Concert review

classique / Jewish Traditional / Singer-Songwriter

The Yiddish soul of Montreal at Centre des musiciens du monde

by Frédéric Cardin

The Centre des musiciens du monde launched its new season of Intimate Concerts last night. An extended season, with more concerts and discoveries in store. If last night’s concert is any indication, it will be a rich year. Melodically, some of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in years were performed at the Tur Malka (King’s Mountain) – New Yiddish Songs from Canada concert. Several of them were brand new, never performed on stage before. If there are indeed a few details to fine-tune and a stage performance to coordinate, the touching beauty of the material offered by the ensemble is a guarantee of assured success in the hearts of those who will listen to them.

The quartet is made up of Henri Oppenheim on piano, guitar, percussion, compositions and arrangements, Mael Oudin on double bass and arrangements, Elvira Misbakhova on viola and Sheila Hannigan on cello. Oppenheim is the originator of the project, a Frenchman of Jewish origin who has lived in Montreal for almost 30 years. The songs in Yiddish, the language of the Jews of Eastern Europe, draw on the ultra-poignant, even emotionally powerful, melodic style of the Eastern European tradition, which was heavily decimated by Nazi Germany, but fortunately still alive in Montreal, one of the world’s main bastions of this culture. Oppenheim draws his texts from Yiddish poetry, including that of several Montreal artists such as Chava Rosenfarb or Jacob-Isaac Segal.

The arrangements, full of tenderness and melancholy, are carried out with great care by the outstanding performers Sheila Hannigan, a regular in all kinds of music, and Elvira Misbakhova, an excellent violist with the Metropolitan Orchestra, in addition to having played very often in klezmer ensembles in the metropolis. Mael Oudin on the double bass is more discreet, but his presence is nonetheless essential. Oppenheim leads the transitions in a sober manner, and with a discreet touch of humour.

Ultimately, it was an extremely touching moment of human communion, steeped in the cultural richness of Jewish Montreal, without which the soul of the metropolis would not be what it is today.

DETAILS AND TICKETS FOR THE INTIMATE CONCERTS SERIES

Next concerts of the series:

  • December 17, 2025 – Didem Basar, kanun – Under the Moon of Topkapi
  • January 23, 2026 – Ori Shalva, choir – Echoes of Sakartvelo, Georgian polyphonies
  • February 11, 2026 – Guillaume Martineau, piano and Gabriel Paquin-Buki, clarinet – A Night in the Garden of Eden
  • March 18, 2026 – Sadaf Amiri, santour – The sparkle of inner strings
  • April 15, 2026 – Persian-Inca Duo – Federico Tarazona (charango) and Showan Tavakol (kamancheh) – The Valley of Dreams

classique / période romantique

OSM | The Spectacular Effect, Essential to Kick Off The Season

by Alain Brunet

The start of an OSM season is an opportunity to dazzle the eyes and ears. The choice of the central work in the program must be grandiose and often involves a choir and soloists in addition to the orchestra. This justifies the choice of La Damnation de Faust, a 136-minute dramatic legend, OP.24, composed and written by Hector Berlioz in the mid-19th century and premiered in 1846 under the baton of its composer.

A huge choir behind the OSM (the OSM Choir and Petits Chanteurs de Laval, conducted by Andrew Megill and Philippe Ostiguy, respectively), four soloists, and conductor Rafael Payare. The effect was mammoth, as you can imagine. Performing such an oratorio for soloists, various choirs, and a symphony orchestra is a colossal undertaking, and a very costly one at that. Needless to say, the OSM pulled out all the stops for this performance.

So what to choose? The repertoire of works suitable for such a performance is relatively limited, and these works are not of equal value. The choice therefore fell on La Damnation de Faust, whose ancient legend was taken up by Goethe and then set to music by Schubert, Schumann, Spohr, Wagner, Boito, Gounod, Liszt, and Mahler. True to his era, Berlioz was no exception, as we saw powerfully demonstrated this Wednesday at the Maison symphonique.

