POP Montreal is back for its 14th year. Although a ‘hip’ pop festival sounds like an oxymoron, POP Montreal pulls it off, balancing the big names with emerging artists. Check out some of POP’s less known events and shows in this alternative POP guide.
Wednesday, Day
Art POP – Pillars: Voices to Look Up To, By Miss Me x LOVE
12 p.m.
Quartiers POP
Free!
Kick off POP with the presentation of “Pillars: Voices to Look Up To,” a collaboration between Montreal street artist Miss Me and local youth center Leave Out Violence (LOVE). Earlier this summer, LOVE led a leadership workshop with local youth, and the eight participants chose five of their role models to be depicted in Miss Me’s canonizing style. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Emma Sulkowicz, among others, made the list.
Wednesday, Evening
Suuns & Jerusalem in My Heart + Jerusalem in My Heart Album Launch + Hraïr Hratchian
8 p.m.
Theatre Rialto
Tickers $16
Find out what happens when an indie rock band cross-pollinates with a modern experimental Arabic audiovisual project at Suuns and Jerusalem in My Heart‘s collaborative performance. Stay for Armenian duduk player Hraïr Hratchian‘s liturgical chants set to ambient electronic music.
Thursday, Day
2 p.m.
Quartiers POP
Free!
Only at POP will a goth rock duo, a Mozambican-Canadian vocalist, a futuristic soul duo from Brooklyn, and a rapper best known for a stint in Montreal’s Bordeaux Prison play a barbecue. Come for the food, the music, or the cognitive dissonance that comes from sitting through a lineup as nonsensical as this one. Regardless, it’s bound to be a good time.
Thursday, Evening
Princess Eud & Ded Kra-Z + Lady Ace Boogie + Jai Nitai Lotus + Hvllowz +Aralune
9 p.m.
Balattou
Tickets $10
If you haven’t partied the night away at Balattou on St. Laurent yet, now’s your chance. Princess Eud and Ded Kra-Z will bring Haitian hip hop beats, Hvllowz will set folk vocals to trap beats, and Aralune will blend nineties R&B with future bass sounds.
Friday, Day
POP Symposium: Indigenous Beats
11:30 a.m.
Quartiers POP
Free!
Join Dakelh McGill professor Allan Downey in a discussion with Indigenous artists and beatmakers Beatrice Deer, Mskwaankwad Mnoomnii, Mack MacKenzie, and Will E. Skandalz about decolonization, reconciliation, and resurgence.
Friday, Evening
Film POP: Twentieth Anniversary Showing of Showgirls
Midnight
Cinéma L’Amour
Tickets $10
If you still haven’t heart of Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls, give it a quick Google. The 1995 box office bomb has aged like fine wine, and has earned a place of pride at Cinéma L’Amour for its 20th anniversary midnight screening. Watch Nomi Malone go from pole-licking exotic dancer to Las Vegas showgirl at the adult cinema, and try not to think about all the different activities that have taken place on your seat.
Saturday, Day
POP Presents: POP Arcade
11 a.m.
Quartiers POP
Free!
Including Montreal’s independent gaming industry in the festival for the first time, POP Montreal presents POP Arcade. Join 15 local indie game developers for a day of live demos, featuring new games and those still in development. Miscellaneum Studios, Heroes Never Lose, Burrito Studio, Illogika, Red Se3d Studio, and others will be in attendance.
Saturday, Evening
Art POP: The Trouble with Reality + No Fun
Midnight
Monument-National
Tickets $23
Montreal has a world-class contemporary dance scene. See what happens when it meets rock ‘n’ roll music. Developed at Tangente, Montreal’s premier contemporary dance laboratory, this night of movement and misanthropy is guaranteed to push boundaries.
Sunday, Day
Puces POP: Record Fair
11 a.m.
Église St. Michel
Free!
If you own a record player, a cassette player, or just want to dig through crates of dusty records, spend your Sunday rubbing elbows with private collectors as you search for the next hidden gem or just want some retro album covers to decorate your walls with.
Sunday, Evening
Vinyl Williams + People Pretend + Bronswick + Radiant Baby
9 p.m.
Casa del Popolo
Tickets $10
Finish off POP with a night of, well, pop at the darling of Montreal’s music venues. Be ready for experimental pop, synth, pop, eighties pop, and any other derivation of the genre artists can think of.