Montreal shows concert concerts Liturgy

Six sick Montreal shows to skip your office Christmas party for

The second most hated band in black metal, a Xmas all-star bash led by a Montreal-born king of pop songwriting and multiple shows for the black nail polish set.

Now that we near the celebration of the birth of the wee baby Bejeeba, gigs around town traditionally start to slow down. Touring bands will be sticking closer to home while promoters take a much needed break. Local bars are scrambling a bit at this point as they’re now competing with the familiar toasting of yuletide logs and egg nogs at company Xmas parties (yikes!), and people are usually so broke they can’t even pay attention (bu-dum). Things will likely pick up after NYE as hangovers finally subside and people start making some dents in credit card bills.

No worries, though. Among some other killer Montreal shows, this week features a great gig from the previous “most hated band in black metal” (before the fingerless black gloves and angular haircuts of Deafheaven took the heat off of ‘em). 

Friday: If you’re digging cut and paste, sample-based darkness, you’ll want to get your Wax Trax!/goth on when Chi town duo Hide let the bad times roll at Da Turb. The black nail polish set betta prepare for a complete sensory clusterfuk with the decibels (hopefully) turned up to teeth clenching levels. Opening up this dark carnival is Hrt. 2040 St-Denis, 8 p.m., $24.56

The synth heads are definitely going to want make tracks down to SAT to catch the Soft Moon. If you dig your singalong synth stuff, the Soft Moon will deliver with a soft lob served up with a smile. In the middle slot is L.A.’s “mersh” (as in co-MERSH-al natch) sound of Nuovo Testamento but the real reason you will want to get those two all dressed hot dogs and poutine to go is to get down there early enough for local openers Perestroika, who will show those out of town humps how to pour a little bit of blood into electronic music. For a perfect night, you could catch Perestroika and then flip off the other two bands at SAT and just catch Hide at Da Turb. Look at you! Now you’re a little bad ass scene maker! You’re welcome. 1201 St-Laurent. 8 p.m., $33.79

Okay, I definitely pulled the plug after that lone Rites of Spring record (maybe Sunny Day Real Estate’s first jammer) when it comes to anything the hacks have called “emo,” but if you actually brutalized your ears and had a good cry right up to the Victory years, you may need to know that the Alan Aldas of post-hardcore, Thursday, will be getting all weepy at Corona with their buds Cursive and Infant Island (“Infant Island”? Dooods, puhleeze). Bring a hanky. Hmmm, seeing Thursday on a Friday, probs a vaudevillian joke in there but I’m too hungover to think of one. 2496 Notre-Dame W., 8 p.m., $50

Now I dig the downer and drab as much as the next dooder and have spent more than an hour on Thus Love’s YouTube and Bandcamp joints, bursting through the surface with mixed results. At their worst, they sound like a shiddy Wolf Parade, but when this trio’s synth-driven tsunami (although they don’t have any keyboards live) and great baritone vocals really wash over me, they hit the Sound levels of emotional heft. I dunno, it might be good? Thus Love brings their not completely good (yet not soul-emptying bad) thing to le Ritz with Gift and Robber Robber. Go… or don’t. I mean, I’m not your real dad anyways, but while you’re up, get me a beer from the fridge and don’t tell your mother. 179 Jean-Talon W., 7:30 p.m., $20.72

Saturday: If you were hoping to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Flatliners at Foufs with Chastity and Bad Waitress, yer pounding sand as it’s sold out. But who gives a fuck, really, when you can make it down Corona to see the almighty songwriting genius Andy Kim shows off his newly blackened and rinsed follicles and croons out the yuletide toonz at his annual Xmas bash? When I had a full head of fair hair back in the ’70s, I used to tape the hit parade off of AM radio with every second song being either Abba or Elton John. The K7 sounded liked a garbled mess of hiss and squelch (sort of like Throbbing Gristle, actually) but Kim’s bad-ass “Rock Me Gently” was the most played numbah on my fave comp tape and could even give a swift kick to the jewels of Neil Diamond (who I am deeply in love with as well). Do a Wiki search on Kim and his solid gold songs and thank me later. Making this a star-studded event are appearances by the Damn Truth, the Dears, Sloan’s Chris Murphy and Sass “don’t call me Sassy” Jordan. Andy Kim is fucking rad, that is all you need to know. 2496 Notre-Dame W., 8 p.m., $50

Thursday: Whatsdis? A whole column and yet not a peep about the big pick of the week? Well, here ’tis. Easily the second most hated band in black metal next to Deafheaven (whom every frost bitten metal warrior hates and every needle-drop movie-watching indie nerd loves) is Liturgy. Admittedly main Liturgy member Hunter Hunt-Hendrix’s diatribe on transcendental black metal was one of the most cringeworthy moments ever in metal, 2011’s sophomore release Aesthethica is one of the most crushing moments I have ever heard and their show at Il Motore (now Bar le Ritz PDB) during that tour was utterly bludgeoning. This. Will. Fucking. Rule. Metal puritans can go get fucked as Liturgy features all new members under Hendrix’s guidance yet their current jams pick up nicely over the decade since the ballast blasting Aesthethica. See ya at the bar, Sunshine. 

Current Obsession: Pack, self-titled


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