Divided into 20 scenes grouped into four distinct parts, with an intermission in the middle, this work is ambitious in its instrumentation, its pomp, and its length. This ambition is understandable in an era when composers sought to create total spectacle. In 2025? It is generally accepted that this work is part of the great repertoire, but one can still take issue with the obsolescence of its libretto and the pompous and outdated nature of this French operatic writing, once admired. As for the dramatic plot, the story of the doctor Faust who sold his soul to the devil, a theme that dates back to the dawn of time, Berlioz’s version is more than ambitious.

The OSM’s performance here struck me as rigorous and fervent, always serving the singing of the choirs and soloists—tenor Andrew Staples plays the role of Faust, mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill transforms into Marguerite (his wife), and bass-baritone Willard White plays Mephistopheles (the devil), while bass-baritone plays Brander. Anyone familiar with the French language will have noticed the pronounced accents of the soloists, who would normally have been trained to master 19th-century French, as it is used in a significant part of the opera repertoire. Some may take issue with this… personally, I took more issue with the bombastic nature of the text, but hey, each to their own!

As for the vocal performances, it is clear that the lead soloist does not have the greatest power, and that such a piece requires the services of a tenor who is more experienced in the high frequencies in order to rise above the orchestra. The same can be said of the mezzo-soprano in the high notes of her register. And we applaud the exemplary preparation of the choirs, whose combined effect is more than striking.

And that’s probably the wow factor of this program, the first in the 2025-2026 lineup.

Photo Credits: Antoine Saito

Artists

Rafael Payare, conductor

Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano (Marguerite)

Andrew Staples, tenor (Faust)

Sir Willard White, baritone (Méphistophélès)

Ashley Riches, bass-baritone (Brander)

OSM Choir

Andrew Megill, choir director

Petits Chanteurs de Laval, choir

Philippe Ostiguy, choir director

Work

Hector Berlioz, La damnation de Faust, op. 24 (136 min)

Intermission (20 min)

DJ set

Palomosa I ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U Could Have Gone Harder

by Stephan Boissonneault

I became aware of the Japanese DJ and producer, Yousuke Yukimatsu, from his Tokyo Boiler Room set, which kind of launched him into stardom due to the unruly nature of a shirtless Japanese man playing some of the fastest and hardest techno imaginable for an hour. His set at Palomosa’s Jardin Stage had inklings of that vibe, but felt way more low-key and, dare I say, “safe.” It was all dance filled music, but I was really expecting it to go harder, leaving me sore in a pile of sweat. We still got an onslaught of drumming techno, but only brief moments of it. His shirt did come off, so the crowd loved that.

The whole set felt a bit more massaged than I and much of the crowd was expecting. Perhaps it was the fact that he was playing outside? Maybe he was tired? Or was he perhaps playing to the crowd, signalled by a cover of 100 gecs’ “Hollywood Baby.” I will say that Yukimatsu is a pro. His changeovers between songs and the overall vibe are pretty seamless, and the music never broke once (unlike many of the past Palomosa DJs), but I wanted more of a Boiler Room vibe.

Pop

Palomosa I Rebecca Black is a Force To Be Reckoned With

by Stephan Boissonneault

I haven’t thought about Rebecca Black in the music world for almost 15 years. I, of course, remember the pay-for-play “Friday” dominating YouTube’s pages back in 2011, but after seeing Rebecca Black live at Palomosa, she is waayy past that. Nothing could prepare me for Rebecca Black’s comeback, from a teenage talk singer to a now full-on vocal pop powerhouse. The show began with several signs standing on the stage, saying “HOMO SEX IS LIFE,” or “STR8? SEEK REBECCA BLACK,” and two ripped, burly men holding a banner saying “Rebecca Black.”

