I first discovered Angine de Poitrine in my kitchen in Belfast, when a Québecoise showed them to me the week they blew up on KEXP.
At first listen, I found it hard to tune into—and seeing the costumes, I immediately wrote it off as a bit gimmicky. Yet here I am in Chicoutimi, seeing them live.
I honestly couldn’t believe that a band this massive—easily one of the biggest acts of the moment—was slotted for a Thursday, the very first day of the festival at 7:15 PM. But apparently, they were scheduled at that time before they became so viral. Regardless of the day and time, the crowd was more than ready to welcome them under a boiling sun in Chicoutimi. A big red lad next to us was sweating his soul out in the heat, trying to fight it with a tiny handheld electric fan. Between the heat and the magic shrooms we had taken, we couldn’t stop giggling at this sweaty giant with his miniature fan—and right at that exact moment, Angine hit the stage.
Impeccably dressed in their unique alien costumes, they started blasting and looping their microtonals. Every loop drew us in deeper, and it was then that I fully understood the intense visual and musical impact they have on a crowd. Even the cameraman running around the stage wore a dotted costume with long, blonde ropes—nothing on that stage was allowed to be human.
After their first song, my friends dragged me straight into a mosh pit that felt like it might be my last. Clutching my bag for dear life, I’d never seen so many people spiraling and running in circles. But the community spirit was real: every time someone went down, everyone immediately helped them up. It’s always beautiful to see that kind of rock ‘n’ roll spirit in action.
The crowd was completely entranced, raising their hands in a triangle shape to support the band at the end of every song. The energy they played with was unstoppable, and under that roasting sun, their costumes inevitably got mucky, skin was showing, revealing that there is indeed some humanity hiding there.
I was gutted and drenched when they finished, but I felt incredibly lucky to see Angine at La Noce—not overcrowded, surrounded by good people, and in their hometown of Chicoutimi, which made it extra special.
Photo: Fabio Pregnolato
