A REFLECTION OF THE MONTREAL music scene’s eclecticism and of the city itself, Pop Montreal walks a fine line between world-class and local talent. The seventh edition which wrapped up recently maintained a vibrancy and joy that similar events in other cities have not been able to match. Hoping to take in as many shows as possible without having to shell out, I decided to volunteer my services. When you volunteer, you go where you’re needed.

Turns out my skills were needed at the Ukrainian Federation where Baby Dee headlined the first night. She made her name in New York City’s transgender community as a street performer and sometimes circus freak. My expectations were high. She was an original member of Antony’s backing band, The Johnsons, so comparisons are inevitable. She captivated the small audience accompanied only by piano and later a harp. Her voice was the star of the show, a nice contrast with the grittiness of autobiographical lyrics.

Later, I caught the end of Valleys at Sala Rossa, and then headliners Vetiver. The ‘new folk’ movement is not my thing. Not the tightest group I’ve witnessed, but they held the audience with their Grateful Dead-like charm and between song banter.

Thursday, I was assigned as balcony as usher/bouncer at the Ukrainian Federation, and the true beauty of this festival started to become apparent. The audience was a wonderful mix of young and old. This is what makes Pop Montreal great: twenty-somethings rushed to the stage when Irma Thomas`s band came on, while an equal number of fans old enough to be their parents danced alongside. Kudos to the Pop organizers for getting acts like this and keeping Pop from turning into the indie ghetto that typifies the CMJ festival in NYC or the business trade show that SXSW has become.

Later, I made my way down St. Laurent and caught the Rock Plaza Central show at Petit Campus. The band’s seemingly never-ending tour (I`ve caught them live four times in the last year) seems to have done them well. Highlighting mostly new material, the show was loose, effortlessly in sync.

The weekend kicked off with Puces Pop, an enormous market in the basement of Eglise St. Michel on St.Viateur. Montreal’s DIY community is thriving. The church was filled with incredible art, fashion and of course, perogies.

Volunteers don’t hold much sway in the festival pass hierarchy, so I was shot out of the Dodos show at Sala. Instead, I headed downtown to the Masonic Temple for Sam Shalabi. Dozens of Montreal hipsters, drinks in hand, poked their way through the multitude of rooms at the Freemason Temple, worth the journey alone were it not for one of the city’s unsung jewels of avant-garde rock waiting at the other end.

The show began with a computer voice and the cat-like howls. For the next hour, Shalabi led 19 musicians through one continuous piece called ‘Symbols of an Egyptian Light Spectrum’ that touched on elements of traditional and pop Arabic song, with flourishes of Western noise/rock/folk music, each movement building to a stunning crescendo. Interwoven into the piece was the computer voice ala Radiohead’s “Fitter, Happier” reciting dirty lyrics to classic rock songs. These elements sounded dated, and have become synonymous with the OK Computer tune and Stephen Hawking. They added little to the otherwise great performance.

Afterwards I pointed my bike back towards the plateau and wound up at the Portuguese Community Centre in time to see k-os perform a DJ set. Sadly, the rapper wasn’t in the spirit of the event, making quips about not being paid enough to do a ‘real’ show, so I left.

The final day of the festival brought to town two of England’s finest post-punk quartets, WIRE and The Wedding Present. Despite starting a full thirty minutes ahead of the advertised time (before a pretty much empty hall) The Wedding Present played a frantic set full of their greatest hits. By the end, the hall was packed and the crowd was impressed.

“We were last here 21 years ago. You’ve aged very well,” joked WIRE bassist Graham Lewis. Sticking mostly to newer songs, the band sounded clean, muscular and loud. The handful of older tracks was met with enthusiastic cheers. Though I wanted to hear ‘Outdoor Miner’ or ‘Mannequin’, it’s hard to quibble over a performance as good as this. The new breed of post-punk, Gang of Four cribbing Anglophile bands, (hello, Bloc Party), might do well to take notes.

I cycled home with my ears ringing but fully satisfied. The volunteer pass, a $90 value, was well worth my time. And though it didn’t get me access to the really big shows like Nick Cave or Burt Bacharach, its limitations were in a way an asset; I discovered a number of new artists in some really great settings, and that’s the true beauty of the Pop festival.

A number of major Montreal events engage armies of volunteers each year, and return labour with free admission to events. Check their websites.