Rebecca Black burst from the banner and dove into a song from her latest album, Salvation, called “American Doll,” which was clearly about the female image of pop stars, and immediately felt like a Lady Gaga kind of pop song; heavy on bass and catchy lyrics. I had no idea Rebecca Black would come back as a queer icon, but as most pop stars rely on a vocal backing track, she does not. Her voice is insanely powerful, and she loves to show just how powerful during the show. The sound will cut out just as she lets out a piercing falsetto and switches into a cascading growl. Her vicious syncronized dance moves paired with her flamboyant backing men were also extremely entertaining. “Montreal if you don’t dance to this one, I’ll kill you,” she screams while lying prone on top of her dancer’s dual backs. She is doing work on that stage, reduced to a puddle of sweat by the end of the first couple songs.

During a very brief intermission, the show becomes somewhat of a weird infomercial. The two dancers come out holding trays of strange liquid called “Sugar Water Cyanide,” and begin “selling” it to the audience. Rebecca reemerges and jumps into her “Suger Water Cyanide,” track and for 30 seconds, we get a sped-up version of “Friday.” As she watched the audience lose their minds and chant “partyin, partyin’ (Yeah)” Rebecca Black’s manic smile could cut glass. This might be the best way to reclaim a song you became famous and trolled for back in your youth, and she knows it. Hat’s off Miss Black.

House / Soul/R&B

Palomosa | Lis Dalton & Lia Plutonic, Joy & Dedication

by Félicité Couëlle-Brunet

Saturday evening at Palomosa opened with a back-to-back set from Lis Dalton and Lia Plutonic, two DJs whose presence in Montreal’s underground scene radiates both joy and dedication. The crowd was small, mostly friends and familiar faces, but the intimacy only amplified the sense of connection in the space.

Dalton is known for sets that mix devilish drive with heartfelt hedonism, jumping effortlessly from house burners to rave rips and downtempo detours. Plutonic, meanwhile, has carved her own space in the community with a groove-first approach that leans into R&B textures and soulful rhythms, often channeled through her work with Homegrown Harvest and the Parquette venue, home of the FLIP raves. Together, they built a set that felt playful, wholesome, and refreshingly warm, less like a party and more like a gathering of friends.What stood out most was the atmosphere: safe, inclusive, and deeply communal. For women on the dance floor especially, it was a rare pocket of space where joy felt unguarded. That spirit was sealed in one unforgettable moment at the end, when the duo grabbed the mic and shouted in unison: “Lesbians!”, a gleeful declaration that summed up the night’s mix of music, community, and care.

Publicité panam

Alt-Pop / Ambient Pop / Dark Pop / Glitch / Shoegaze

Palomosa I Yeule Brings the Glitchy, Digital Tears

by Stephan Boissonneault

After being thrown for a loop during Loukeman’s short and distracting set (due to the sound at Main Stage cutting in and out) I hoped Yeule would be clearer. As she walked on stage smoking a joint, wearing a small, fitted, low-cut leather jacket and jean shorts with a rosary and foxes tail attached, it looked like she was wearing white contacts to give that android look. Yeule is Nat Ćmeil, a 27-year-old singer-songwriter from Singapore, but based in London. UK. Her band was a guitar player and drummer, and for a few more shoegazey numbers, Yeule herself played the guitar, one of them kind of looking like Prince’s power symbol axe, but white.

It seems the festival sound team got the speakers working, but the DI for Yeule’s guitar and vocals were super quiet, and with the legion of effects on her voice, it was hard to hear her for the first four or five songs. Once the sound became clearer, it felt a bit like Björk pushed through a fuzzy and shoegazey lens in the late 90s. I’m not sure why they had the bass guitar play as a backing track, but I was at least happy to see a band. Honestly, many of the songs blended together, and it was hard ot make out which were from her latest album, Evangelic Girl is A Gun. The set felt more like a scripted performance, but featured some of the most artsy video backdrop of the festival. On the giant screen was a video of Yeule straddling a dirt bike in a glitchy warehouse, as cybernetic metals and piping dangled from the walls. Mixed with the light show and Yeule’s subtle body bends and dance moves, this show felt like it was more about the look than the sound.

