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http://journalmetro.com/actualites/montreal/945895/une-grue-seffondre-au-centre-ville-de-montreal/ Une grue s’est effondrée dimanche matin devant un pavillon de l’UQAM au croisement de la rue Saint-Denis et le boulevard René-Lévesque. Une personne est décédée et une autre repose dans un état critique, selon le Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). Toujours selon le SPVM, deux travailleurs se retrouvaient dans la nacelle quand le camion a basculé vers l’arrière pour une raison inconnue. Il s’agirait de laveurs de vitres. Des témoins de la scène ont aussi été rencontrés par les ambulanciers pour choc nerveux. La circulation est interrompue sur la rue Saint-Denis, ainsi que sur le boulevard René-Lévesque, entre les rues Berri et Saint-Laurent en direction ouest.

via The Gazette : The Restaurant Scene in Montreal : Boom Equals Bust Lesley Chesterman Montreal Gazette Published on: November 21, 2014 Last Updated: November 21, 2014 9:14 AM EST Le Paris-Beurre is an excellent neighbourhood bistro that Outremont residents are lucky to have called their own for more than thirty years. The braised leeks with curry vinaigrette, the goat’s cheese salad, the famous gratin dauphinois and côte de boeuf for two, plus the best crème brûlée in town, make this restaurant a sure bet. Yes, the wine list has been on the predictable side for a decade too many and maybe the soup has a tendency to be a little watery, but the terrasse is divine and the dining room offers the ideal out-of-a-Truffaut-film bistro setting. If Le Paris-Beurre were located in Paris, it would be frequented by both locals and tourists looking for that fantasy French bistro. In Montreal, Le Paris-Beurre has relied on locals to fill its 65 seats. And increasingly, those locals are often grey-haired, owner Hubert Streicher said in a recent interview. Now after 30 years in business, Le Paris-Beurre will be serving its last bavette and duck confit on Dec. 23. Streicher still hopes the restaurant will be sold, yet he’s not holding his breath. “Our sales fell over the last three years,” he said. “We have a very loyal customer base, but those customers are aging. And younger customers are now heading to bistros on Avenue Bernard.” Normally, the closing of this Montreal institution would come as a surprise, but considering the number of iconic Montreal restaurants that have shuttered this year – big players including Le Continental, the Beaver Club, Globe, Le Latini and Magnan’s Tavern – Le Paris-Beurre is just another establishment to give up on the increasingly volatile Montreal restaurant scene. Driving around the former popular restaurant neighbourhoods of our city, and seeing locale after locale with rent signs in the windows, it’s obvious the restaurant industry is hurting. It’s one thing when the bad restaurants close. A regular purging of the worst or the dated is to be expected. But now the good restaurants are hurting as well. There are too many restaurants in Montreal and not enough customers” – Restaurant owner Sylvie Lachance Upon closing, restaurants like Magnan’s Tavern and Globe issued press releases that raised many of the same issues: road work, tax measures, staff shortages, skyrocketing food costs, parking woes, the increasing popularity of suburban restaurants and changing tastes. Add to that list a shrinking upscale tourist clientele, and there are sure to be more closings on the horizon. People have less cash to spend and more restaurants to choose from. Competition is fierce. Tourism Montreal notes that ours is the city with the largest number of restaurants per capita in all of North America. According to François Meunier of the Association des Restaurateurs du Québec, the number of new restaurants with table service increased by 31 per cent from 2005 to 2012 in Montreal. Yet people are spending less. “Sales are down 4.2 per cent in full-service restaurants from last year,” Meunier said. “People don’t have money to spend. We don’t always like to admit it, but Quebec is a poor province.” There’s a definite shift taking place on the Montreal restaurant scene and for many restaurateurs, the obstacles are looking insurmountable. Up the street from Le Paris-Beurre is the restaurant Van Horne. Owner Sylvie Lachance was so discouraged by how the restaurant scene is evolving that she sent an open letter outlining her exasperation to various media outlets last May. “There are too many restaurants in Montreal and not enough customers,” her letter began, before outlining several trends she believed were holding her back from garnering the attention she deserved. Of her chef, Jens Ruoff, she wrote: “(He) is not a hipster, has no tattoos on his arms and does not serve homemade sausage on wood planks.” Of Van Horne’s marketing approach, she said: “We do not have cookbooks for sale, nor a sugar shack, much less a television show. We do not personally know Anthony Bourdain or René Redzepi.” She closed with the final thought: “We are not dying at Van Horne but it is unfortunate, given all the hard work we do, to be forgotten so often.” Now, six months later, Lachance is still discouraged. “Are there too many restaurants in Montreal? Yes!” she said without hesitation. “Everyone is looking for staff. It has become the biggest problem. I have young chefs here who say, ‘I could go to you, Toqué! or Boulud.’ They can go anywhere. And I also see restaurants that open up that are constantly looking for chefs, waiters, bus boys. They don’t even staff their restaurants properly before opening. And as for chefs, they have to be everything these days: creative, good at marketing, eager to meet with suppliers, manage employees, calculate food cost. Good luck finding one who can do all that.” Across town, Carlos Ferreira is facing many of the same concerns at his famous Peel St. restaurant, Ferreira Café. The restaurant’s lunch scene draws the elite downtown crowd. Dinner is equally popular. Now going on 18 years in business, Ferreira should be leaning back, counting the profits, happy with his multi-restaurant empire. Not quite. “Montreal has become a restaurant city focused on fashions and trends,” he said between bites of grilled octopus at lunchtime recently. “New restaurants invest a lot in decor and ambience. In the past, the food in trendy restaurants like Prima Donna and Mediterraneo was very good. But today, it’s not serious. The ambience is exaggerated, the markups on alcohol too. A lot of those restaurants took their clients for granted and now they’re all closed. And today there is this new Griffintown phenomenon. If you don’t go to eat there, you are a loser!” When asked if he thinks there are too many restaurants in Montreal, Ferreira nodded. The problem, he said, is a lack of direction. “We’re losing sight of what a restaurant should be,” Ferreira said. “People are opening restaurants without knowing the business.” Ferreira does know the business – he’s been drawing in customers to enjoy his modern Portuguese food coming up on 20 years. Next year, though, he will be re-evaluating his entire business. “In 2013, we served 1,800 fewer customers,” he said. One of the problems now is that with the ongoing erosion of the high-end restaurant genre and the increasing popularity of casual dining, the middle ground is getting crowded. To Ferreira, restaurants can be divided into four categories: high-end (gastronomic), casual (bistros), cafés and fast-food. “The high-end restaurant is condemned,” he said, matter-of-factly. “They are too expensive and people say they’re very good but … boring. And if people go into a half-full restaurant, they don’t want to return.” Another highly successful Montreal restaurant, Moishes, celebrated its 75th anniversary this year but has faced its share of challenges. Yet owner Lenny Lighter is not willing to blame the lack of business on the booming number of new restaurants. “Competition always makes me nervous,” Lighter said. “And not just another steakhouse but anyone in my price category. But where is that ‘too many restaurants’ statement going? We live in a free society. Anyone can open a business. It’s not for us to tell people what to do. You know what’s not good? Not enough restaurants. The more choices people have, the more interesting the game gets for everyone.” To Lighter, there’s too much going on in Montreal lately to curtail entrepreneurial spirit. Young people willing to raise the capital and take the risk should do it, he said. “Some will close, there will be