Teenage Fanclub is coming to Montreal, and four more shows you need to see this month

Fiiiiinally, April has reared its head in Montreal. The month is a cruel mistress to say the least, with the promise of calendar days not completely blotted with gray being undercut by rollerbladers, unicycles, dirt, dog shit and last year’s flotsam freed from their snow-covered cocoons. And that’s not to mention the peckerwood legs of Vancouver transplants and tech bros parading around town as if it were July. What a time to be alive!

Thankfully, there is also a host of shows happening over this awkward month — as well as an eclipse for you psychonauts — that will take you right into planting season.

April 8

Those of us who are deeply entrenched in all things John Carpenter, Goblin and other synth-driven soundtrack composers will not want to miss the cinemascopic prog/psych of Zombi, with Overcalc at la Sotterenea. Expect a room full of chin-stroking Magma fans that will definitely include me holding up the back wall. (And don’t blind yourself in the afternoon, this is eclipse day!) 4848 St-Laurent (basement), doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m., $24.56

April 16

Now that it has been years since the mighty Bill Hicks shuffled off this mortal coil, and Doug Stanhope struggles with not getting cancelled, the last great man of yucks still standing has to be “America’s Funny Man,” Neil Hamburger. The first time he made it to town to open for proggy instrumentalists Trans Am at the Just for Laughs Museum, he actually stunned the entire audience who completely failed to get the funnies he was throwing down. One of the greatest/most awkward nights of comedy I have ever witnessed. If you’re ready to be offended, you have to make it down to Bar le Ritz, where Hamburger is sharing the bill with Major Entertainer — which has to be amazing with a moniker like that. 179 Jean-Talon W., doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m., $36.35

May 1

Easily one of the greatest power pop strummers to come our way since Big Star, Scotland’s Teenage Fanclub are still stompin’ the pines with all of the sweet jingle-jangle and harmonies perfectly in place. If you like to gently sway as heaven-sent melodies melt you like butter, you should definitely be at Théâtre Fairmount. 5240 Parc, doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m., $41.47

On the flippity-flop, at the same time as one of my fave pop bands, a night of brutal heaviosity also demands my presence. Dying Fetus, Full of Hell, 200 Stab Wounds and Kruelty play Théâtre Beanfield. Not kidding, just thinking about which show I should go to is already giving me a brain hemorrhage as Full of Hell are utterly pulverizing. Hmmmm….? 2490 Notre-Dame W., 7 p.m., $49.25, all ages

May 2

Okay, there are a fair number of prolific bands these days. Instantly, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Osees come to mind. Ty Segall is easily as prolific as either of those bands and like his product-pushing brethren, he is easily able to reinvent himself with every release, whether under his own name or Fuzz or his many garage incarnations. The kid from Laguna Beach can definitely slay in the live setting, so do not miss his show at Club Soda with Sharpie Smile. 1225 St-Laurent, doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m., $37.35, all ages

Current Obsession: Depeche Mode, Violator

This article was originally published in the April 2024 issue of Cult MTL.

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