Locals!

 Last weekend I had the chance to see all three of these artists play at POP Montreal during a Sunday workshop called "Sacred Sunday".  They played all gospel songs. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon and it was also nice to be introduced to some new local artists I wasn't well aquainted with yet.


The Barr Brothers





Lil' Andy (he is not so little...)






Patrick Watson

Thank you YouTube!

This past week, I was fortunate enough to see the Arcade Fire perform a free show, in the suburbs in a mall parking lot! They are the one band I had to see while living here. They put on an epic show and thanks to youtube, I am able to share a little bit with you.



THEY WERE SO EPIC! I almost cried... These are the reasons I love living in Montreal.

In this video, when the view changes from a close up to a farther shot, you can see a pink and white toque at the bottom center left.  I am 2 people behind that guy! We were so close and had an amazing view.



Also, within the last week I went to see a band I used to really enjoy, CocoRosie. Now, I am not their hugest fan, but it was still really neat to see an old favorite come to life.  They have amazing voices and although their music is pretty experimental the combination of the two sisters voices was quite lovely!

Sample/Inventory Sale!

Friday was a rainy and dreary day, so I headed down to the Old Port of Montreal to attend a fashion sale. It was Day 2 of "The Big Fashion Sale by Quebec Designers".  In search of some good deals on some local fashion I headed to this huge old building called Bonsecours:

The sale was pretty crazy. There was three levels to explore of clothing, accessories, jackets and shoes.  There was all different kinds of styles to look at! Super classy ladies wear to organic cotton hippy yoga wear.

Most of the vendors( if not all) were waaayyy out of my price range! Even at the sale prices of 50-80% off things were still pretty pricey.  It was still fun to look. I had heard about sample sales but had never been to one until now.  It is a rare chance to potentially buy one-of-a-kind designer items!!! This sale was pretty large in scale, so it included a lot of old inventory as well.

Some of the designers that stood out to me are:

Véronique Miljkovitch

I was kinda surprised that I liked her stuff.  I think it was mostly because it reminded me of my friend Alicja's design style

.

 Eve Gravel 

Super cute dressers. There was a really nice white (with tiny grey hearts) cotton shift dress, with super delicate pleating in the front that I loved by this designer.

Anne-Marie Chagnon

Her jewelry really reminds me of an old co-worker/friend in the Yukon who creates beautiful stained glass works and jewelry.

Soia & Kyo

 I have always loved this brand. Their jackets are AMAZING! 

That is about all I can remember... One thing that really stood out to me at the event was the range of quality/styles of product! There was a good mix of emerging designers and well established brands so it was neat to see them all in one place.  It was inspiring to see.

"You're just a riddle in the Sky"

Recently, this musician was brought to my attention: The Tallest Man On Earth




He just did a show here in Montreal, but unfortunately I found out about him a little bit too late.  It would have been a really awesome show to see live!

Since this song I decided to post is about birds, I feel I have to bring up my little escapade into "birding" today.  I saw this really beautiful bird in my back yard and I had to know what it was!!!  The only thing I have found to be similar is the "Red-winged Black Bird".

But I am not 100% convinced that it is the same one because the bird I saw today had much cooler looking markings on the wing...  and apparently these birds are really common to see... so I got all excited for nothing.  The tree in my current backyard must be a sanctuary of sorts for birds because I see so many birds all the time. OH and hear them "singing" all the time. 

"She has the voice of an angel"

That's bold. You can't just throw that out there about someone unless you really mean it.  Not that I really even know what the voice of an angel would sound like... but it sets some high expectations.

These expectations were met last night by the lovely and oh so mesmerizing Katie Moore.  What a babe too!

 Hands down, I have to say, that it was one of the best shows I have been too.  And yes, I realize that is a bold statement to make as well... Boldness seems to be every where in this post.  Maybe I should just write this whole post in BOLD.. I made a joke? haha Funny...?!