heartbreaks. But the ones that survive might just be the next big thing. We never know what the next Joe Beef will be or who the next Costas Spiliadis will be. Only the strong will survive. Competition is good. It raises the stakes.” And yet the hurdles in the game may also make for an uneven playing field. Next August, Ferreira will face a lengthy construction period on Peel St. and the makeover of Ste-Catherine St., both of which he is dreading. “I understand it has to be done,” he said. “But it must be done intelligently, so that there is still access to businesses.” The fear of being barricaded by a construction site is a prime concern for many a restaurateur. Even at arguably the city’s most popular restaurant right now, Joe Beef, construction worries loom large. “If the city ripped up the street in front of me here for three weeks,” said co-owner David McMillan, “I’d go under.” At Thai Grill on the corner of St-Laurent Blvd. and Laurier Ave., owner Nicolas Scalera watched his business come to a halt when the sidewalks were widened. For four months, the entrance to his restaurant was accessible only by a small plank set over a mud pit. Construction, estimated to last a month, started in August yet only finished in early November. Scalera said customers not only petered out, many called to see if he was closed. “I paid $68,000 in taxes to the city last year. It would have been nice to see a break during construction.” “I’ve been here for 17 years. I have some rights as well. But they don’t care,” Scalera said. “I had (city councillor) Alex Norris (for the Jeanne-Mance district) tell me right to my face that they don’t want people coming in from other areas or Laval to eat in restaurants in this area. He told me the Plateau is for the Plateau residents. I’d like the city to promote our restaurants instead of doing nothing to help us. Instead, I’ve seen a major decline in business. I will never open anything or invest in the Plateau again. It’s too risky. You could lose everything.” Norris, the city councillor in question, disagrees. “The Plateau gets hundreds of thousands visiting our streets,” he said. “We encourage people from all over the city to frequent our businesses. It’s a densely populated neighbourhood, so we’ve had to manage the relationship between commercial endeavours and residents. To suggest we don’t want people to visit our neighbourhood is absurd.” Inflated taxes didn’t help Le Paris-Beurre’s Streicher in Outremont, either. “I was charged $2,500 in taxes (this year) for my terrasse alone, and my terrasse is part of my restaurant, in the back courtyard, not on the street.” Van Horne’s Lachance is also disheartened by the lack of interest from the people who collect her tax dollars. “In Outremont where I am,” she said, “not one elected municipal representative has been to my restaurant. They go to the cheap restaurant down the street. I’ve served Tony Accurso, but I’ve never had any mayor or elected official in my restaurant. There is a lack of appreciation for our restaurant scene. People don’t talk about what show they went to anymore, but what restaurant they ate at. Restaurants are part of our culture now.” When asked if he frequents restaurants in his neighbourhood, Norris could name only one, L’Express. “There are others,” he said. “I’ll have to get back to you.” We’re losing sight of what a restaurant should be.” – Carlos Ferreira Even at the internationally acclaimed Joe Beef, Montreal officials have been scarce. “I’ve served three former prime ministers,” McMillan said. “The governor of Vermont has eaten at my restaurant four times, but not one Montreal mayor or one municipal councillor from my area has eaten at Joe Beef. The last five times I ate in restaurants in New York, three of the times I saw the mayor eating there, too.” “I have taken note of the comments, and I am pleased to see that the people at Joe Beef’s want to see more of me,” Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said via email on Thursday. “I was happy to see them recently at the Corona Theatre, where they catered an event celebrating David Suzuki. Unfortunately, the last time I was near Joe Beef’s restaurant, I was in a hurry and went to eat at Dilallo Burger.” “The city doesn’t understand how important the restaurants are in Montreal,” Ferreira said. Lighter is less dismissive, though he does see a lack of interest from above. “They’re not understanding the risk people take,” Lighter said. “There are payroll taxes, property taxes, operating taxes, school taxes. Government should be supporting you, not always policing you. And ultimately, with more sales, they get more taxes. Good business is profitable for them, too.” Despite the many factors hindering business, Montreal restaurateurs are not blaming customers. Client fidelity is at an all-time low, they say, yet they understand the desire to go out and eat around. “Montrealers follow the buzz,” Lachance said, “but they come back.” And yet there is one clientele all restaurateurs would like to see more of: tourists. “There is gigantic work to be done,” Ferreira said. “The summer of 2014 was the worst summer for tourists. Tourism Montreal says it was a record year, but they are drawing in the cheap tourists. These people aren’t spending.” Ferreira would like to see the city attract high-end conventions and tourists with money to spend by focusing more on the luxury market. “But no one will talk about that,” he said, discouraged. Pierre Bellerose, vice-president of Tourism Montreal, agrees the restaurant scene is hurting but with about 6,500 restaurants in the city, that’s to be expected. “We have more restaurants per capita than New York,” he said. “But we’re a poor city. Many close, many open. It’s a lot to ask the population to support the industry.” According to Bellerose, tourism is up 50 per cent from 20 years ago, and drawing visitors to the restaurant scene is one of the agency’s priorities. Bellerose said: “There is a good buzz about Montreal. It’s estimated that between 20 to 25 per cent of the clientele at high-end restaurants are tourists. There’s a lot of interest in food. But that interest varies. Some people just want smoked meat and poutine. And tourists are mostly circulating in the central areas of the city. We can’t follow them around and tell them where to go.” McMillan thinks Tourism Montreal could find better ways to promote our restaurant scene. “Tourism Maine and Tourism New York follow me on social media, but not Tourism Montreal,” he said. “And they keep paying for these bloggers to come in and discover the city. Instead, why not send some of us chefs out to promote Montreal restaurants abroad at food festivals or even in embassies? I’ve never been asked to promote my city or cook in an embassy – and if asked, I would do it.” And there is plenty here to promote. The New York-based website Eater.com recently dropped both their Toronto and Vancouver pages yet held on to their popular Montreal site. Though low on the high-end restaurant count, Montreal has an impressive number of chef-driven restaurants, with an increasing number of them drawing international attention to our scene. Plus, Montreal remains a far more affordable restaurant city than the likes of Paris, London or even Toronto – although the down side of being an affordable dining destination means less money in restaurant owners’ pockets (the ARQ estimates profits at a paltry 2.6 per cent). “We should be a premier destination,” Lighter said. “We have a unique culture, a great reputation. But Montreal has suffered economically. We’re highly taxed. There’s not a lot of disposable income and it’s expensive to eat out. I sense there is a certain defensiveness restaurateurs have with customers, but we have to learn from customers, too. We always have to have our eyes and ears open, ready to adjust.” Restaurants in Montreal: 6,500 People per restaurant in Montreal: 373 People per restaurant in New York City: 457 Increase in the number of new restaurants in Montreal from 2005 to 2012: 31 per cent Decline in sales at full-service restaurants in 2013: 4.2 per cent Sales at high-end Montreal restaurants from the tourism industry: 20 per cent End-of-year profit margin on all sales for Montreal full-service restaurants: 2.6 per cent Restaurants closing this year : Le Paris-Beurre : The bistro on Van Horne Ave. in Outremont will close on Dec. 23 Le Continental : Closed in May Le Latini : Closed in September Beaver Club : Closed in March Magnan Tavern : Will close on Dec. 21 Globe : Closed in September

