After having attended hundreds of gigs in my life, it’s rare that I go to a show having no idea what to expect. But that’s the case tonight. A charity show, with a slew of local Montreal artists, all doing cover versions? Let’s see what this is all about…
HERA is a charity event for the shelter La Dauphinelle, organized by MOND Productions, and tonight marks their third event. The guest list reads like a who’s who of Montreal artists, from the upcoming to the fully established: members of Stars, Sam Roberts, Melissa Auf Der Maur?! Midway through the show, the compere for the night explains the mission of HERA and that nobody here is getting paid, which is a testament to the awesomeness of our local scene!

And so to the show itself. A local band named Somet are first on, and they serve as a support band for the main multi-artist event, playing around 25 minutes for what we later learn to be only their second show ever! It’s a mix of shoegaze and punk rock (complete with those classic coordinated punk rock jumps to end the songs) and starts things off nicely as the room continues to fill.

After a changeover of about 30 minutes, it seems like members of Somet return to the stage to form the house band for the night. Félix Dyotte is first up for a rendition of Requiem pour un con by Serge Gainsbourg. It’s a mellow start, but the sound soon turns sinister as the unmistakable bass intro of Angel by Massive Attack starts to ring out, sung to absolute perfection by Alexiane Montpetit. Two drum kits on stage, seven musicians in total—it sounds huge!

After the aforementioned pause to describe the mission of MOND, Kurt Chaboyer performs the classic Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed, which is pretty big too. Ten musicians are on stage, including a cello and a saxophone. It merges flawlessly into Can I Kick It? by A Tribe Called Quest, which sampled that very same song, impeccably performed by D-Track. The crowd is more than happy to sing back the “YES YOU CAN!” response from start to finish!

After a French song by a band I don’t recognize (minor gripe: nobody introduces any of the artists in advance, so it’s on you to figure it out as you go), Sam Roberts arrives for a slick cover of Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before by The Smiths. As a native of Northern England, I absolutely love it! Sam switches with Amy Millan of Stars for Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, swiftly followed by a French version of Video Games by Lana Del Rey, courtesy of Stéphanie Boulay.



Kandle gets the mood back into a Massive Attack vibe with Angel Olsen’s All Mirrors, before PJ Harvey’s Down By The Water blows away the mellow vibes once more, thanks to Erika Angell. Mat Joly blasts out She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult with gusto. Clad in his leather jacket, you could’ve guessed beforehand that if anyone was gonna do a Cult cover, it would be him! Melissa Auf Der Maur closes out the first half of the show with a thunderous War Pigs by Black Sabbath, complete with blazing strobe lights that illuminate Théâtre Fairmount.




The compere guy returns to introduce another break and tell us not to leave yet; the show isn’t over! The band returns as we are approaching 11 p.m., and I realize that the usual curfew time isn’t going to apply here! A few new artists arrive for their first songs, in the form of Kevin and Agnès Laing with Crying In The Rain, Elliot Maginot with The Weight, and then Sean Foster with The Clash’s Train In Vain, before some of the higher-profile guests start to return for second songs.



Sam Roberts’ cover of The Beatles’ Within You Without You comes complete with a baby sitar for full Middle Eastern effect, before epic renditions of Portishead’s Glory Box (Alexiane Montpetit and D-Track) and a mammoth National Anthem by Radiohead, courtesy of James Correa, have the second half in full swing. It turns out Stars’ Evan Cranley played on it too, though we don’t realize until Felicity Hamer gives him a shout-out prior to her impressive performance of Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush. Again, intros would really help!

Max Archambault has the Ian Curtis vocal nailed on She’s Lost Control, though it’s a weird song to choose to empty out bags of balloons onto the crowd—not exactly upbeat euphoria! Still, the crowd bats the balloons around regardless. Joé Napoléon unleashes his inner Iggy Pop on I Wanna Be Your Dog, before Melissa Auf Der Maur continues her Black Sabbath tribute evening, this time with Paranoid.

Slaves On Dope’s Jason Rockman (No-One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age) and Trevor Anderson (Heroes by David Bowie) close out the four-hour spectacular at around midnight.
Overall, a great night for a great cause—see you next year for Round 4!








Review – Simon Williams
Photos – Steve Gerrard