Hip Hop / hyperpop / rap

Palomosa | Shadow Wizard Money Gang, hyperpop & rap spells

by Félicité Couëlle-Brunet

Born from a meme and driven by a flamboyant aesthetic, Shadow Wizard Money Gang has carved out a unique place for itself in pop culture. Their viral slogan “we love casting spells” is accompanied by retro visuals and hooded silhouettes adorned with chains and rings, halfway between video game characters and mystical figures. But the collective’s appeal goes beyond internet humor: it’s a mix of music, fashion, and attitude that embodies a generational sensibility. For them, their identity is as much about media presence and style as it is about sound.

On Saturday, the magic took shape at Palomosa. DJ Psycho kicked things off, surrounded by his mysterious companions in the DJ booth. The room quickly descended into a world of hardcore hyperpop, somewhere between electronic experimentation and metallic bursts. Everything was designed with maximalism in mind: saturated visuals, unexpected drops, intense rhythms.

In the crowd, every detail became an extension of this collective spell: glitter under the neon lights, colorful hoods, futuristic glasses, and chains that sparkled to the rhythm of the strobe lights. The beats pounded the bodies, making the floor vibrate, and each drop triggered a wave of screams and movements. And when the set shifted to Tizzo, a rap figure from Saint-Michel, Montreal’s aesthetic intertwined with a surreal universe and a local nod, which brought the crowd up a notch.

As the evening progressed, the boundary between stage and audience seemed to fade away: everyone was united in the same intensity, like members of a single gang. Shadow Wizard Money Gang didn’t just give a concert at Palomosa: it invited a community to feast in excess, where music, fashion, and attitude merged into a total experience.

Publicité panam

Electronic / House / Vaporwave

Palomosa | Cult Member, a hypnotic journey into the heart of house music

by Marc-Antoine Bernier

At 6:30 p.m., the Jardin stage was taken over by the mesmerizing beats of Cult Member. In the soft light of early evening, his set transported the audience on an urban and ethereal journey, carried by expansive house music with vaporwave roots, featuring lo-fi textures and sounds inspired by the internet imagination.

Liam Hayden, alias Cult Member, n’est pas un DJ comme les autres. Figure discrète mais influente de la scène outsider house canadienne, il s’est fait connaître par son album culte Ethernet, avant de se réinventer dans des territoires plus techno et trance. Samedi soir à Palomosa, il a donné un aperçu de ce parcours singulier, ouvrant son set avec une réinterprétation planante de U Weren’t Here I Really Missed You.

His deeply atmospheric mix vibrated with lo-fi textures and futuristic echoes, like a patchwork of melancholy and urban pulsation. While some passages recalled the misty atmospheres of Ethernet, others shifted towards the frontal effectiveness of Club Tools Vol. 1, where heavy bass and fast rhythms galvanized the crowd. As the sun slowly set, the music grew in intensity, transforming the Garden into a hypnotic dance floor.

Not very expressive behind his machines, Hayden occasionally flashed a discreet smile in response to the cheers. But everything about his set invited introspection: his ambient layers and melodic lines seemed to come from a late-night jam session in the privacy of his studio. Yet as soon as the beats picked up speed, the entire crowd synchronized to his tempo, breathing and moving in unison.

Between solitary reverie and collective communion, Cult Member offered a suspended moment, both cold and incandescent, which perfectly summed up the alchemy of his sound universe.

Publicité panam

Electronic / Pop

Palomosa | Cecile Believe kicks off Saturday under clear skies

by Marc-Antoine Bernier

The rain had just stopped when Cecile Believe took to the stage at Parc-Jean-Drapeau’s Fizz stage. The first artist to perform on Saturday afternoon, she transformed the lingering humidity into a moment of pop and electro communion.

At 4:15 p.m., as the clouds were just beginning to clear, Cecile Believe kicked off the Fizz stage lineup at the Palomosa festival. Known to the general public for her work with SOPHIE on Oil Of Every Pearl’s Uninsides, the Montreal artist gave a performance that showcased the full range of her voice, capable of navigating between power and fragility, with flashes of vulnerability that touched the heart.