http://www.osheaga.com/fr/ Osheaga - Festival Musique et Arts NOUVEAUTÉS SUR LE SITE Scène de la Vallée Coca-Cola Afin de pouvoir présenter plus de groupes, nous avons ajouté une 6ième scène à notre site. La Scène de la Vallée Coca-Cola est située en face de la Scène des arbres Galaxie et présentera des prestations jusqu’au coucher du soleil. Allez faire un tour pour y faire de belles découvertes. […] CHANGEMENTS À L’HORAIRE Malheureusement, Chance the Rapper doit annuler sa prestation au festival suite à des circonstance hors de son contrôle. Un remplacement sera bientôt annoncé. De plus, Mozart’s Sister va remplacer Wakeowl le dimanche 3 août à 13h15 sur la Scène verte Garnier Fructis propulsé par Sennheiser LES BRACELETS JOUEZ OSHEAGA PROPULSÉ PAR XBOX ONE En visitant www.osheaga.com/jouez les fans trouveront toutes les informations nécessaires concernant le bracelet, ses avantages, la façon de s’enregistrer et comment gagner une foule de prix sur le site. APPLICATION MOBILE Pour profiter pleinement du festival et avoir accès à toutes les informations en temps réel, nous recommandons aux festivaliers de télécharger l’application mobile Osheaga. De plus, une fois sur le site, activez votre Bluetooth pour profiter des dispositifs iBeacon à travers le site. UN MOT DU GOUVERNEMENT DU QUÉBEC S’inscrivant parmi les grands événements culturels montréalais, le Festival Musique et Arts Osheaga a su conquérir un public fidèle grâce à l’expérience musicale intense et unique qu’il offre. À l’instar des nombreux festivals qui animent la métropole pendant la saison estivale, il contribue à la vitalité culturelle du Québec et favorise son essor économique par […] LA CARTE DU SITE EST ARRIVÉE – C’EST LE TEMPS DE VOUS REPÉRER ! La carte du site Osheaga 2014 est enfin arrivée ! Cliquez sur ce lien pour voir l’image complète et vous familiariser avec le site du festival Osheaga: LES PASSES 3 JOURS ADMISSION GÉNÉRALE AFFICHENT COMPLET! Nous sommes fier d’annoncer que les passes 3 jours en admission générale pour le festival affichent maintenant COMPLET! Quelques passes pour 1 journée , des passes 3 jours OR (accès à la terrasse Osheaga) ainsi que les forfaits Expérience Osheaga sont encore disponibles via osheaga.com. Visitez notre page billets pour plus de détails. DISCO SILENCIEUSE EN COLLABORATION AVEC SENNHEISER DANS L’IGLOO Cette année, l’Igloo change de vocation pour devenir la Disco silencieuse en collaboration avec Sennheiser. En effet, vous pourrez danser sur les rythmes de différentes époques de la musique par plusieurs DJ locaux grâce aux casques d’écoute Sennheiser, qui seront le seul endroit où entendre la musique. Sans casque d’écoute, c’est le silence total. Comprenant […] OSHEAGA: DE CONCERT AVEC L’ENVIRONNEMENT DE CONCERT AVEC L’ENVIRONNEMENT Dans le cadre de la démarche qu’Osheaga a entrepris vers une certification écoresponsable ISO 20121, nous encourageons les festivaliers à faire leur part. Plusieurs gestes simples peuvent être posés pour nous aider à atteindre notre but. En voici plusieurs: Prendre le transport en commun Osheaga est facilement accessible par métro via […] SERVICE DE CASIERS Voyager léger en utilisant notre service de casiers au coût de 15$ par journée. Nous fournissons un service sécuritaire et facile à utiliser avec un accès ILLIMITÉ à votre casier toute la journée. Réservez le votre dès maintenant ! L’HORAIRE EST ICI! L’horaire d’Osheaga 2014 est ici! Encore une fois cette année, les festivaliers pourront profiter de trois jours complets de musique et d’arts, du 1er au 3 août dans le superbe décor du Parc Jean-Drapeau. Quelques passes week-end et passes d’une journée sont encore disponibles! Faites-vites! MUSIQUE SUR PAPIER Osheaga Arts est heureux de présenter la quatrième édition de Musique sur papier. Cette toujours populaire exposition d’affiches de spectacles est devenue un véritable incontournable. Du 3 au 19 juillet, c’est à nouveau à la merveilleuse Galerie Yves Laroche qu’on pourra découvrir des œuvres d’artistes tels que Scott Campbell, Matt Pfhalert, Mishka Westhill, Jon Smith, […]

C'est peut-être le temps de déclarer la rue Sainte-Catherine piétonne sur toute sa longueur... http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/story/2013/08/05/montreal-sink-hole-ste-catherine.html Emergency crews are on the scene after a sinkhole opened up in downtown Montreal and swallowed a backhoe. It happened at about 9 a.m. ET at the intersection of Guy and St-Catherine streets. The hole is about eight metres long and five meters across. A section of St-Catherine Street has been closed to traffic. A city official said they received a call about a water leak at the scene on the weekend. Crews arrived this morning to do repairs and that's when the road gave way. "We think that the water leak was because of the sewer pipe. . .it's broken sewer pipe," said Emilie Miskdjian a spokeswoman for the Ville Marie borough. "That's what we think, but we will have to do an inspection to determine the cause." The driver was taken to hospital as a precaution. Engineers and representatives from the CSST, Quebec's workplace health and safety board, are now at the scene to determine the best way to remove the vehicle from the hole.

http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/arts_et_spectacles/2013/04/25/009-theatre-imperial-diversification.shtml Le reportage de Claude Deschênes Le Cinéma Impérial, qui a 100 ans ce jeudi, redevient un théâtre. La salle de la rue Bleury recommencera à présenter des spectacles vivants tout en conservant sa vocation de cinéma. Les propriétaires ont pris cette décision pour améliorer la rentabilité du lieu. Le théâtre sera prochainement doté de tous les outils nécessaires à la présentation de spectacles grâce à un partenariat avec la firme de location d'équipements de scène APL de Montréal. Le directeur de l'Impérial, François Beaudry-Losique, croit que la présence de cette salle intermédiaire répondra à un besoin. Il a reçu des demandes pour toutes sortes de productions, notamment des comédies musicales, des spectacles de magie et d'orchestres folkloriques. Voici quelques documents d'archives en photo:

You might already heard about the Park-Extension Footbridge which is planned to be demolished soon. I think it can be preserved rather than being destroyed. Here are some of my designs I created during summer. Visit this website for more information on the footbridge: http://www.histoireparcextension.org/news-nouvelles/shpehs-speaks-out-prend-parole-structures-risk-2012 Proposal Scene Footbridge Alternative

