Pouzza Fest (Day 3)

Live in Montreal (2015)

mikebored

Day 3:
Final Day. That’s it. After this no more Pouzza. For this year at least.
Waking up pretty late, well around noon to be exact we missed our complimentary breakfast which actually was free this time (go figure) but managed to convince the lobby guys to give us a few more minutes to leave since check out was at noon to which they obliged and were cool with that.
We made it just in time to catch the BBQ at Foufs and had a couple of hotdogs, not the ideal breakfast or lunch but at least it was something to keep us going until the early show at the Pabst stage. While there we ran into members of Wasted Potential, Hounds and The Creepshow and said what’s up, what they’re up to and eventually met up with The Penske File and another dude from Stomp Record s and hung out for a bit. Initially we were planning to hang out at the Stomp Records office just around the corner but no one had the key so we decided to split for a little bit until Penske’s set at the Pabst stage which was pushed back because Success had to leave to Chicago for a show and couldn’t play that day.
With that extra time we hopped on the subway to hit up a comic book shop called Carsley’s Comics which I had visited the last time I was in Montreal. Only thing was that it was closed and we didn’t find out until we got there. I guess it was kind of my fault that we didn’t check the hours but in the end it was kind of good as it killed some time anyways before Penske’s set.
Speaking of The Penske File, they recently got signed to Stomp Records and are releasing their first full-length entitled Burn Into The Earth this month so what better way to showcase and introduce them to the Montreal crowds than on a sunny and nice Sunday afternoon day? People were still coming in but there was a pretty decent draw as the band played mostly new tracks from the album but also numbers from their last full-length A Restless Symphony such as “The Valley” and of course finishing off the set with “I’ve Been Thinking”. In the blinding sun they took the stage by storm and didn’t drop the note once at all with their folk-punk sound that seems to have matured greatly through all the years of touring and writing music. Harmonicas took the lead as the pounding bass and drums helped shape the groove of what was the 30 minutes or so that they were on, the introduction of their new tracks showed great promise of what will be when the album gets officially dropped as it contains some memorable choruses and melodies that won’t be hard to remember or get out of your head. Easily one of the best performances of the festival alongside Banquets and Joey Cape, this set definitely showcased some of the raw and awesome folk-punk greatness that is the Penske File.
Coming up just after was the East End Radicals playing in their hometown to continue the Stomp Records showcase and they didn’t disappoint – it’s a pure punk rock quartet with definite influences from bands like Rancid (as the name kind of suggests!). East End Radicals had also recently released their latest full-length Zero Hour so their set consisted mostly of songs from that album and of course “Generation Checkout” which had a music video recently released recently along with the album. A solid band with solid tunes and a perfect fit for Stomp Records.
Because the set times were pushed back at the Pabst Stage this gave me the perfect lead in for one of the top bands (in my opinion) of the festival. As odd as it seems I discovered them last year playing at Katacombes and have been hooked on them ever since – the band was Wasted Potential and it’s always a good time when you’re at one of their shows. Their self-described genre as “Gluten-Free Crust Punk” along with their unhealthy obsession with pizza has always made me wonder why they’re not signed anywhere yet, their performance that day was super tight and you can tell it is from their constant touring of Southern Ontario and “putting in their hours”. One thing of note was frontman Danny Kid’s dance moves on stage, his persona and flow is in perfect unison with the music and I honestly can’t explain it, it’s more of something you need to see live – it’s hilariously awesome in a good way.
At this point in the schedule there was nothing in particular that I was looking forward to for about a short while so I decided to hit up La Belle province for some more heart-attack inducing poutine while I had some down time. After that I finally made my way up to TRH Bar to catch Side Lines. I’m not entirely sure where I heard of these guys but they’re a cool 5 piece band from Ottawa and had some alright points during their time on stage. After a somewhat weak introduction (the frontman seemed to be a little shy about introducing the band) and a pre-recorded sample of a countdown the band started which shortly after the crowd started to pay more attention to what was going onstage. For a band that’s been around since 2011 they definitely have some interesting music and the performance itself was decent but a lot of in-between time during songs left some awkward quiet moments but regardless they seemed like they were having a good time with everyone and why shouldn’t they, they’re playing at Pouzza.
Like the Pabst Stage, the Foufones Electriques schedule was pushed back a bit so this put in a schedule conflicting with The Holy Mess and Punk Rock Karaoke. After a long thought I decided to go with Punk Rock Karaoke, I’ve always heard about it but never actually went to one of their shows, and it was an interesting experience to say the least. This line up featured all members besides Eric Melvin which I’m not entirely sure what happened and why he wasn’t there to be part of the night but it’s something the crowd went without. Starting off the night with The Ramone’s “Blitzkrieg Pop” which continued on to “Bad Habits” by The Offspring and at one point “Ruby Soho” was sung by Talli, a native of Toronto and most famously the one who Fat Mike refers to in the NOFX song “She’s Nubs” – with a little help from a friend she sang the song and the crowd loved it. Eventually the Face to Face song “Disconnected” was sung and a buddy of mine also went up and sang “Amoeba” by The Adolescents .
Staying for a little while longer but not until the end I eventually made my way back to Foufs to catch The Dwarves and all their Scum-Punk Shenanigans. The place was packed and ready to go as Blag Dahlia came in to a roaring applause and the whole band took over the set for the next hour – playing tracks from all their albums and of course the recently released Gentlemen’s Blag no time was spared in keeping the music going. HeWhoCannotBeNamed in particular was energetic with his playing and seemed to scream Punk Rock, especially with his Luchadore mask which I swear is probably glued to his face. Only way it works. A pretty long set considering it’s the Dwarves but everyone was cool with it, maybe because they were on their 5 or 6th beers by then ($1 for a Bud? The beer sucks but I’m in!) and these guys sure set the pins up for the last headliner to knock’em down.
And now the band everyone was looking forward to for the whole weekend, Municipal Waste. Their music if pretty described perfectly by one of their shirts which features a dude killing a corporate guy by blasting puke through his face which kind of was me Saturday morning except I was face down in the toilet. Taking influences from bands like Suicidal Tendencies and D.R.I they made their own brand of metal-punk legendary with the album The Art of Partying, I dug the whole set. Again, maybe it was the cheap beers but I did somewhat recall thrashing around and throwing for a bit during the performance to the scowls of everyone around me. Boo Hoo - you come to a show, expect to party and people to bump into you.
I did also see that Steel Panther was playing Metropolis that night too, made me kind of wonder why they weren’t part of the Pouzza line up….Just Kidding…..
Much of the night was lost to me as the combination of exhaustion, alcohol and deep fried poutine from the whole weekend caught up to me and I was ready to go right after that. Luckily my friends agreed that it was time to start our 6 hour drive back to the “6” so we decided to call it a that and well, miss Knapsack (I’ll catch them next time…).
Long story short there were some awesome bands at the festival (Banquets, Jeff Rosenstock, Direct Hit!, Joey Cape, Snacks, Success, Wasted Potential) and other promising ones (Penske File, East End Radicals, Side Lines, Survay Says!) however this year seemed a little more mild in the line up as opposed to the previous years which in turn may have affected why some particular venues like Metropolis and Club Soda weren’t used so I’m a little concerned about how next year will turn out but I trust that Hugo Mudie of The Sainte Catherines has some tricks up his sleeve for the next year. Who knows? We’ll see.