Get Your Mosh on At Pouzzafest V
A brief reminder to all punk rock fans of Montreal: Pouzza Fest is coming up this Friday! Get your moshing elbows ready as the Montreal punk rock festival celebrates its fifth edition, from May 15 to the 17. The excellent line-up will be jamming out all over downtown Montreal, from the grungy Katacombes to the yummy Frites Alors. According to the schedule, the flamboyant Foufounes Électriques (also known as Foufs by regulars) will be hosting most of the headliners. However, the smaller venues such as TRH Bar (known for their mini skate-park) and Piranha Bar (home to real piranha fish) are most definitely worth looking into.
Tickets to individual shows range from 10-20$, while the 47$ day passes and 93$ three-day pass help spectators save money on their ambitious quest to “see everything.” Even people who are not ready to dish out on Pouzza should make sure to check out the free events on the Pabst Stage (corner of Maisonneuve and Clark) – the notorious ska punk band The Planet Smashers will be playing there for free on Saturday night!
Pouzzafest Lineup
Punk rock in itself is an incredibly broad music genre; the organisers of Pouzza therefore made sure to invite all kinds of groups. It will be quite a treat for festivalgoers to contrast hardcore Municipal Waste with more skater rock sounding Teenage Bottlerocket. It is also great that 88 Fingers Louie, formed by the guitarist and bassist from Rise Against, will hop by Montreal for Pouzza before their June performance at Amnesia Rockfest. Audience members will revert back to the 80s with the more garage rock oriented band the Dwarves, while Holy Mess are just awesome for their crisp sound quality. Having a personal weakness for raw female vocals, I feel like seeing the Muffs, lead by the talented Kim Shattuck, are a must-see. And although Chumped are a little too pop punk for me, anyone seeing them will immediately fall under the charm of their pixie-faced lead singer. Finally, Jess Rosenstalk, from The Arrogant Sons of Bitches, gives a quite killer solo performance (as I was fortunate enough to find out when he played at Petit Campus with Chumped and Andrew Jackson Jihad).
Additionally, between live shows, spectators will get a break from the partying thanks to interactive activities such as “Yoga for Punks” or “Punk Rock Karaoke”. Unravelling on the free Pabst Stage, the karaoke event usually invites audience members to sing punk rock classics by bands like Bad Religion, NOFX and the Offspring – definitely sounds like a blast to any punk fan!
It may be too late to apply now, but the festival is always looking for volunteers, so if you enjoy this year’s edition, feel free to involve yourself next year. This amazing event can only thrive on the goodwill of punk rock aficionados.
Pouzza Fest 5 takes place from May 15 to 17.