36 Hours in Montreal. CANADA’S second-largest city may be the second-largest French-speaking metropolis on the planet (after Paris), but the attention lavished on its Frenchness — Bistros! Baguettes! People saying “Bonjour”! — tends to nudge aside the many other ethnic communities within Montreal’s remarkably diverse urban sprawl. Italians, Portuguese and Lebanese have a very visible presence, and the city hosts annual festivals dedicated to everything from Asian-American films to Caribbean food. Throw in a pulsing alternative community and creative scene (this is a place that engendered talents as diverse as Saul Bellow, Arcade Fire and the irrepressible William Shatner), and a whole new Montreal opens up. Whether your passion is Syrian cuisine, contemporary art or vintage shopping, Montreal is serving it up with aplomb. C’est vrai... http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/travel/36-hours-in-montreal.html

Gros lancement de la dernière saison de Man Men au réseau AMC aux USA et le Québec était tout à l'honneur. La québécoise Jessica Paré a fait tout un splash en dansant sur la chanson "zoubizoubizou" (à la St-Tropez). J'ai éclaté de rire lorsque son personnage lâcha un puissant "Câlice!!!" dans une scène. Disons que son personnage est plutôt "penchée" vers la chose. Bien sûr, elle parle français!

MONTREAL - In what can only be described as the most unexpected foodie news of 2010, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is taking over Montreal's Rôtisserie Laurier BBQ, the Gazette has learned. With restaurants in New York, Los Angeles and Florida, Ramsay, 44, already has a foothold in North America. Yet this unpretentious, family-style eatery will be his first foray into the Canadian restaurant scene. Opened in 1936 and located on Laurier Ave. in the heart of Outremont, this Montreal institution has long been famous for its barbecued chicken, chicken noodle soup, hot chicken sandwiches, and sugar pie. As of next February it will be renamed Rôtisserie Laurier BBQ by Gordon Ramsay, and the menu will include the house classics as well as salads, sandwiches, ribs, and hamburgers. Known for his expletive-laced rants on cooking reality shows like Hell's Kitchen, The F Word, and Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, Ramsay most recently faced a whirlwind of personal problems. Yet despite certain setbacks, Ramsay remains a bona fide superstar on the food scene and a successful restaurateur with a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in London, as well as 12 Michelin stars to his name, surpassed only by French chefs, Joel Robuchon and Alain Ducasse. He's also authored some 30 cookbooks, consults all over the world, and has a line of cookware and counter-top appliances. To find out how Ramsay's takeover of Laurier BBQ came about, please read Lesley Chesterman's story Thursday in The Gazette and on montrealgazette.com. Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Exclusive+Gordon+Ramsay+taking+over+Montreal+resto/3808086/story.html#ixzz14umu6ObO

Proving that not all chair-throwing, plate-breaking, glass-smashing restaurant brawls occur in the United States, a wild New Year’s Eve melee at a Canadian eatery was filmed--and, of course, uploaded to YouTube--by a Montreal patron. It is unclear what prompted the wild fight filmed by Shawn Turnbull, who titled his above video “Chinese vs Blacks.” The ruckus, which occurred at New Dynasty, a Chinese restaurant in downtown Montreal, apparently resulted in significant damage to the business. A Montreal Police Service spokesperson told TSG she was unaware of the video, but would seek to determine whether cops were called to the scene of the melee. In an e-mail, Turnbull told TSG that Montreal cops and paramedics arrived after the fight and “two black guys were getting their wounds treated while Police were kind of asking around. I dont think arrests were made that night because the Asians fled the scene before police arrived.” http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/viral-video/montreal-restaurant-brawl-756092

Ça Ressemble à du copié-collé de plusieurs autres textes "vu d’ailleurs" mais au moins, ils parlent de Montréal. Source: BBC Edgy, unapologetic, seductive, nonconformist… these words often spring to mind when talking about Montreal. The city is Canada’s epicentre of fun and fabulousness, a cultural chameleon with a unique sense of style, jumping nightlife and amazing food. There is always something happening here – even on Sundays, when you can rock to the rhythm of the Tam Tams (a legendary weekly drumming festival) or groove to the hottest electro beats at Piknik Électronik (an outdoor dance party). Plateau du Mont Royal Congenial and charming, the Plateau is one of Montreal’s hippest districts. Once a run-down, blue-collar neighbourhood, it now boasts arty residents, great bars and restaurants, and a bohemian vibe. The distinctive architecture, characterized by spiral staircases and colourful old Victorian houses, is what makes this area so cool — a refreshing change from cookie-cutter homes in the ‘burbs. Montreal’s favourite son Leonard Cohen still keeps an apartment right in the Plateau, just steps away from St Laurent Boulevard (known as “the Main” to locals). The best way to explore the ‘hood? Grab a bixi bike and take a random tour, cruising its tree-lined streets (Gilford and Esplanade are pretty scenic options) and picturesque boulevards. If you are on the Main and need a pick-me-up, be sure to join the locals at Euro Deli for an espresso or an allongé. Culinary treats Montreal’s lively foodie culture and culinary scene are famous across North America. Whether you are seeking haute cuisine, or keen to sample local specialities such as smoked meat, maple syrup, bagels and poutine (fries smothered in cheese curd and gravy), you will be well catered for. Dining options are endless, and the food is both tasty and reasonably priced. The iconic Schwartz’s Deli on St Laurent Boulevard is Montreal’s mainstay for smoked meat. But Montreal is a city of contrasts, and it is no surprise to find popular vegan restaurant Aux Vivres just up the road. Permanently packed with veggie lovers, this place is so good that even die-hard carnivores will not miss their meat. Of course, after fuelling up on a healthy meal here, you will be in the mood to indulge. For the ultimate in sweet decadence, La boutique Grandbois offers high quality, handmade chocolates with some unforgettable flavour combinations… ganache and Monte Cristo cigar leaves, anyone? Vieux-Montreal Montreal is known for its European charm, which is especially evident in the cobblestone streets of the Old Port. Meander along the river or stroll down St Paul, before stopping for a croissant at celebrated café and bakery, Olive & Gourmando. Feeling un peu fatigué after all your sightseeing? Take a soothing break in the eucalyptus steam bath at Scandinave les Bains. After some pampering here, you will be refreshed, relaxed and ready to continue exploring the stunning architecture of this historic area.