The first few songs, including a recent collaboration with Daniel Avery and Andy Bell (Ride, Oasis), plunged the audience into an ethereal atmosphere, supported by dream pop layers and haunting vocals. The crowd was quickly swept away: on Ponytail, fans sang along in unison, their faces lit up with emotion.

The highlight came with “Blink Twice”, the title track from his latest EP Tender The Spark, released in 2024. Between midtempo basslines and nocturnal beats, the track electrified the crowd, who moved fervently to the music. Later, “Bitch Bites Dog”, taken from Plucking A Cherry From The Void, brought back a visceral intensity, before the conclusion came with “Show Me What”, produced by A. G. Cook, leaving the audience feeling light and transported.

In a minimalist setting bathed in red, Cecile Believe needed nothing more than her voice and her generous stage presence to captivate the audience. Her performance was a reminder of why she already occupies a unique place in today’s electronic pop scene, even if she has yet to be discovered by a wider audience.

Publicité panam

Electronic

Palomosa | After party at SAT, closing with Fcuckers DJ set under the dome

by Léa Dieghi

On Friday evening, the Satosphere vibrated to the beats of Fcuckers, who delivered a two-hour DJ set after performing as a band at Jean-Drapeau Park. House music unfolded in a myriad of sonic colors. Between abstract projections by SAT VJs and the duo’s unpredictable soundscapes, the Palomosa afterparty offered us an experience worthy of a major New York club.

From the very first minutes, with four hands activated on the C’DJs, the tone was set: tonight would be house music, danceable and joyful. Accompanied by projections that morphed from purple clouds to abstract textures, the DJ set glided from the sweatiest house to more tech house bursts, almost reaching the frenzy of drum ‘n’ bass.

The entire room seemed to mold itself to their movements: sweaty bodies, rhythms that literally stuck to our skin, breathing that quickened with each break. At times, the humidity became almost too tangible, especially when a spectator/dancer accidentally brushed against my body and his sweat landed on my arm: an uncomfortable detail, but one that revealed the intensity of a space where personal boundaries disappear.

« Le son à la SAT, c’est autre chose », glissait dans le creux de mon oreille mon ami, pas mal conquis par la performance. Effectivement, une des grandes qualités du Dôme, avec les bons artistes, c’est de nous offrir une spatialité unique avec des basses enveloppantes, des aigus limpides, et un environnement visuel qui amplifie chaque sonorités. 

Remixing house music classics for two hours, such as Basement Jaxx, Fatima Yamaha (“What’s a girl to do”), and ending with Orbital’s famous track “Halcyon and on and on”, the end had a bittersweet taste: a feeling torn between appreciation for the DJ set they gave us and disappointment that it only lasted two hours. We would have kept going all night, until dawn broke.

Between their four hands, they seem to have transformed house music into living matter: like a moist, purple wave that continues to vibrate long after the last note has faded away. It was FCUCKERS DJing, and it was a night filled with dancing, smiles, and beautiful memories.

Publicité panam

Hardcore / Power Electronics

Palomosa | Nettspend’s Paranoid Youth

by Loic Minty

“Early Life Crisis” flashed on the screen. A manic mixture of disorder and awe gripped the crowd. Already, dozens of people were practically running out of the show. The die hard cult following, being guided by a “pit crew,” had already formed a circle pit. At this point, barely a minute into the set, it was Nettspend’s night.

He ran out onto an elevated platform fueled with rage and euphoria as the crowd lost their minds. The pit closed, Nettspend yelled into the microphone, the great wait was over.

“I just threw up.”

No one heard, all hell had broken loose over the distorted Cloud rap. After a moment he recovered and his erratic stage presence grew larger than life as the night went on. His movements were unpredictable as if he was in daze and life was flashing in front of his eyes. One moment he was calmly bending the air with his hand, the next he was running across the stage yelling. The physical performance preceded all musicality and no one cared, it wasn’t about following the song anymore but rather about nourishing an aura. 

