After four weeks of music, thousands of dancers dragging their feet on the Jacques-Cartier Quay, and a program featuring electronic music in all its diversity, this Saturday sees the culmination of the Montreal season of Igloofest 2025. And what better way to close this incredible winter festival season than with Four Tet? Here’s a look back at an emotional evening. (At least, it was for me!)
SAPORO: Priori, Avalon Emerson and Fourtet
While most of the artists featured on the main stage this season were more in the electro-tech-house vein, this evening was a real opportunity to bring techno back to the fore.
For fans of techno music, many of whom criticized this year’s program as “not techno enough”, this was THE evening not to be missed.
We start with Priori (real name Francis Latreille), the OG of underground techno music in Quebec. Regulars will have seen his name on the billboards of Montreal’s somewhat more underground raves, alongside some of the biggest names in Canadian and international music. With his slightly more unstructured style, captivating textures and increased use of synthesizers, his set was the perfect opening for Avalon Emerson, who quickly turned up the heat – and the BPMs – a notch.
Hailing from the American desert (Arizona), the warmth of her birth state quickly fused with the coldness of the warehouses she frequented, creating this hybrid style, somewhere between industrial and dreamlike.
Her deep bass lines quickly percolated through the igloofest facilities, accompanied by equally striking hi-hat and high-pitched claps. As I wandered around the bonfires in the middle of the site, just to warm up a bit, I was quickly taken aback by the power of his set. And all around me, it was as if the audience, too, had been activated.
And after a 1h30 set, managed to perfection, Avalon Emerson faded away, not without a round of applause, to make way for the evening’s headliner – I’d even say of the entire 2025 program: Four Tet.
I must confess that my opinion on the matter is surely biased, given that I’ve been following FourTet religiously for several years now. He’s been in my headphones on a daily basis, and seeing him was truly one of my dreams.
And you know, sometimes reality isn’t as beautiful as fantasy, but… in the case of Four Tet, it was a slap in the face.
His music has managed to give me a happiness, and a high, that few artists have managed to give me in life. Accompanied by his analog machines and endowed with great musical precision, he delivers a set of impressive energy. It’s not everyone who can lead a crowd like this: and in this human ocean, it’s as if Four Tet has become a kind of Poseidon, controlling our movements like waves.
People jumped, shouted, applauded, and we could have gone on like this for hours. It would take more than two hours to truly appreciate such talent. But two hours was the time slot we had, and it was enough to appreciate Four Tet’s talent. A true genius, who almost made me shed a tear of appreciation.
VIDEOTRON: SISI Superstar, Princess Superstar and Awwful
To be honest, I didn’t spend as much time as I would have liked in front of the little Videotron stage on this last evening. Unfortunately, when there are two stages, you have to make choices!
However, the little time I spent dancing during these artists’ three sets gave me a good taste of what they had to offer: Hyperpop-infused techno, very cunty, and very much inspired by LGBTQIA++ culture.
People seemed to like it, and so did I: the next time their names appear on a program, I’ll definitely go and see a bit more of what they can do.