Des nouveaux projets autour de stations de métro sont toujours de bonnes nouvelles ! -------------------------------------- Gregory Charles concrétise son rêve de Cité chorale Le complexe Podium ouvrira ses portes dans un an par Geneviève Fortin, Courrier Laval Article mis en ligne le 5 octobre 2009 à 15:02 À un mois de l'élection, l'administration Vaillancourt a adopté une entente qui permettra la réalisation de la Cité chorale. Le projet, baptisé Podium, est piloté par Gregory Charles et le Collège vocal. Le complexe offrira des programmes de formation en chant choral et en arts de la scène, destinés à une clientèle de tous âges. L'entente, adoptée lors de la dernière réunion du conseil municipal avant l'élection, lie le Collège vocal, à titre de partenaire privé, la Ville et le collège Montmorency. La municipalité accorde une subvention de 4,3M$, alors que le Collège vocal de Laval investira 3,9M$ dans ce projet totalisant 8,2M$. Ce montant comprend la construction de l'édifice, les services professionnels, les équipements scéniques, pédagogiques et extérieurs. Le Collège vocal sera responsable de la Cité pour les 30 années suivant la fin des travaux. Collège Montmorency Le document adopté lors du conseil municipal prévoit que le Collège vocal devra élaborer une entente avec le collège Montmorency afin de développer un programme de formation collégiale de chant choral. Celui-ci sera offert dans les locaux du complexe Podium. Le cégep pourra utiliser la scène et des locaux dans le nouvel édifice pour la tenue d'activités étudiantes, notamment en chant choral. Une entente sera également conclue avec le collège Montmorency pour l'utilisation de ses terrains lors d'événements nécessitant une scène extérieure. De l'Avenir et de la Concorde D'abord prévu face au collège Montmorency sur le boulevard de l'Avenir, le complexe Podium sera construit à l'angle des boulevards de l'Avenir et de la Concorde, dans le stationnement du collège Montmorency, près de la Maison des arts. Le rez-de-chaussée de l'immeuble couvrira une superficie entre 8000 et 9400 pieds carrés. Les signataires de l'entente estiment que le cégep perdra environ 49 cases de stationnement. Dans un secteur où la demande de stationnement est grande, les espaces perdus seront compensés par de nouvelles places situées du côté du boulevard du Souvenir, aux frais de la municipalité. En plus de locaux de répétitions, le complexe, dont on prévoit l'ouverture à l'automne 2010, comprendra une salle de spectacle dotée d'une acoustique qualifiée d'exceptionnelle dans le communiqué diffusé cet après-midi. Les promoteurs promettent également une programmation internationale disponible à l'année. Le complexe Podium sera érigé dans le stationnement du collège Montmorency. (Photo: Martin Alarie)

Très belle pub. Rien ne dit que c'est Mtl, mais on la reconnaît immédiatement! Si des étrangers vous demandent à quoi ça ressemble Mtl, je pense que ça ferait une belle promo.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ylOrzc33U&feature=player_embedded

Bilan des Festivals

(Courtesy of The Montreal Gazette) WOW I am happy I don`t live on St Pierre anymore. This city has gone to the dogs. I guess its time to really go out and buy a bulletproof vest and armour up my car.

Festival international de jazz de Montréal - Deux jours de plus et cinq mégaconcerts extérieurs Le Devoir Caroline Montpetit Édition du mardi 09 juin 2009 Mots clés : Stevie Wonder, Ben Harper, Festival international de jazz de Montréal, Musique, Montréal, Québec (province) Le président-directeur général du Festival international de jazz de Montréal, Alain Simard, a annoncé hier que les festivaliers pourront bénéficier de la présence de nombreux écrans géants sur lesquels seront projetés plusieurs spectacles Photo: Jacques Grenier Ce sont Ben Harper et ses Relentless7 eux-mêmes qui feront la clôture de la programmation gratuite du Festival international de jazz cette année, en se présentant à 21h30 sur la scène General Motors de la Place des festivaliers, que Stevie Wonder aura inaugurée 13 jours plus tôt. En ce 30e anniversaire de son existence, le Festival international de jazz de Montréal s'offre en effet deux jours de programmation supplémentaires, en plus de présenter des spectacles dans deux nouveaux espaces de diffusion, la maison du festival Rio Tinto Alcan et sa salle Astral, inaugurées pour l'occasion, et la Place des Festivals, où sera érigée la scène General Motors. Ces deux très gros spectacles extérieurs s'ajouteront à trois autres, dont un spectacle réunissant Patrick Watson, Lhasa de Sela et Guy Nadon, ainsi que quelques invités-surprises, le 5 juillet à 21h. Deux jours plus tard, le public pourra applaudir plusieurs artistes qui s'étaient produits dans le documentaire Rocksteady: the Roots of Reggae, qui explorait les racines du reggae en Jamaïque. Juste avant le spectacle de Ben Harper et ses Relentless7, les amateurs de rythmes cubains sont conviés à la scène Rio Tinto Alcan, où se produira une Fiesta Cubana, où l'on attend les Afro-Cuba All stars et Los Van Van. Le festival fait en effet cette année de nombreux réaménagements géographiques, du fait de la construction de nouveaux espaces, et des aménagements liés à l'érection du quartier des spectacles. Il ne s'agit de rien de moins que la maison du festival Rio Tinto, qui compte une nouvelle salle de spectacle de 350 places, un restaurant, le Balmoral qui accueillera également des séances de jam en fin de soirée, une salle de presse qui se transformera cet automne en galerie d'art, et une médiathèque qui offrira au public gratuitement, aussi à partir de l'automne, les archives du festival depuis ses débuts. Hier, le président-directeur général du festival, Alain Simard, annonçait par ailleurs que les festivaliers pourraient cette année bénéficier de la présence de nombreux écrans géants sur lesquels seront projetés de nombreux spectacles, dont les mégaconcerts mentionnés plus haut. Le Salon de guitare déménagera pour sa part ses pénates au Palais des congrès de Montréal, tandis que le Salon des instruments prendra place pour sa part au nouveau village de la musique, à l'angle du boulevard De Maisonneuve et de la rue De Bleury. C'est là aussi que l'on présentera une exposition mettant en valeur les pochettes de la collection Blue Note, à travers le temps, en première partie du festival. Parmi les très nombreux concerts gratuits qui jalonneront le festival, mentionnons Vic Vogel qui rendra hommage aux grands noms du jazz, une soirée spéciale pour saluer les 50 ans de la mort de Billie Holiday, le 6 juillet, avec Kim Richardson, et à 21h, le 3 juillet, Florence K présentera La noche de Lola avec ses musiciens, un spectacle spécialement conçu pour le 30e anniversaire du festival. http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/06/09/254073.html

Publié le 04 novembre 2008 à 12h43 | Mis à jour à 12h44 Un morceau d'un viaduc tombe sur Notre-Dame Une partie d'un viaduc du CN s'est détachée de sa structure pour s'écraser sur la rue Notre-Dame, à Montréal, entre les rues Frontenac et Alphonse-D.-Roy, entraînant sa fermeture. Déjà, un bouchon de circulation monstre s'est produit et les automobilistes sont invités à contourner la scène. L'incident, qui n'a fait aucun blessé, a été signalé aux policiers par un piéton qui passait tout près. Le morceau qui s'est détaché mesure un mètre par 2,5 m. En tombant, il a causé un énorme trou dans la chaussée.

Guy Laliberté jongle même avec les chiffres. Il a annoncé hier la vente du cinquième des parts de l'entreprise dans le but de lui donner un nouvel essor... et de consolider sa fortune personnelle. Pour en lire plus...

