Pop Montreal 2007

Pop Montreal was fired on the collective impulse of friends and colleagues to create a meaningful and vibrant music festival. In five years we have grown to include a bold cross-section of art forms and events, never losing sight of our focused mandate to reflect the community that we come from. In 2006, the festival ran a sleepless super-saturated full week. Fans, journalists, musicians and industry representatives met in common spaces to experience a whirlwind of the best, most captivating, music and underground culture in North America. In addition to nights packed with music of every tone, colour, and sensibility, we staged events to focus attention on political and social activism, independent film and photography (and as always, unhinged loft parties stretching beyond the wee hours of the morning).



In 2007, Pop Montreal continues to search for the greatest and most innovative independent musical talents in Montreal and abroad, with the ultimate aim of bringing them together in a festival that celebrates the intangible and transcendent value of music and art. We do this in an atmosphere that challenges industry norms and promotes social awareness and cultural relevance. We are not concert promoters. We are collaborators, co-organizers, and lovers of music in the purest sense. We want nothing more than to help people bring their art to the world. And finally, we will continue to throw the greatest party in the world!



This year’s festival will take place October 3 – 7, 2007 in 35 venues throughout Montreal. Selected artist(s) will be compensated for their performance(s). Last year, more than 45 Sonicbids bands showcased at Pop Montreal. Past festival performers include Gonzales, Beck, Blonde Redhead, Interpol, Queens of the Stone Age, Devin The Dude, The Arcade Fire, Fiery Furnaces, Stars, Tapes n' Tapes, The Dears and Socalled.



Pop Montreal remains firmly entrenched in the ethic and aesthetics of the Montreal music community. We are committed to providing opportunities for independent musicians, promoters and fans to participate in this world class event. Because our initiatives began from grassroots efforts, we remain open to all, willingly engaging all ideas and inspiration. We will not become some compromised showcase for untried bands and the big record execs that feed off of them. We challenge this linear equation. We strive to be provocative and encourage artists to involve themselves in making this happen.



"I flunked all my classes because of Pop Montreal and I don't even care!"

~ Lorien Jones - bassist for The Weekend.



"The most brilliant bit of festival programming ever."

~ Sarah Liss, Now Magazine



"Outright inspirational."

~ The Gazette



"An inspired feat of programming."

~ Hour Magazine



"Another year of Pop Montreal is over and in proper post-Pop fashion, I’m so hung over it actually hurts to type."

~ Johnson Cummins, Montreal Mirror



"The festival to end all genres."

~ McGill Daily



"If for only one week, Montreal truly lives up to its hype of being Canada’s musical mecca."

~ Eye Weekly



"Pop Montreal may just about be the best festival you’ve never heard of."

~ Fused Magazine



"If you actually like watching music the way normal people do, Pop Montreal is a godsend."

~ National Post