TEKE::TEKE phoque off music festival Quebec City

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Music

5 artists to watch at le Phoque OFF music festival in Quebec City

by Dave MacIntyre

The 10th anniversary edition of the emerging music event in la Vieille Capitale offers exciting shows for industry pros and the public.

The 10th anniversary of Quebec City’s le Phoque OFF music festival is currently underway, giving music fans a whole nine days’ worth of great live music. Every year, la Vieille Capitale puts on showcases full of nearly 100 emerging artists — mostly de chez nous or from elsewhere in Canada — for industry professionals as well as the public to discover.

Though many of the artists playing this year’s festival are only available with a pro pass or are part of its showcase component, there are still a number of shows available to the general public — and they’ve rallied some of Quebec’s best and brightest emerging talents to play those gigs. Here are five to watch if you happen to be in the provincial capital this week.

Totalement Sublime (DJ set)

Itching to go to a Phoque OFF show literally this evening? You could do plenty worse than this one. Tonight’s show at la Cuisine sees superduo Totalement Sublime — consisting of members of Choses Sauvages and Foreign Diplomats — get behind the decks. No word on if we’ll get the otherworldly soundscapes permeating much of their new album Albédo, or something else entirely.

La Cuisine (207 St-Vallier E.), Wednesday, Feb. 14, midnight

TEKE::TEKE

After watching their electrifyingly hypnotic set at le Ministère at Taverne Tour this past weekend, those going to le Phoque OFF are in for a treat. The seven-piece psychedelic rock outfit pull from influences from as far away as Brazil and Japan to thrilling effect, and are a band who need to be seen to truly be heard.

L’Anti (251 Dorchester), Friday, Feb. 16, 10 p.m.

Crachat

When you name your band after the French word for spit, one could assume your music’s pretty rough around the edges. Quebec City’s own Crachat indeed live up to their name by making raw, short-and-sweet garage punk, landing somewhere between Bad Brains and Bikini Kill.

Le Scanner (291 St-Vallier E.), Friday, Feb. 16, 11:30 p.m.

Ce qui nous traverse

The press photo you see of these dudes on the Phoque OFF website implies that they’re some American Football-type emo outfit, but they’re actually a haunting, surreal experimental ambient duo. Hearing Ce qui nous traverse’s music live surely makes for quite the visual and aural experience, and there’s a rock edge to them, too.

L’Anti (251 Dorchester), Saturday Feb. 17, 9 p.m.

Jetsam

For those who aren’t afraid of a little powerviolence (and know that’s an actual music genre that exists), this queer, anarchist/anti-fascist Montreal trio are a good bet if you like your punk music chaotic, noisy and mostly instrumental. With support from experimental jazz-metal outfit Souphl, a show like this should be one hell of a 1 a.m. pick-me-up.

Le Scanner (291 St-Vallier E.), Saturday, Feb. 17, 1 a.m.

5 artists to watch at le Phoque OFF music festival in Quebec City

For more on le Phoque OFF music festival in Quebec City, please visit their website.

For more Montreal music coverage, please visit the Music section.

Posted in Music

by Dave MacIntyre

Contributing editor for Music
Dave MacIntyre is a Montreal-based freelance journalist. His primary topic of interest is music, but is equally comfortable writing about sports, current events, and Montreal-related initiatives. Outside of Cult MTL, his bylines can be found in publications like BeatRoute and Northern Transmissions. And no, he is not related to Reba, nor to the WWE wrestler Drew, nor to Joey from New Kids on the Block.