She played last night at the Casa De Popolo, which is a really nice intimate venue.  The bar is split into two with one side being a cafe/restaurant vibe and the other side being just for shows.   The place was packed and usually at such capacity there is bound to be someone who is talking obnoxiously or not playing attention, but not at this show! Every single person in the audience was captivated by Katie Moore and her back up band.  Even the bartenders were whispering. 



Isn't she awesome? She had a violinist that accompanied her as well and who played so hauntingly beautifully.  The violin, combined with Katies voice, was almost too much. It tugged at my heart strings.  I don't really know what else to say about her, other then I am so glad I got to see her perform and I will probably end up going to see her again soon. She is from Montreal after all...

Unintentional Brewery Battle

Last night a friend and I were walking downtown on Saint Catherine's Street in search of some where to have a pint of beer and/or cider.  We walked past all the pubs on Bishops and Crescent Streets, which are both well known to be where all the stereo-typically college scene bars are and kept walking until we saw "Les Trois Brasseurs".

Les Trois Brasseurs (or The Three Brewers in English) is a chain Brewery Pub/Restaurant. 

They have four establishments in Montreal and one in Toronto I believe. So, since we were kinda running out of options we went in.  It was huge! And busy! Even so, we didn't have to wait that long and got seats at the bar.  I wasn't really in the mood for beer so I asked if they had any cider on tap and the bartender in the rudest tone ever told me "No, this is brew pub. We brew beer".  I was really offended because I am not dumb, I knew where we were and I have been to "brew pubs" before that make cider or just have some other companies cider on tap... He then left and took his sweet time in coming back to us, so we decided to just leave.  Not worth our time or money. The place was way too commercial, the music was terrible and obviously the service wasn't too great either.

We made our way up to the Plateau in search of better service and were pleased to find it at "Dieu du Ciel".  I had been there before so I knew what the place would be like. It is fairly small and even on a Tuesday night it was packed! We easily found a table and our server was quick and friendly. She also didn't front on me when I asked for a pint of cider!!!  I was tempted to order a beer from their interesting looking menu. They had about 15 different varieties on the board for that day! One I want to go back to try (when I am in the beer drinking mood) is their Maple Scotch Ale:

Equinoxe du printemps (Spring equinox)
Maple scotch ale - 8%

A variant of the Cornemuse, the Équinoxe du Printemps offers a melody of caramel and maple. At the first draught, the mouth is overcome by woody, malty flavours, sustained by a discrete symphony of sweetness. The aftertaste brings about the warmth of alcohol and flavours of maple toffee. Very well balanced, this beer will surprise even the most experienced beer enthusiasts. The maple taste is sufficiently present to be appreciated, but never overwhelming the traditional flavours of a Scotch Ale.

Équinoxe du printemps is brewed only once a year, in January. It is aged for two months in order to attain a perfect balance in taste. Then it is sold starting March 21st, and is available only while stocks last!

The Spring equinox was born in our Montreal brewpub in February 1999

Sounds yummy!  On a bonus note, Dieu du Ciel is a quick walk away from where I will be living this summer.  Maybe I will become a bit more of a connoisseur....

In conclusion:
Les Trois Brasseurs-FAIL
Dieu du Ciel-WIN

Underground

Well, most posts (if not ALL posts) to date have been about Montreal on ground level, so just to mix it up how about one about below the city!

Last night I went to an event called "Envol Underground":

It was in an old abandoned tunnel that goes under the Lachine Canal.  It was quite spooky in there. 

First of all, we had to meet at a cafe nearby so we could get directions from the host. We waited in the drizzling rain for about 45 minutes before being lead into a dark tunnel illuminated by tiny little tea lights. It is a good thing that cell phones can work some what like a flash light...

Once inside there was music, video projections, live art/graffitti and fire dancers.  There even was a snack table. Twizzlers? Yes, please!

It was a pretty cool set up, but I was too cold and creeped out by the place to really enjoy it all. We left before midnight, but I am sure that things probably picked up as the night progressed further into the wee hours.

I came across this website about Urban Exploring in Montreal.  Seems like an exciting hobby to have but a bit too sketchy for me, so I think I will just stick to exploring their website.