Forget about New York, Seattle, Los Angeles… this weekend, St Thérèse is the most punk place in North America…who knew?! Situated less than 30 minutes north of the city, thanks to the Music4Cancer Festival, this weekend it becomes to punk what Montebello becomes to rock, albeit on a much smaller scale, with a maximum attendance of around 5,000 on the Saturday. Don’t let the small size fool you though; various punk heavyweights have been involved over the years, and this year, the 7th edition of the festival, is the biggest yet. Created to raise funds and awareness for cancer research, founder Jay Epinat has clearly been working like a trooper to create the best festival of the summer that you’ve probably never heard of. After all, there is zero promotion in conjunction with the usual promoter heavyweights of our city, such as Evenko or Greenland Productions. Working with Montreal Rocks, I like to think I have a good idea of the live music scene here, but even I heard nothing via the usual avenues; instead, it was a random news bulletin on Sirius’ punk channel Faction that brought it to my attention. How thankful I am for listening that day! Blessed with the kind of glorious weather Osheaga and Rockfest could only have dreamed of, it’s unquestionably one of the events of the summer.
Friday is a half-day of bands, so by the time I escape work and arrive at the site (which is basically the car park of the local church, behind the main street), it’s the old-school California ska-punk legends Voodoo Glow Skulls, now fronted by Death By Stereo frontman Efrem Schulz. True to the tradition started by recently-departed frontman Frank Casillas, Efrem arrives on stage sporting a Nacho Libre-esque wrestling mask, though this gets ditched pretty quickly in light of the heat! They soon launch into the classic Shoot The Moon, and blaze through a set of classics including Drunk Tank, Charlie Brown, and Voodoo Anthem, and are greeted by a steady circle pit the entire time, basking in the furious ska, for almost an hour. Hour-long sets are a constant theme of the festival, which is a huge plus; many a punk show tops out at about an hour anyway, so it feels like you get the bands entire live experience, and not just a truncated festival set. Great move, Jay!
After a brief wander around the site, taking in the local breweries, Merch stands, an impressive NOFX tribute band, and NCW (Quebecois wrestling, FYI!!!), it’s time for the Friday headliners, none other than Ska legends Less Than Jake. Huge cheers greet their arrival on stage as the spoken word intro to All My Best Friends Are Metalheads plays out, before both song and crowd explode into action. Frontman Chris Demakes proclaims “we wanna see a circle pit bigger than the hurricane!” prior to Last One Out Of Liberty City; the crowd duly obliges. Balloons are thrown from the stage en masse during the epic Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts to create a seriously party atmosphere, and then crowd surfers take the skies in a similar volume during Harvey Wallbanger.
The real hero of the show is a little kid called Arthun (I think?), brought up on stage with his mother midway through the set and who busts out some serious moves with the band! And what a set it is, covering the bands entire back catalogue, and the crowd responds rapturously throughout. During the encore, they pay tribute to their hosts: “thank you for having us, we always feel safe in your country! Feel free to come and visit us in GAINESVILLE ROCK CITY!” With that, they launch into the circle-pit inducing anthem of the same name as their hometown, before wrapping up a storming 70-minute set with The Ghosts of Me and You. A wonderful Day 1, and one that leaves Day 2 with a lot to live up to!
Less Than Jake Setlist
All My Best Friends Are Metalheads
Sugar in Your Gas Tank
Last One Out Of Liberty City
Dopeman
Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts
Harvey Wallbanger
Look What Happened
Good Enough
Automatic
Overrated (Everything Is)
Bomb Drop
P.S. Shock the World
Rock-N-Roll Pizzeria
How’s My Driving, Doug Hastings?
Plastic Cup Politics
Encore
The Science of Selling Yourself Short
Gainesville Rock City
The Ghosts of Me and You
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Day 2 is a full day of live music, and I arrive about halfway through, just in time for local ska kings Planet Smashers. Set opener Fabricated is greeted by a sea of skanking, before a circle pit is adding to the mix on Life Of The Party, and things continue that way throughout the duration of their hour. On the classic Surfin’ In Tofino, they persuade the entire crowd to sit on the ground for a while, before leading them back to their feet in unison to dance the song away in boisterous fashion. Never a dull moment with these guys!