Is Montreal the real art capital of Canada? SARAH MILROY From Saturday's Globe and Mail May 30, 2008 at 11:07 PM EDT MONTREAL — Is Montreal the new Vancouver? I've heard the question floated the last few days following the opening of the Québec Triennial at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal last weekend. It's a major exhibition – 38 artists showing 135 works of art – and it presents a new generation of Quebec artists, emerging into view after a long period of relative seclusion and quiet growth. There are many, many discoveries to be made, particularly for gallerygoers who live outside of Quebec. The curators took risks. (The show was organized by MACM curators Paulette Gagnon, Mark Lanctôt, Josée Bélisle and Pierre Landry, now at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec.) They set out with no declared curatorial theme, which so often serves as a diversion from the brutal sheep-and-goats sorting that such a show should be all about. The exhibition's title, Nothing Is Lost, Nothing Is Created, Everything Is Transformed, was arrived at after the fact, borrowed from the writings of a Greek scientist and philosopher named Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (500-428 BC). It's a title that would suit many of the big roundup shows this year (for example, Unmonumental at The New Museum in New York, and the Whitney Biennial), having about it both the celebratory and the apocalyptic flavour of the moment. These days, the artist often seems to perform a kind of sampling role, picking through the churning deluge of information and imagery that makes up the contemporary visual environment. But where some of these larger international shows seem chaotic in sympathy with their subject (the current Whitney being the odious example), the Québec Triennial is tightly considered and expertly installed. A focus on the news Enlarge Image Among the big names are Michel de Broin, who won last year's Sobey Art Award and is a significant force on the Quebec scene. (Ellen Page Wilson) There were obvious big names missing from the lineup – such as Montrealers Pascal Grandmaison and Geneviève Cadieux or the Quebec City artist collective BGL, which has been showing up a lot in Toronto – and the curators may take heat for that on the home front. But instead of received ideas they have delivered us news. One of the most startling discoveries is the video work of 36-year-old Patrick Bernatchez. Here, he is showing two mesmerizing projection pieces, both set in the Fashion Plaza in the Mile End former garment district of Montreal, a part of the city currently being re-gentrified by the arts community. In I Feel Cold Today, we enter a 1960s-style office tower and ascend the elevators to the sound of a lush soundtrack (the artist's remix of fragments of classical music and film scores), arriving at a suite of empty offices that gradually fill with billowing snow. It's a mystical transformation. The cinematic precedent is the famous snow scene from Dr. Zhivago, where the accumulation of snow in the abandoned country house bespeaks the loss of a way of life, and the passage of time. Here, it is modernism that is mourned and, more particularly, the go-go optimism of Quebec in its Expo 67 moment. Bernatchez's other work, Chrysalide: Empereur, is without such obvious precedent, drifting in a realm of its own. All the camera shows us is a car parked in a grimy garage. In it sits a man in a Ronald McDonald clown costume, smoking a cigarette behind the wheel as water gradually fills the interior of his car. The sun roof is open (we see his party balloons escaping), so this man is not trapped, yet he makes no effort to escape as the water rises. This seems to be a suicide, yet he does not die. Breathing in water, is he returning to life in the womb, a place of deep privacy and seclusion? I found myself reminded of Bruce Nauman's famous videos of clowns in extremis (his dark and distinctive blend of comedy and cruelty), and the sense of violent threat in Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle. If these have inspired Bernatchez, he has wrung from these precedents a new comic/tragic resonance. One of the few big names in the show is David Altmejd, who also hangs out on the borderline between beauty and horror. His two giant standing figurative sculptures in this show continue his investigations of decay and regeneration. One, titled The Dentist, is a stylistic departure for the artist : a mammoth monolith in the shape of a standing man that is made entirely from faceted mirrors. This colossus houses a number of quail eggs in its sides, and its surface is shattered here and there with what look like bullet holes, some of which sprout animal teeth. Despite the evidently fragile material from which it is made, the sculpture embodies a kind of brutal force. This is the sort of material conundrum that Altmejd loves to explore. An inspired juxtaposition In one of the most effective installation decisions in the show, Altmejd's mirrored sculpture stands within hearing range of Gwenaël Bélanger's video projection featuring the sound of a shattering mirror. The camera spins in the artist's studio, the rotation recorded in myriad stills spliced together to create a stuttering visual effect. Every five minutes, a pane of mirrored glass shatters as it is dropped on the floor with a sound like church bells, the phenomenon captured in hundreds of frozen micro-moments cut together. Like the works of Alexandre Castonguay (not in the show) or the earlier, more overt digital composites of Nicholas Baier, Bélanger takes an artisan's approach to digital technology, showing off his handiwork in obvious ways, a different approach than the sleight of hand of Vancouver artists such as Jeff Wall or the younger Scott McFarland. Mirrors figure, as well, in the new work of Baier, another of the show's better-known figures. For this show he has installed a magisterial suite of his most recent scanned antique mirrors, surfaces that offer scars and imperfections from deep within their inky depths. But, unlike Baier, most of the artists here are little known. There's Valérie Blass, whose sculptures range from a fur-clad zigzag form that springs from the wall (she titled the piece Lightning Shaped Elongation of a Redhead) to a two-legged standing figure that looks like the Cowardly Lion in a pair of high-heeled hooves. (A sloth clings to its breast, regarding us with wide eyes, curiouser and curiouser.) This woman has developed her own completely distinct vision, each work embodying a precise material language. Likewise, the British-born artist Adrian Norvid, who is showing a giant cartoon drawing of the Hermit Hamlet Hotel, an alternative getaway for deadbeat longhairs with hillbilly affectations. (One slogan reads “Recluse. Footloose. Screw Loose. No Use.”) Norvid takes the eccentric posture of the outsider/slacker, throwing rocks into the mainstream from his lazy place on the riverbank. Painting comes on strong. Etienne Zack appears to tip his hat to Velazquez and other classical masters in Cut and Paste, a painting of a courtier slumped in a chair. In this Cubist-seeming likeness, he breaks the figure up into planes of form hinged together with masking tape (painted, not real). Zack takes as his subject the literal building up of form through paint. This is painting about painting. Michael Merrill engages in another form of homage with his Paintings about Art, depictions of his fellow artists' work in museums and galleries in Canada and abroad. (One downward-looking view of the stairwell at the DIA Foundation in New York is a compositional gem, executed in dazzling emerald greens.) These pictures document the watering holes and pilgrimage sites of the little tribe of peripatetic Canadian artists, curators, dealers and collectors. Like Manet's portraits of his contemporaries, they are images to inform a future history of art. Certainly there were things here that seemed weak by comparison. The artist collective Women with Kitchen Appliances felt like a seventies throwback. I could live without the karaoke saloon by Karen Tam, or Trish Middleton's detritus-strewn Factory for a Day. David Armstrong Six's wonderful little watercolours hold up better than his large installation work here. And Julie Doucet's collage works are always fun to look at, but they wear out fast. As well, I have never taken to the simulated theatrics of Carlos and Jason Sanchez, who are exhibiting a photo portrait of John Mark Karr (who claimed to have killed six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey) and another work showing a pair of soldiers on the battlefield (the maudlin title: The Misuse of Youth). And it was disappointing that Michel de Broin, who won last year's Sobey Art Award and is a significant force on the Quebec scene, missed the opportunity to make a new major piece for this show. But every exhibition of this sort has its hits and misses. Montreal's critical mass So, why is Montreal art so strong these days? First, you have to credit the strong art schools in Montreal and Quebec City. Looking at the CVs of these artists, one sees most of them are homegrown talents trained at Concordia University or the University of Quebec at Montreal. (Just a handful have gone on to hone their skills at places like Cal Arts or Columbia in the United States or Goldsmiths in London.) These programs, coupled with the viability of Quebec's artist-run-centre scene and the highly charged political push for cultural integrity over the past several decades – plus the critical funding for the museums to support it – have clearly given extra momentum to the province's artistic production. With all its vitality and freshness, the show leaves one with the unmistakable impression of Montreal's ascendancy. Quebec artists are emerging now knowing who they are, apparently not seeking validation from elsewhere to feel empowered. Let's note: Montreal is home to the only international biennial in Canada (organized by the Centre International d'art contemporain), something English Canada has never pulled off. And nowhere in Canada has a museum committed to a regular showcase of this sort for Canadian contemporary art. (Province of Ontario, you're getting your butt kicked here.) It's telling that the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal is the first to take the lead with its new Triennial. Refusing wannabe status, and with its leading institutions honouring the home culture with discernment and passion, Montreal is suddenly looking like the sexiest thing around. Nothing Is Lost, Nothing Is Created, Everything Is Transformed continues at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal until Sept. 7 (514-847-6232 or http://www.macm.org).

