Go to Le Festif! and you might just find yourself at a show in front of a woodworker's garage. If you saw Population II — one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Montreal in recent memory — at this year's edition, that's exactly what you witnessed.
Though their set would've hit even harder had it been completely dark out, their show went down as the sun was setting across the river. But even if it's not the same as seeing them in a big, darkly lit room, the trio still put on a hell of a performance in just one of many unique and intimate environments you'll find artists playing in at this festival. My only gripe with the location was the lack of a beer or refreshments station nearby — I had to run all the way back to the parvis on the other side of the bridge to get one before running right back.
Nonetheless, the set itself showcased what this band does best: face-melting psychedelic jams, complex song structures, tempo changes, wah-wah guitars and bass lines acting as the engine driving a song. Progressive rock, krautrock and even blues are present in the band's sonic DNA. The show drew a big crowd, and they were into it, too — perhaps they weren't moving quite as rambunctiously as one would think considering how frenetic Population II's music can be, but there was still plenty of dancing to be found.
Singing drummer Pierre-Luc Gratton can hit the skins like nobody's business, too, with eerie guitars from Tristan Lacombe and theremin also prominently in the mix. Sometimes, both Lacombe and bassist Sébastien Provençal let their parts breathe for a bit to allow Gratton to go buckwild on his kit.
Musically, Population II can go from making weird King Crimson-meets-Can type rock with all kinds of twists and turns to being a straight-up hard rock act — however you'd describe their music, it absolutely rules, and going from a chugging guitar-based section to a much slower bass-driven one is one of many things this band does amazingly well.
Capping off their set with a song featuring lead vocals from Rose Cormier of fellow Montreal rockers Mulch, Population II's swirling, expansive and sonically ambitious (if sometimes chaotic) musical palette came across gorgeously during this year's Le Festif!, and it may just be the best show you ever get to see in front of a garage made for woodworking.