’77 Montreal Celebrates Punk and Hardcore

Fattal Fest 2015. The Barrel Heads. Photo Antigoni Dimopoulos Fattal Fest 2015. The Barrel Heads. Photo Antigoni Dimopoulos

The rock n’ roll subgenre born in basements and dingy bars four decades will be brought to the large open-air stages of Parc Jean-Drapeau on July 28th. The ‘77 Punk Festival will be filling the void left by Heavy Montreal and boasts some big names for its first edition.

Rancid and Dropkick Murphys will be headlining the festival as part of their From Boston to Berkeley tour. For many kids of my generation, they were our introduction to the subculture.

But these bands can’t compare to the LA punk pioneers X, who will be celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band. Some other acts to look forward to are California goofballs The Vandals, NYHC veterans Madball and pop-punk powerhouse Bouncing Souls. Joyce Manor will be making audience members cry, while The Creepshow will be spooking them with tales of horror, followed by Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers, who will be performing some acoustic numbers.

Be sure to show up early to catch Montreal acts like Pale Lips, Barasso, ’80s local hardcore legends Genetic Control playing a reunion set, and big band The Kingpins, fronted by the Queen of Ska, Lorraine Muller.

If you ever need a break from watching bands or just need to kill time, you can feast your eyes on the poster expo, chuck a few dollars at the record fair, or sit down and enjoy a punk-themed movie or documentary.

There will also be parties happening before and after the festival. The pre-party will be at Turbo Haus on Thursday July 27th with Offset, Nüshu, F.I.T.S and Jesus Horse. As for the after-party, it will be happening at Piranha Bar with Boids and Ripcordz playing at midnight after the festival.

Also you can tune into my radio show Sewer Spewer on CJLO 1690AM on Wednesday July 26 at 10pm. I will be dedicating an entire hour to ’77 Fest by spinning tracks of each band.

’77 Fest takes place July 28 at Parc Jean Drapeau. For information and tickets, click HERE. We also have a ticket giveaway for ’77 Fest.