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Smoking POP: one last night!

More : Matt Stern, Pop Montreal, SOCALLED, Theatre for One, VOCKAH REDU, YAMATAKA

by Jordan Arseneault on September 25, 2011

With one more night of POP Montréal left to pack in, quipsters will be amassing for the SOCALLED musical “The Season” at Theatre Outremont, and then to chill out and enjoy Matt Stern at Cagibi. St Henrians may be enjoying Girls at the Corona, before everyone and their dog flocks north for musical finale at Église POP 425 Beaubien Est to be lit on FIRE.

Between trying to pop my “p” at the sweat-soaked Vockah Redu show on Friday, being blown away by Noh Wave St-Henrian concept-rockers YAMATAKA // SONIC TITAN, I somehow missed the melancholic queer wayfarers Dark,Dark,Dark. Choosing instead to see a two-on-one 3 minute mini-performance with Alexis and Mary Margaret O’Hara in a movable box provided by Theatre for One, my weekend was off to an intimate and wacky start in the red-quilted peep-show-esque trailer the group uses as a venue for mostly solo shows, for solo audiences. A magical moment: me to MMO: “I heard you took the bus?” MMO: “Sixty seven hours from Saskatoon”. Had to be there.

Saturday night was eaten up by a dup-step set with LA-based DJ duo Nguzunguzu, who smilingly spoke of their queer following in the smoky basement of Le Belmont. As it turns out, Asma Maroof and Daniel Pineda are in fact a nature-loving straight couple who were only queer my association with the long-running WILDNESS monthly party at Mexican “tranny bar” Silver Platter. I promise to have more on them when their WATER BASED POWER video is premiered later this month. Keith Race was kind enough to join me for some backstage shots, with portraits of the blasé, dub-loving beauties of the Belmont to be posted soon.

Nguzunguzu NOT GAY! (c) Keith Race

Beckoning his mostly white fans to “let go of the hate”, Vockah Redu was by far the most jaw-droppingly hot homo act I saw this weekend. Unfortunately, my view of the NOLA wonderfag was obstructed by a drunk, straight white guy who insisted on wearing an AFRO WIG for the duration of the show, which made me and contributor Tom McGraw almost homicidally angry. Apparently Monsieur Douche-Bag was on the guest list, and therefore his racist outfit and obnoxious behavior were permitted at the Église POP venue, where we will be back again to see some more fiery performances at the smash-everything closing party tonight.

VockahRedu

Luckily, this didn’t entirely spoil my enjoyment of the New Orleans BOUNCE MC’s exhilirating lyrics, rippling torso, and sychronized dance moves. The whole night was elevated to a scream-inducing dance frenzy when one of his gorgeous back-up dancers ended the show with a few minutes of VOGUE moves that definitely won him his 10s. Check back with @2bmag for an interview with VOCKAH REDU and more pics in advance of his upcoming album, which will be premiered in Brazil later this fall.

As I write this, I’m about to down my forth espresso and run to Theatre Outremont for the hotly anticipated SOCALLED Musical. Following up on his wildfire Sleepover launch party last May, The Season is Klezmer-hip-hop-trickster Josh Dolgin’s take on the musical theatre genre described on the POP website as a “puppet-heavy indie musical fable for the 21st century, featuring some of Montreal’s finest dancers, musicians, singers, actors and artists in an original, genre-bustin’, one-night-only production.”

The 2 act piece tells the story of a close-knit crew of forest animals as they prepare for winter and the oncoming hunting season and are faced with a new threat: an infestation of aliens from another planet. A forbidden love develops between Bear, a bear, “and Tina, a feisty, fiery, helpful little red furry thing from beyond the stars. Will their love survive?”

See you all afterwards at the Cagibi for Matt Stern, 5490 St-Laurent, 9pm!

http://popmontreal.com

Warning: get thee to the closing party EARLY and bring something to put out the FIRE***