Early on in her set at Les Mooses, Montreal’s Apacalda noted that it was her first time playing FME and told the crowd how much she was “loving the vibes” at the festival, adding that the city of Rouyn-Noranda was “trop cute.” I get what she was going for, but if I was a resident, I’m not sure how I’d feel about my town bring referred to as “cute.”
Still, it is true that Rouyn-Noranda is a very charming city. And while there may be some cuteness, it’s also the kind of town where, over the course of four days at the end of August, you can check out some epic art pop on the outdoor mainstage and also maybe catch a raging nighttime set from a synthpop band in the parking lot of a 24 hour poutine place.
The former came in the form of Klô Pelgag’s Friday night headlining set while the latter, a surprise “secret” set from Amsterdam synthpop/darkwave act Baby Berserk that same night, really exemplified what FME is all about: the spirit of discovering new music and embracing the unexpected. Of course, while the show itself was a surprise, Baby Berserk themselves weren’t exactly an unknown entity; I had heard from those who attended their show the night before how much fun their high energy show was.
And they weren’t wrong. The band put on a solid show in an unusual spot, and their singer made the most of the space, climbing a lamppost as well as another structure later in the set and really working to get the crowd riled up.
From the parking lot, I made my way to the mainstage to take in Klô Pelgag’s headlining set. With hints of Kate Bush, St. Vincent and classic French chanson coming through in her sound, Pelgag and her four piece backing band (some of whom switched instruments throughout the set) put on an impressive show in support her latest Abracadabra.
Other highlights of Day 2 included sets from Yoo Doo Right, whose heavy, trippy psych rock is always a pleasure to behold, and Bells Larsen, who put on a charming, engaging set in the intimate setting of Agora des Arts. Impressively, the Anglophone Larsen spoke fluent French throughout his set (“Who says guys from Toronto don’t make an effort to learn French?”) and even sang a couple of songs in French – written by arranging random words cut out on a page and then assembling them into poems.
One particular highlight was “Night Bus,” which, as Larsen explained, he wrote when he was 18. He mentioned how thrilled his younger self would be to know that, years later, he’d still be performing the song at a festival in Quebec. It was a solid tune, though I had to chuckle a bit at the line “I’m getting old far too fast” coming from an 18-year-old. Another standout track in Larsen’s set was “Might,” a beautiful and personal song inspired by his transition.
The night was capped off by a pair of punk bands – Toronto’s Bad Waitress and NYC’S Mary Shelley. Playing a curling club that had been transformed into a makeshift concert venue for the duration of the festival, both bands delivered fun, high energy sets, though the crowd had thinned out a bit by the time Bad Waitress closed things out. Still, while the audience was small (at least at the start of their set – admittedly, I left partway through), they were a dedicated bunch, and the Toronto punk four-piece put on a ripping performance that ended the night on a high note.
Right before them, Mary Shelley took to the stage and delivered an entertaining set that included a full-on crowd invasion – singer Jackson Dockery briefly stole someone’s phone and no fewer than three hats, which he then wore all at once before tossing them back into the crowd (the hats, that is; the phone was gently handed back). The performance also featured some wacky stage banter, including: “Repeat after me. The band I am watching right now. Is called. Mary. Shelley.” They wrapped things up by thanking the audience for “coming to see a band you definitely didn’t know,” once again reinforcing what FME is all about: that spirit of pure discovery.
