look.
Larger Venues
In my humble opinion the best venues are the slightly larger ones like Metropolis, La Tulip, and Club Soda where I’ve had the pleasure of watching the homegrown talents of Sam Roberts, The Arcade Fire, The Unsettlers, and The United Steel Workers of Montreal. Due to the city’s size, the Montreal music scene has a very community feeling to it. Most of the bands already know each other and many are friends, which offers fans a richer experience during shows, as musical guests will often jump on stage, strap on an extra guitar and sing along. I once hosted a show at Metropolis for Dawson Students Against Violence in 2006, where six bands, headlined by The Stills, put on incredible performances, all to raise money for the Anastasia De Sousa Foundation, in memory of the girl who lost her life during the Dawson shootings. Hanging out with all these young up and comers in the basement greenroom, you certainly felt proud to be part of a show where so many came together to give their time and share their music for a noble cause.
Big Names
Of course, just about every musical superstar from all over the world who passes through Canada has Montreal booked on their calendars. U2, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, and Pearl Jam, to name a tiny few, have all stopped by to sing hello at Montreal’s Bell Centre on a regular basis, with names like Elton John, Billy Joel, No Doubt, Kiss and Metallica printed on upcoming Montreal concert tickets stubs. These huge shows are generally spectacular with incredible sound and dazzling lights, and it’s always a treat to see these larger than life celebrities live, but due to the sheer size of the space I find the Bell Centre lacks a certain intimacy that the smaller venues offer. And with arranged seating and fairly strict security, these shows are a bit tougher to really go nuts and let the music take you. You’ll never see a crowd surfer at the Bell Centre.
Festivals
Which brings me to Montreal’s outdoor music scene. Every Sunday, thousands of Montrealers gather on Mount Royal to listen to the rhythmic poundings of the “Tam tams.” Perfect atmosphere for chilling out, tossing the frisbee, or having a picnic. And for those at the opposite end of the grassroots, hacky-sack spectrum, there’s Piknik Electronik, where DJs spin their Sunday beats, encouraging an entirely different but equally liberating style of outdoor dancing at Parc Jean Drapeau.
Osheaga
This park is actually my favourite concert location. With the Montreal skyline as a backdrop, the sun setting between the skyscrapers and the Molson brewery, you are free to go elbow to elbow with thousands of partying Montrealers in the mosh pit, or you can relax way back on the hill, with beer vendors bringing delicious beer right to you. This park is where 18,000 and I sang along to Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead, the greatest show I’ve ever been to. It is also here where the Osheaga Music Festival takes place every summer. Six stages offering Montrealers some of the best music from local artists, alongside some of the world’s biggest names over the course of a weekend. This year none other than The Beastie Boys, The Roots, Rufus Wainwright, and Coldplay will fill the night air with their beloved songs, making music under the stars in one of the world’s greatest cities.
With too many names to mention in this article, here’s a list (even this list isn’t complete) of Montreal musicians who’ve gone on to make a name for themselves on the international circuit. Here are two interviews and one article which give great summaries of the music scene in Montreal.