Remember Hawthorne Heights? They used to be huge before ‘Emo’ became a dirty word, and they were at the forefront of that scene in the mid- to late 2000’s. However, fast forward to 2017, and that scene is nowhere near as popular as it once was, as evidenced by the rather muted response to Hawthorne Heights’ arrival on stage. No skanking, no circle pits, no crowd surfers; just a polite crowd, watching and observing, the kind of response many a support band would receive here. Unperturbed, frontman JT addresses the crowd “we’re Hawthorne Heights. If you know us, sing along, if not, pleased to meet you!” And with that, they proceed to deliver one of the slickest sets of the festival, absolutely flawless, and by the time they get to Silver Bullet, small pockets of the crowd are singing along. These pockets appear to grow in size throughout the set somehow, so that by the time the set wraps up with the brilliant Saying Sorry and Ohio Is For Lovers, it seems certain that Hawthorne Heights have a few more fans than they had an hour ago. The crowd of people that gather to meet JT at the Merch tent right afterwards seems to suggest as much too. A great set.
Guttermouth were one of those bands I never quite got my head around, and all these years later, things haven’t changed. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need my music to be serious all the time – after all, I love The Vandals, who, to me, are just as silly and goofy as Guttermouth. Its just that I don’t get the music, which honestly sounds like a discordant noise… oh dear, I’m seriously starting to sound like my Dad. Clearly I’m in the minority, though, as the rest of the crowd seems to go ballistic, with furious circle pits almost constantly, which frontman Mark Adkins joins in with on a few occasions, in between silly walks, nose picking, burps, and such. Each to their own, I guess.
Its over to Pennywise to close out the Festival for the 5,000 in attendance, which they do in emphatic manner. They set their stall out with the storming Fight Til You Die, with frontman Jim Lindberg and crowd raising fists in unison. Pennywise always did have plenty to say about politics, and now more than ever, their message is relevant. They dedicate My Own Country to the ‘dictator’ Donald Trump, and introducing The World, Jim describes how the world was a messed up place 15 years ago (around when the song was written)…’AND ITS STILL MESSED UP!’ With that, Jim ferociously attacks the mic and a huge circle pit forms in agreement. The timeless Society is followed by tributes to punk legends Circle Jerks and Black Flag, who also hail from Hermosa Beach, California (same as Pennywise). The epic F*** Authority probably gets the biggest pit of the set, and is followed up with a mass singalong for their punked-up cover of Stand By Me. The stirring Bro Hymm closes out the set, a tribute to their deceased original bassist Jason Thirsk, but it also makes a truly fitting conclusion given the cause of the entire festival. Bodies fill the stage for the anthemic ‘WOAHHHH WOAHHHH-OH-OH’ chorus, before the band depart the stage for good, with no encore. It’s a little disappointing that they only use 55 minutes of their 70 minute time slot, but all in all, its another great day in the books.
Pennywise Setlist
Fight Till You Die
Can’t Believe It
Something to Change
My Own Country
Same Old Story
The World
(Intro) As Long As We Can
Society
Wild in the Streets (Circle Jerks cover)
Nervous Breakdown (Black Flag cover)
Violence Never Ending
Pennywise
Fuck Authority
Broken
Stand by Me (Ben E. King cover)
Bro Hymn
Overall, there’s no question that the 7th edition of Music4Cancer was a resounding success. Perhaps like me, you love festivals, but hate the crowds, the ticket price, or the hassle of getting away from Parc Jean Drapeau late at night with tens of thousands of people? Then next year, check out Music4Cancer. After reviewing the ’77 Festival, I mentioned how great it was to spend a day ‘punkin’ in the park.’ Well, you can now extend that to ‘punkin’ in the car park’ after this weekends experience. A great festival, with great bands, supporting a great cause – what more incentive could you possibly need?!
Written by Simon Williams, Photography by Kieron Yates
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