By Adam Kovac
ontreal’s biggest music venues have
a habit of becoming ground zero for
some of rock music’s most notorious
moments.
On July 6, 1977, Pink Floyd’s
Roger Waters was being heckled by a
fan during a gig at the city’s Olympic
Stadium. The reputably prickly bassist
did what any self-respecting rock star would: he reared his
head back and spat on the obnoxious fan.
Later, horrified at what he had done, Waters would
reflect on the barriers that had grown between him as a
performer and his audience. Songs written in that fit of intro-
spection would become Pink Floyd’s classic The Wall.
On Aug. 8, 1992, the most infamous tour in metal history
made a stop at the very same venue. It was a co-headlining
tour by two of the biggest acts in the world: Metallica, fresh
off the massive Black Album, and, at the height of their dec-
adence, substance abuse, and Axl Rose’s general Axl Rosei-
ness, Guns ‘N’ Roses.
During Metallica’s set, singer/guitarist James Hetfield
stepped where he shouldn’t have and suffered horrific inju-
ries when a shot of pyrotechnics went off. The set was cut
short as he was rushed to hospital to be treated for second-
and third-degree burns.
Guns were urged to take the stage as soon as possible to sat-
isfy some very antsy metal fans. In true Guns fashion, those fans
were left waiting for hours and were then treated to an abbreviat-
38 C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N
ed set. The ensuing riot caused half-a-million dollars in damages.
It’s fitting that a) both of these incidents occurred in Mon-
treal and b) they were both disasters. Rock and roll at its best has
been about living on the ragged edge, courting disaster by living
fast and pushing boundaries. Montreal, with its infamous joie-de-
vivre occasionally veering into outright debauchery, embodies
that spirit like few other cities.
Perhaps that’s why Montreal, and the province of Que-
bec as a whole, has become one of the premier cities in the
world for punk, hard rock, and heavy metal.
Each summer, metalheads jam a small island in the St.
Lawrence River for two days of beer drinking, soundtracked
by Slayer or Metallica or any number of other legendary
bands at the annual Heavy Montreal festival. (And in true
metal fashion, the festival annually gets noise complaints
from the nearby suburb of St. Lambert.)
The day before Heavy, it’s time for the punks, with ‘77
Montreal bringing in acts both new and old.
The city’s downtown also hosts Pouzza Fest, a three-day,
partially-free tribute to punk and ska hosted by local label Stomp
Records, while an hour’s drive away, in the tiny town of Montebel-
lo, the 10-year reign of the Rockfest event came to an ignomini-
ous end in bankruptcy last year. (For 2019, organizer Alex Martel
put on a rebranded and much downgraded event, which he
called Montebello Rock.)
Over in Quebec City, the annual Festival D’Ete on the Plains
of Abraham is just as likely to book Slipknot or Metallica as a
headliner as it is Mariah Carey or Imagine Dragons.