Merci, Au Revoir,Montreal and Hello New York I had the chance to escape from New York (no not like the movie) and visit Montreal, Canada this long Memorial Day Weekend. Wow was I impressed. This was not my first trip to Montreal by a long shot, but it was my first trip as an adult. When I was in college, Montreal meant three things to me: Hockey, Concerts and Strip Clubs. And not always in that order. I failed to see the beauty and the thriving cultural scene through my beer goggles. The city is charming, as are the people, restaurants and scenery. If you want a little bit of Europe without actually going to Europe, Montreal may be just your ticket. Yes, Montreal is in Canada, and Canada is another country, not located in Michigan as one of my crestfallen fellow countrymen discovered on line at the airport when asked for her passport. Much to her chagrin, she discovered she would need a passport to travel to Canada, as Canada is a country, not a state or a city. So much for those improved New York State Regents requirements in geography. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I had the opportunity to visit my friends in Montreal, and they, along with the city, were charming and delightful hosts. While I did not get a chance to take in the whole city, they gave me their perspective. It’s always good to visit a city where you know people, they can show you the off the beaten path gems and diamonds in the rough. If you are located in New York or its environs, East Coast, Montreal is about an hour flight and a world away. I can see why it made the list as one of the world’s cleanest cities. Walking around I was puzzled my first day there. I was thinking to myself “what’s wrong with this picture” and then it hit me - the place is so clean you could probably eat off the sidewalk. I mean not a gum wrapper, plastic bag or tossed away soda can anywhere in sight. It’s obvious that people respect their city and the city does a good job keeping things tidy. A small thing to notice, but when you live in New York, where littering is an art form, you notice these things. Don’t worry New York, you are my hometown and I still love you, and you have vastly improved since the days of my youth, I was just dancing with another girl this weekend and in terms of littering and cleanliness, she just danced better than you. Montreal has a lot to offer - if you are into the nightlife, they have a thriving club and bar scene. Food more your thing? Plenty of top notch restaurants. It’s a city of festivals, and a city of fun. Art and culture more your thing? Plenty of that with galleries and museums, and just the architecture and landscape of the city will leave you breathless. I managed to see a great exposition of Cuban art which I probably would not have had the chance to see since that sort of thing is embargoed in the United States (what, you thought I was not going to get political in this post, that it was all going to be travel tips and city reviews, think again, this is me). The city has a famous Formula One Grand Prix coming up in June, not to mention one of the world’s largest comedy festivals, Just for Laughs, and from what I hear, a kick ass fireworks competition. It also has a casino, located near the famous Biosphere from the 1967 World’s Fair (known as Expo 67). I managed to do what I always do whenever I walk into a casino - lose money. But it has great dining and the trip on Montreal’s Metro was an experience. Makes the average New York City subway ride look like a scene straight of “Nightmare on Elm Street”. Okay, as you might guess I have a come down with a bad case of culture envy, city envy, country envy, with a side order of IAS (Inferior American Syndrome). I get this a lot. I travel somewhere and see how things are and begin to feel like a savage. I tend to forget that in terms of culture, America is extremely young on the world’s stage, we are the bratty teenager compared to most of the world. If you have a brain and a conscience, it’s hard not to hang your head in shame these days. My country is prosecuting a war that is not popular abroad, and is currently lead by a man who is despised and looked upon as a clown by most of the world. Try as we do, we Americans are really culturally naive, and I really feel this when I travel. Let’s just say that after Starbucks, Sex and the City and McDonald’s, our cultural lexicon is extremely limited and we are kidding ourselves when we pump ourselves up with this feeling of superiority. Yes, for now, we are a super power, whatever that means. Our motto should not be “In God We Trust” but “The Sword is Mightier than the Pen”. Okay so this blog entry seems like and exercise in self-hatred and country shame. It is. But as my Canadian friend reminded me this weekend, “You Americans are too hard on yourselves.” That was a refreshing point of view. As I continually feel the necessity to apologize for being an American and living in a country who’s government has sponsored and supported war, misery, crime, and tyranny, I need to be reminded of this - that I, and we as a nation, are indeed too hard on ourselves. Like everywhere else, we have our good and we have our bad. Maybe I will never be a flag waving patriot, but I still love my country and want it to grow and thrive, and yes I want us to stand out in the world, not for what we can do to our enemies if they cross us, but what we can achieve once we set our minds to it. There are a lot of challenges that are currently facing us a nation, and indeed as a globe. The environmental crisis, poverty, hunger, tragedies on a global scale, and lack of faith and trust in established institutions have exploded to the surface and kick us in the balls on a daily basis. Now we can turn away, ignore these issues, grab a beer, watch a ball game, become obsessed with “American Idol” or overindulge in the multitude of distractions that are available to us. Or we can see this as an opportunity to take up these challenges and work with others around the globe to come up with creative solutions. The death toll in the Chinese earthquake alone was over 60,000 people. Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma) has claimed over 140,000 lives. Here in the United States, and estimated 37 milllion people live in poverty according to 2006 data from the US Census Bureau. Domestic violence, addiction, lack of health care coverage, a crippled education system - these are all bigger challenges our country has faced than anything the terrorists can do to us. Soon, we will have the opportunity to select a new President, who will supposedly guide us through this quagmire. But it’s not too early to think about what we can do on the micro level - that means the nation of one - you and I. Can one person change the world - yes believe it or not one person can - one at a time. Keep your eyes open, and you may just see an opportunity to do that.