At just 18, his personality is enough to command the crowd’s attention. As a fashion forward internet celebrity, Nettspend brought together an interesting crowd. Some had come for the same reasons they would go to a Travis Scott concert, the cathartic expression of violence, while others in the back seemed to appreciate the larger than life persona which he has created for himself, similar to Yung Lean’s magnetic charisma.The songs went by extremely quickly, like a heavy storm cloud that leaves the skies blue afterwards. While his music had harsh tones similar to Carti’s Red album, there was still a sense of euphoria in the almost humorous excess of sound. When the crowd dispersed, everyone was smiling. It was an energizing set.

Publicité panam

Électronique / South Asian

Palomosa | M.I.A.Tied up in a Scarf Peace

by Loic Minty

30 minutes before the show even started, people packed themselves to the front, and in the back of my mind was the question of how such a notorious figure could live up to the hype. Suddenly everything went dark and out came M.I.A., effortlessly bold, with a stern look in her eyes as if she was about to shake up a revolution. My question was answered.

 Smoke machines exploded to the beat of “Boyz” and she started rapping in her classic tone, a slight grin across her face. Her performance was as if you’d taken her right out of her music videos from 2005. She danced with swagger, a shameless sensuality and a confrontational presence that made us realize just how much she meant what she was saying.

There was not one dull moment. Playing her early classics, she had the whole crowd singing her lyrics in superstar fashion. From her albums Arular and Kala to the edgier “Born Free” song, sampled from a Suicide’s Ghost Rider. She chronologically covered her entire early discography,

*even playing an alternate version of Galang from the Piracy Funds Terrorism tape. It refreshed the crowd and proved the timeliness of her work as she passionately delivered songs from an album dated 20 years ago.

Between this, the dancers, the smoke and the all-out silver attire, it was “pop” at its best and existed apart from everything we had just seen. While the previous acts like The Hellp and MGNA Crrrta referenced 2000s American pop music in hyperpop fashion, M.I.A. was the real deal. It felt like going back to the source, and solidified the idea that her career had, in fact, been a cataclysm leading us all to this point.

As an outspoken Sri Lankan-born refugee, her identity intrinsically challenged stereotypes and conventions amid post 9-11 United States. She was an underdog, a rebel, and an inspiration to the youth like me for a change in the culture. This is why her intervention, nearing the end of the show, still reverberates strongly and sparked heated conversations, though not in the way we would have expected.

While most other artists held complete silence about global issues, the controversies surrounding M.I.A. are too blatant to ignore, and the crowd pressed her regarding the genocide happening in Palestine. If anyone was going to address this ongoing crisis, it was her.

As the music stopped briefly, she jumped into the conversation and told the DJ to pause: “I was cancelled five times” she replied. We were on the edge of our seats.

“Last year they cancelled me for supporting Trump.” What?

This began a somewhat confusing debate with the crowd, and after chants saying “Fuck Donald Trump,” she retracted her statement, saying she never supported any politicians.

Perplexed, we listened and she performed the next song wearing a Keffiyeh in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

In the end, her message was positive, explaining that envisioning a liberated future was the first step to achieving it. But in the ensuing conversations after the show, there was still a general confusion about her position and engaging in her vague rhetoric about serious issues just caused further suspicion and debate, which might just be her objective. Who knows.

But the real question is, what happened to M.I.A.?

Throughout the show, she herself alluded to this change. “I’m not the same M.I.A. you knew” and “It’s harder for a bad bitch to be good than a good bitch to be bad.” 

She mentioned how talking about some things was “dangerous,” alluding to a form of censorship which she has extensively dealt with in the past, having been accused of supporting terrorists when talking about the Tamil people’s struggle in Sri Lanka. Because of this and other controversies, her social accounts were being blocked, for years her albums were not being released, and she was refused access to the US to see her child, the reason for which she claims was calling for a cease-fire in 2024.

Publicité panam

Subscribe to our newsletter