Montreal music festivals are go, and more sick shows to see in June

I still get the chills a bit when it comes time to tap about upcoming Montreal shows.

After some false starts, we finally have a ton of shows happening this summer, or at least until monkeypox casts its dark cloud upon us all. True, ticket prices — both for local and for touring bands — have risen significantly, but on the other side of the coin, I personally applaud shows now starting far earlier. Judging by the size of the audiences that have been showing up, not to mention the sheer number of nightly shows, it seems the local live music scene is healthy again.

So without further ado, here’s some of my picks for the glorious month of June.

It wouldn’t be a summer start without the true pride of Montreal, the Suoni per il Popolo festival, putting the sweat on the walls with dozens of shows for the majority of this month. There are plenty of shows that will be pushing the musical envelope, but if you really want to do your June right, you’ll want to squeeze into the good ol’ Casa on Friday, June 10 for TOHC potty mouths S.H.I.T. with support from Montreal hardcore bands Home Front and Total Nada. (4873 St-Laurent, 7:30 p.m., $17.85)

While it’s true that instrumental post-rock is about as sexy as members of jam band Phish doing laundry, pedal-pushin’ nerds Caspian definitely have the goods, and the pedalboards to actually rise up from the tech-bro mire. Myopic dudes can show up to Théâtre Fairmount on Friday, June 3 to get their drone rock on, with openers Arms and Sleepers. (5240 Parc, 8 p.m., $37.38, all ages)

Your other option on June 3 would be to have your fillings liquified by the sheer decibel blast of modern noise psych heads A Place to Bury Strangers, with Glove and the City Gates at Bar le Ritz PDB. Judging by the true love Montreal has shown these Brooklynites in the past, better show up early as this might sell out. Don’t be tardy, Marty! Pro tip: bring earplugs. (179 Jean-Talon W., 7:30 p.m., $24.56)

On a totally different tip is milk chuggin’ little bro Jonathan Richman, who will make contact with the inner child in all of us at le National on Monday, June 6 with the tub thumpin’ accompaniment of Tommy Larkins. I might be the youngest person in the room (I am very, very old), so thankfully this gig is seated! Pinch me! Fans of cuddling take note! (1220 Ste-Catherine E., 8 p.m., $37.75)

Although there are some killer shows this month, the easy pick for me would be robotic electronic pioneers Kraftwerk, who finally make good on their make-up date. This tour has been blowing up the internet with amazing reviews as the 3D effects are guaranteed to get your head tingling. This blippity blop gigger is at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on Wednesday, June 8, and I’m not one to advocate drug use but yes, you should totally be tripping balls for this. (175 Ste-Catherine W., 8 p.m., $74.15–$144.60)

I’m pretty sure Can-con hardcore legends D.O.A. have done a couple of “last” tours in the past but if you need to see Joey Shithead garble through the ol’ dusty chestnuts, he’ll be at le Ritz on Sunday, June 19. When I first saw D.O.A. in the early ’80s, they were so good I almost cried; when I saw the them almost three decades later, I again almost cried, but for totally different reasons. (179 Jean-Talon W., 8 p.m., $29.82, all ages) ■

Current Obsession: Wire, 154

This column originally appeared in the June issue of Cult MTL.

See previous editions of Hammer of the Mods here.