All hail Spiritualized, and 10 more Montreal shows to catch this week

The days getting shorter and cold winds starting to howl down our collars, heralding in sweater weather, can only mean one thing: POP Montreal is just around the corner. Before you get set to pop, though, there is still some primal-oozing action happening around town this week that will help ease you right into the best fest in town. Also, my big pick of the week is happening on the worst night of the week. It’s a band I’ve spent an assload on for rare vinyl and remain one of the greatest grandiose, epic and panoramic bands of all time: Spiritualized. Read on, champion.

Thursday: The only game in town tonight is the anniversary of the punkiest darn bar in town, Turbo Haüs, who will celebrating five years of furrowing brows at those damned moshing kids. Having seen the operating machinery up close when I DJed there for a pre-pandemonium spell, I can tell you that Da Turb peeps work their asses off and remain as passionate as they ever were. Help the best small room in the city ring in five years with a serious gigger tonight. Driving up the 401 from the Big Smoke is Wine Lips, and adding extra punch to the bill are the always rad Priors in the middle slot while the Fake Friends warm up the room. Get ready to call in sick on Friday morning — or better yet, just quit! 2040 St-Denis, 8 p.m., $15

Friday: Turbo Haüs remains the place to be for those of you who like your riffs dripping in heaviosity, with Philly’s Spiter (feat. members of Devil Master and Integrity), the crushing power of Greber (a duo made of former Great Sabatini and Fuck the Facts members), Glowing Orb and yet another ex-Great Sabatini joint, Cell Press. Bring ear plugs as this will get loud. 2040 St-Denis, 8 p.m., $10/$15

Shiddy punker band NOFX will be asking you to throw your shoes (preferably Vans obis) at them one last time before they call it a day at the end of their tour. To name-drop another shiddy band to describe my feelings here = Good Riddance. Opening at this terribly tragic event will be the Last Mile and No Waves. What? It’s sold out? Oh, uh, never mind. 

Although I still love their debut record, somewhere along the way Ghost became as exciting as David Lee Roth’s stint in Las Vegas. They will be headlining at Place Bell, but another band taking up the middle slot that has also kind of lost the plot is Mastodon. True, Mastodon is not nearly as thrilling as they were during the Relapse years but if they bust into the opening riff to “The Wolf Is Loose,” it’s game over. Opening this gigger deep in the heart of Laval is Spiritbox. 1950 Claude-Gagné, 6 p.m., $63.90

Saturday: Damn, Da Turb has really pulled a lovely hat trick over their anniversary weekend. Red Deer’s King Bull will be slinging the riffs while sold groove rockers Dangereens and the Flamingos Pink play host to Alberta’s finest. 2040 St-Denis, 8 p.m., $10/$15

Serious psych heads are going to want to dose for an evening with Wand, featuring the visuals of Mad Alchemist, at Bar le Ritz. Expect to stare at your palms with a look of bewilderment for at least two hours. Pray your landlord doesn’t see you. 179 Jean-Talon W.,  6:30 p.m., $23.70

For those about to fold their arms and stare at the ground, we salute you. If you have a hungry hankering for some good ol’ fashioned dark ambience, you will want to saunter your sad sack down to l’Esco to check out thisquietarmy’s associated band Houses of Worship with laMort and Elle Saw. Kidding aside, this is sure to be great. 4461 St-Denis, 8:30 p.m., $10/PWYC

Sunday: If you want things a bit darker but a little bit more electronic you will want to soak up the post-apocalyptic soundtrack of Pennsylvania’s Lunacy, with the man with the most local hustle around town, Mickey Dagger, and the return of dark wavers Brusque Twins at the new and improved Casa. If you haven’t been back to Casa since the pandemic, this is a good opportunity! 4873 St-Laurent, 7:30 p.m., $19.44

For a great change of pace, you can catch some solid punk/rock with Toronto’s globe-trotting punk rock songsmith Eamon McGrath, with the solid support of those local riff-slingers Sick Things. This one’s happening at the rad room Quai des Brumes. 4481 St-Denis, 9 p.m., $10

Monday: I’m bursting through my word count and I still haven’t given you my big pick of the week. Well here ’tis: One of my all-time favourite bands, Spiritualized, are coming to Montreal, with J Spaceman & co., currently touring one of his best records since Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. To say I am excited about this one would be an understatement. Show of the year??? This is all happening at Théâtre Corona in the gentrified yet tender region of Saint-Henri. 2490 Notre-Dame W., 6:30 p.m., $126

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Current Obsession: The Hollywood Brats, Sick on You

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