Point de vue français venant des Inrocks : M Pour Montréal : premier jour On redécouvre, à chaque visite, Montréal la grande ; diverse, moderne, attirante. En automne, la lumière sublime de Stockholm. Excitante comme un petit New York. Douce et élégante comme Paris, un grand et franc sourire en plus . La ville des magasins de disques – ils pullulent, ils épatent. De Chinatown à Saint-Denis, des rues calmes du ravissant et cool Plateau aux imposants gratte-ciels du centre d’affaires, dans chacun de ses bars, de tous les pores de ses érables rougissants, sur tous ses visages radieux et aimables, on a senti la vibration particulière, unique, puissante, qui l’anime. Car Montréal bouge. Elle bouge vite, elle bouge sans arrêt, semble toujours bouger dans la bonne direction. Depuis Constellation, depuis surtout la mise en orbite d’Arcade Fire, le monde regarde Montréal avec envie et curiosité : Montréal est un passionnant laboratoire. Le cul entre deux chaises, la langue entre deux mondes. Ses groupes ont la puissance, un certain sens de la franchise et de l’innocence de l’Amérique du Nord, ils ont aussi la classe, l’intelligence plus tordue et consciente d’elle même des têtes d’affiche européennes. La qualité et l’image. Montréal est une scène : tout le monde, ici, connaît tout le monde, tout le monde joue avec tout le monde, les idées circulent, la musique s’aère. Montréal aime ses groupes. Et le fait savoir. Pensé par Martin Elbourne, responsable de Glastonbury et The Great Escape à Brighton, réalisé sur place avec maestria par Avalanche Production et placé sous le patronage surprise de la locale Melissa Auf Der Maur, M Pour Montréal est le porte-voix du laboratoire. Un sacré tremplin : seize groupes se croisent sur deux jours et dans deux salles, certains resteront peut-être dans l’ombre, d’autres, nous sommes prêts à le parier, baigneront bientôt dans une intense lumière. Des délégués venus du monde entier –journalistes, tourneurs, responsables de labels- sont là pour assister à l’éclosion, l’aider s’ils le peuvent. Rien d’un pesant raout industriel : à l’image de la ville qui l’accueille, tout dans le festival est intime, amical, agréable. Un tremplin, et un concours. Un prix récompensera le groupe élu par les professionnels. La première soirée s’achève. Six heures de décalage sous les yeux, une poutine qui stagne quelque part dans le bide, et une vague petite inquiétude qui squatte l’esprit : il est temps de choisir. Elire, trier, juger, sous-peser : c’est une affaire pour la tête. C’est pourtant, d’abord, le cœur qui parle. Bruyant, affolé, il hurle, se soulève, s’alourdit, s’envole pour Torngat - probablement l’une des plus belles choses entendues depuis quelques longues lustres. Trois garçons, l’un d’entre eux gravitant autour de Belle Orchestre ou d’Arcade Fire, trois multi instrumentalistes, des morceaux sans voix, entre Robert Wyatt et la library music des années 70 - une musique de film fantasmatique, la bande-son de paysages formidables, la traduction sonore d’émotions trop belles et complexes pour être formalisés par le langage. Le cœur parle, mais les muscles aussi. Ils se tendent et explosent pour We Are Wolves, autre grosse révélation de la première soirée. Le Canada a ses Klaxons : entre brûlures rocks et rondeurs électroniques, dans un long et épuisant rush, We Are Wolves est une diabolique machine à danser, la tête en vrac, les jambes mélangées, les yeux révulsés. Trois jeunes types impressionnants, un grand concert enflammé et un puissant spectacle visuel -ils portent tous, au-dessus de la tête, une immense tête de squelette en bois. We Are Wolves sera bientôt immense. Les muscles se sont aussi pas mal exprimés, et beaucoup crampés, pour Les Breastfeeders ; ahurissante troupe rock et grand groupe de scène, à la fois terriblement rêche et furieusement pop, entre les Ramones et B-52’s. Le concert va vite, semble ne jamais vouloir s’arrêter, ne jamais prendre de direction trop facilement établie ; les morceaux épuisants et exaltants allument un petit incendie à refrain, un danseur fou fait le spectacle –immense. Un dernier organe s’est joliment mis en branle lors de cette première soirée : les zygomatiques. L’épuisement, total, n’en aura pas eu raison : Numéro#, le TTC du cru, s’est chargé de les réactiver. Ironique, méchamment efficace, le duo auto-déclaré punk aurait mérité un public un peu plus massif ; ses coups de boutoirs électroniques, son pseudo crunk hilarant et sa belle tenue sur scène pourraient, aucun doute là-dessus, faire se soulever quelques dizaines de tonnes de chairs en fusion.

Vibrant Montreal brings new Canadian rock sound to world scenes Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 (EST) Montreal, the Canadian city known for its fierce winters, has become an international hotspot for a new wave of indie bands. The Montreal band "Arcade Fire" during a performance © AFP/GettyImages/File Kevin Winter PARIS (AFP) - Led by trailblazers Arcade Fire, guitar-wielding groups have been touring overseas, winning fans and have everyone wondering about the secret of the city’s sudden success. Alongside the rock scene, electronic acts such as DJ Champion, Kid Koala and Tiga have made "based in Montreal" a fashionable stamp of quality. In the process, the image of Canadian music, once dominated by pop crooners Bryan Adams and Celine Dion, has been redefined. "Montreal is an extremely cosmopolitan and open city," said homegrown singer Pierre Lapointe, giving his reasons for the new vibrancy. "We couldn’t care less about origins. What we look for is good music and interesting ways of doing things," he added during a stop in Paris. Montreal is home to about two million people, making it the biggest city in the French-speaking eastern province of Quebec. Music journalist and commentator for Canadian cable channel MusiquePlus, Nicolas Tittley, puts the vitality of the guitar scene down to North American influences. The Montreal band "Arcade Fire" during a performance © AFP/GettyImages/File Kevin Winter "Rock, country, blues, folk. Basically, all the music movements linked to North America are not foreign for 'les Montrealais'," he said in an interview. Indie rockers Arcade Fire have sold a million albums worldwide, according to their record label, and fellow groups Wolf Parade, The Bell Orchestre, Patrick Watson, Stars, The Besnard Lakes or The Dears are following in their footsteps. The francophone movement includes Ariane Moffatt, Karkwa, Ghislain Poirier, Les Trois Accords and Malajube. Malajube is threatening to cross the language divide and break into English-speaking markets after the group’s new album "Trompe-l'oeil" won plaudits from US reviewers. Although Montreal is a majority francophone city, most people can speak (and sing in) both languages and the city is also home to a large, well-integrated ethnic population. "The openness that we have in Montreal is quite unique," said Laurent Saulnier, programmer for the Montreal International Jazz Festival and Francofolies de Montreal event. "Few cities in the world have access to so many sorts of music from everywhere: France, USA, Europe, South America, or Africa." The cross-over of influences and culture is also seen in the music collaborations. Pierre Lapointe, The Dears, Les Trois Accords and Loco Locass, a rap group similar to the Beastie Boys, make guest appearances on the Malajube’s album. Critics snipe that the hype will not last, but for the moment at least, a new, fresh face has been put on Canadian music overseas. ©AFP