UnPop Montreal

UnPop Montreal is an annual music festival occurring in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the early fall, usually at the end of August or the beginning of September. What started as a weekend of unknown bands has grown into a two-week party of free live shows involving some of the city's best-known underground bands - and a few underdogs.

The name of the festival was inspired by, and in reaction to, Pop Montreal.

Founding

UnPop Montreal was born in 2005 out of a rant in local paper Montreal Mirror by Nathan Munn who complained about the practice in many festivals (namely Pop Montreal and NXNE) to charge application fees to bands who likely will not be approved to perform, having been judged by a panel of so-called experts who would rather have their friends play anyhow, or who will only be left to open for an out-of-town headliner for a high ticket price. Munn announced the upcoming festival which would not only waive application fees for prospective performers, but also not have a panel of judges decide whether an act was good enough to play but instead would be, more or less, on a first-come, first-served basis. And all shows would be free for the public to attend.

History

In 2005, Nathan Munn and a few of his friends started putting together the first edition by contacting venues and pleading online and in local weekly papers to have bands apply. Of these friends, Sébastian Hell tried contacting local microbreweries and various small companies for subsidies and sponsorships; conditions had to be met in order for the money to start coming in. It is estimated the endeavor has cost, personally, Munn $800 and Hell $250 - of their own money.

In 2006, faced with the possibility of losing money again, Munn toyed with the idea of canceling UnPop. Daniel Seligman of Pop Montreal offered Munn an outdoor stage for one day during Pop.

In 2007, Munn decided to depart the organization and leave total control to Sébastian Hell. By most accounts, 2007 has been a complete success, although it did cost Hell over $1000 to put on.

Venues And Performers

2005

The first year's edition took place from Thursday, August 25th to Sunday, August 28th.

Five venues were slated to take part: Green Room, Main Hall, Pharmacie Esperanza, L'Hémisphère Gauche and Foufounes Électriques.

Performers were Raw Madonna, Michael Seta, Gyroscope, Ghettonuns, John School Dropouts, Sébastian Hell/Blooze Konekshun, Uncle Daddy, Deadbush, Channel 2, Boeufs De Matane, Argon Floozy, Dress Whites, French Leaves, Infinite Moksha, The Real Deal, Pelvic Thrust and Squalor.

2006

The year Pop helped out, a dozen bands played, including Raw Madonna and Launie Anderssohn.

2007

In 2007, Sébastian Hell brought a new vision to the festival and ended up hosting 45 bands for 10 shows in 7 different venues over 2 weeks. Over 1100 spectators came to the concerts, though that figure hides near-empty shows. All shows had planned a 12:30 AM end time so that spectators could also travel using the city's subway and public transit home and save on cab fare, as well as on admission price. This expansion is said to be the first part of a larger-scale plan, although said plans were never made public.

Venues were: Zoobizarre, Playhouse, Quai Des Brumes, Barfly, L'Absynthe, Cagibi, and Lola Lounge.

Featured performers were Croc Mort, God: Zero, Les Vestons, The Unsettlers, The Jimmy Riggers, Me & Mary Jane (twice), Richard Carr, Sébastian Hell, Nightwood, Plunt, Infinite Moksha, Raw Madonna, The Sacramentos, Pax Nipponica, Shane Watt, members of Ideal Lovers, UnPop All Stars, Launie Anderssohn, Belleisle, Dush, Will Austin Escape, Les Jazz Bin, OK Giraffe, Allan Lento, Elizabeth Bruce, Shot While Hunting, On Bodies, Eleveneighty, Devil Eyes, Dead Messenger, Meltdown Club, Doc Pickles, Black Mammoth, Argon Floozy, .Cut, Anti-School-Year, Les Tristes Tropiques.

2008

Because of logistic issues mostly, Sébastian Hell has decided that 2008's edition will feature no more than 3 acts per show, with clear headliners who will have a longer alloted time slot.

Notable Poster Artists

* Edmund Lam
* Sébastian Hell
* Nick Kuepfer
* James Ryan Halpenny
* Trebek
* Eleveneighty

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/unpopmontreal UnPop on MySpace]
* [http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/082505/cover_music.html article from Montreal Mirror regarding the inaugural 2005 edition]
* [http://www.hour.ca/music/music.aspx?iIDArticle=10105 article from Hour regarding the 2006 edition]
* [http://www.montrealmirror.com/2007/090607/rex.html article from Montreal Mirror regarding the 2007 edition]
* [http://24h.v1.myvirtualpaper.com/montreal/2007102310/?page=34 article in 24 Heures regarding the 2007 edition]