Celine Dion vs. The Arcade Fire | Pop Montreal

Next year I’ll be more prepared. My 2005 Pop Montreal experience was limited to a short stay in Montreal, a few shows, and a lot of sightseeing. The five day festival ran from Wednesday September 28th- Sunday October 2nd. I arrived Thursday evening in time to catch CocoRosie and Antony, and was on my way back to NYC by 11 AM Sunday morning. I’ve got pics and stuff to post, but in the meantime here’s two things I learned in Montreal…

THE ARCADE FIRE ARE HUGE
The Arcade Fire have reached Green-Day-Kanye-West-Kelly-Clarkson status in their hometown of Montreal (and maybe all of Canada). I heard them in a souvenir store in the touristy section called Old Montreal, twice blaring out of car windows, and once on the radio in a cafe. The cafe was tuned in to Montreal’s English-speaking top-40 station. Shaggy was guest-hosting the day’s countdown.

CELINE DION IS HUGER
Montreal loves French-Canadian Celine Dion. (“The youngest child in an enormous French-Canadian family, Celine Dion grew up performing with her parents and 13 siblings in the family-owned piano bar.” [NNDB]) She was actually born in Charlegmane which is right near Montreal. She was married in Montreal too. (You can visit the church). One record store literally devotes half the store to Celine memorabilia. I wish I took a picture of the shrine. There were glass cases full of CD’s on display, binders full of magazines, awards, life-size posters, EVERYTHING. Another CD store specialized in heavy metal and classic rock. No Wolf Parade. No Madonna. No Kanye West. There was lots of Danzig and Dylan, and…a large Celine Dion section.

Neither of these artists actually played Pop Montreal.

Related
Billboard: New Celine Dion biography published
San Francisco Chronicle: Quest for Fire

Previously
Who will be “The Next Arcade Fire?”
Arcade Fire & David Bowie @ Summerstage, NYC | pics