Montreal’s underground punk fest is on

We are a couple of weeks away from the last major music festival of the year, M for Montreal, but starting tonight is one of the best punk rock festivals around, the globally renowned A Varning From Montreal. A Varning is now in its eighth year and continues to draw bands from the international underground with unwashed masses from all over North America and Europe visiting our city over the weekend. Congrats to Jannick and her crew at Katacombes — where all the shows are happening — for managing to pull off such a great festival every year without a hitch. Varning: These three nights routinely sell out so don’t get tardy on the tickets here.

Thursday: A Varning From Montreal launches with a bang with Perverted Justice, Effet Werther, Aube, Black Baron, Lost Tribe and Horror Vacui. For all three nights, you can also get cheap vegan fare from La Dinette, who will be set up in the venue. DJs 1984, Krystina Fox and Pappageorgio will keep things raging. 1635 St-Laurent,8 p.m., $22

Friday: A Varning’s middle night definitely heats things up with local leather punx Dead Future, Creeping Dose, Born Wrong, Pmma, Asile, Napalm Raid, Sex Dwarf and Life. 1635 St-Laurent, 7:30 p.m., $22

Fans of n.w.o.b.h.m. and power metal should catch Mad Parish with Last Call and Cromagnum at Hemisphère Gauche. 221 Beaubien E., 9 p.m., $10

Keeping twin guitar solos alive since 1988, Supersuckers will be jamming their 10-gallon lids into Underworld with the Von Rebels, Royal Machine and skate thrashers Bear Mace. 1403 Ste-Elisabeth, 9 p.m., $12

Garagey punk rawk ‘n’ rollers Devil Eyes are back with a vengeance, launching a new K7 at Quai des Brumes with Beantown brats Nice Guys and BP Black Piranha. 4481 St-Denis, 9 p.m., $8

For a night of decibel-blasting rawk, check out Animal Ethics with ex-C’mon members in a new Toronto-based act Das Rad and Balltripper at Playhouse. 5656 Parc, 9:30 p.m., $5 before 11 p.m.

Saturday: A Varning definitely saved the best for last on their final night with Guadalajara’s Los Monjo cleaning up the mess with Savageheads, the Stasi, ex-Inepsy’s Skull ‘n Bone, Sexface, Malokio, Chloroform and Era Libra. Keep your eyes to the track for the afterparty, which should get incredibly messy. 1635 St-Laurent, 7:30 p.m., $18/$20

Sunday: The Varning From Montreal festival will be nothing short of exhaustingly amazing but my big pick of the week would have to go to Emil Amos’s solo project Holy Sons, playing at PDB with ex-Magic Marker Elisa Ambrogio. Amos may be better known as one of the head honchos of Grails and the tub thumper behind Om but the psyched out Laurel Canyon strum of his solo work is simply stunning. Seeing him in a support slot at Sala during Suoni years ago still burns brightly in my frontal lobes. Do not miss! 179 Jean-Talon W., 9:30 p.m., $10/$12

Wednesday: For a night of hypnotic art rock and cheap beer served with a smile, head down to Brasserie Beaubien. Montreal’s best bartender — Annie — will sling up some frosty suds as you nod to Baltimore’s eclectic Horse Lords. Opening up is Cheap Wig, Haircuts and Wreckage With Stick. 73 Beaubien E., 9 p.m., $6/PWYC

 

Current obsession: Holy Sons, My Only Warm Coals

jonathan.cummins@gmail.com