Montreal QC September 25 to 28

Barely one song into this local band’s set at the festival’s closing party, Bionic’s Jonathan Cummins checked out to buy smokes, saying that "the West-coast-hippie-cult vibes were making him nauseous.” It’s true that Cooper Black’s singer was a tad unsettling, with her wide-eyed stare, pendulum-like swaying and beige aura, but her cool, clear voice and the band’s pop country tones weren’t so sickening. Though the audience was clearly not on their side, everyone likes a funny country cover, and their merry rendition of Grandmaster Flash’s "White Lines” got more than a few feet a-stompin’.

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