POP Montreal: The Weekend in Review

Dark Meat photo by Rebecca Smeyne

Now that the dust has settled, it’s time to take a look back at POP Montreal—from multimedia orgies in porn palaces to Neil Young tributes and righteous post-punk from Guelph. If you missed it, here’s a cheat sheet to what went down in Arcade Fire's birthplace last weekend:

*Opening night was celebrated with French fries-and-gravy goodness; we argued over which member of San Fran psych-yawners, Vetiver, we’d like to fight, and then got blasted by a squall of keytar.

Vetiver photo by Rebecca Smeyne

*We ruminated on the perverse Montreal tradition of danse contact—Google that shit—and how it might relate to Leonard Cohen’s status as a playboy.

*Irma Thomas, the “Soul Queen of New Orleans” refused to take her shirt off; meanwhile, Lil’ Andy and Ideal Lovers barrelled through a Neil Young classic.

*Burt Bacharach’s Boring Parade of Greatest Hits ™ made us angry, despite being in a house of worship. Then we found Chad VanGaalen and our faith in the power of indie rock was restored, at least temporarily.

*Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy helped provide the live soundtrack to a gay porn classic. We blushed.

*The D’Urbervilles proved that Canada still has talent left to export; Adam & His Amethysts rocked a nice poncho, but not much else.

*Jack Dylan, POP poster artist and Man About Town, shared his thoughts on comics, Montreal make-out spots, and why Canadians could care less about their own political system.

We'll leave you with this portrait of New York's own Todd P scouting donuts at Tim Horton's, a Canadian favorite, also taken by the lovely Rebecca Smeyne. And Todd, if you're reading this: let's start thinking about a locals-only showcase for next year's POP. Brooklyn needs to represent.