January 19-25
Cate Le Bon opens the week at Le National, and she is not background music. The Welsh songwriter and producer has spent the last decade building a very distinct, slightly off‑kilter sound—jagged guitar lines, woozy synths, and lyrics that lean toward the abstract rather than the confessional. Her more recent work folds in art rock and minimalism, so live sets tend to move from fragile, almost skeletal songs to denser grooves where the band slowly locks into a pulse rather than chasing big choruses.
Mid‑week, Shame hit Club Soda with a post‑punk show that is built for people who like guitars loud and stages a bit unhinged. The South London band came up with that new wave of UK groups that mix wiry riffs, shout‑along hooks, and lyrics that swing between self‑loathing and cultural commentary, and they are touring a new record called Cutthroat that leans darker and tighter than their early material. Their reputation is mainly about the live show: the singer pacing or diving toward the crowd, the rhythm section playing like a punk band that learned to groove, and a room that feels more like a packed pub than a polished theatre.
On the electronic side, several names on the poster are serious draws, not just random DJs slotted in. Spencer Brown, doing the almost‑midnight‑to‑sunrise shift at Stereo, is a San‑Francisco‑based producer who came up on labels like Avicii’s LE7ELS and Above & Beyond’s Anjunabeats, then pushed into heavier, more melodic techno via mau5trap and his own imprint, diviine. His sets tend to be long, patient arcs—progressive house and techno that avoids cheap drops in favour of slow‑build tension—so Stereo’s no‑phone, no‑flash, audiophile environment suits him more than a festival main stage ever could.
Igloofest is doing its own thing down in the Old Port: cold, open‑air, big‑screen production, and lineups built around artists like Madeon and the techno pairing of Nicole Moudaber and Misstress Barbara. Madeon’s live shows sit at the intersection of pop songwriting and meticulous French‑electro production, while Moudaber and Misstress Barbara come from the global techno circuit, known for long, driving sets that are more about momentum than hands‑in‑the‑air anthems—at Igloofest, those sounds become harder and more physical simply because you are dancing in the snow.
The wrestling and hockey slotted into the same week—WWE SmackDown, a Main Event taping, and two Canadiens home games—add a different kind of spectacle: big‑room production, pyro, and crowds that know every chant. None of that needs overselling; you either want arena noise and storylines, or you are using those nights as a breather between gigs.
Everything closes out at Brass Door with RAW!, a weekly stand‑up series at MontréMontréaltreal Comedy Club that books a rotating cast of comics instead of one big headliner. The room is small, the stage is low, and the material is usually looser and more personal than what you get in big theatre shows—less polished, more “try it and see if it works,” which is precisely what makes it worth showing up on a Sunday.
This Week’s Top 3
WWE Main Event at Bell Centre (Sat 7:30 p.m.): WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event marks its MontrMontréaltréal debut, directly after SmackDown, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and premium packages including take‑home chairs. Title matches, heated feuds, and arena‑wide pyro make it a peak spectacle in a venue wired for TV.
Maddix at New City Gas (Fri 10 p.m.): UK drum & bass star Maddix headlines alongside Dopamyne and Shirlee until 3 a.m. in Montréal's warehouse, famed for brutal bass response, immersive visuals, and a crowd that matches the intensity.
Spencer Brown at Stereo (Sat 11:55 p.m.): Progressive house innovator Spencer Brown delivers an all‑nighter in the no‑phones, Funktion‑One‑equipped club—hours of evolving builds and deep grooves for those built for the long haul.
