Montréal Jazz Fest 2018: Summer In The City

The downtown hub of Montréal is where the festival is based. Strung out across large outdoor stages and their staple music venues throughout the Quartier des spectacles area, the short distances between stages and venues make it a stress-free experience.

While a large portion of the jazz festival performances are free, expect the indoor venues to be mainly paid. Commencing slowly around midday, the program gets significantly more busy in the evenings - running until midnight or so - giving a perfect opportunity to delve deeper into the heart of Montréal.

Wilsen took to the stage in a small upstairs venue called M2. The seated audience were pretty much silent during their performance, hanging onto every whisper and every meandering break in lead vocalist Tasmin Wilson’s angelic vocals.

Performing a mixture of older tracks such as “House On a Hill” from 2013’s Sirens, defining ones such as “Garden” from 2017’s I Go Missing In My Sleep, and even a couple of new ones, Wilsen provoked the audience to embrace their stripped down set that purposely left the intermittent electronica at home.

Although the hushed, you-can-hear-a-pin-drop atmosphere, it was directly fitting for the softness of Wilsen’s sound, and a perfect opportunity for frontwoman Wilson to project her professional whistling melodies impeccably. The guitarist even used a violin bow to achieve atmospheric sounds.

Taking to the stage on his own, William Prince showcased his effortless storytelling with his acoustic guitar, speaking to the audience in between songs without a melodic break from his guitar. Detailing his joy towards his family, and late father, Prince’s raw, yet wholesome performance tugged at the heartstrings in the dark room.

Jumping seamlessly between nostalgic memories in “Eddy Boy” and “Little Things”, Prince projected his empowered vocals with little else but an acoustic guitar to hold it all together. It worked wonders, casting a spell over the audience as he hypnotised everyone with his journey through life.

Montréal’s own Jackson MacIntosh provided a short 30-minute set at a free show in M2 that oozed with jazzed up, slacker indie-rock, close to Stephen Malkmus.

Stripped back to a simple guitar, keyboard, drum and bass set up, MacIntosh began his set solo, moving between his guitar and keys before welcoming his three band members on stage.

Taking a stand for the rest of the set with his guitar, MacIntosh delivered “LuLu”, “Pretty Clear” and “Can It Be Love” to the seated audience, allowing his whisper-like vocals to trail delicately from the small stage.

The fantastic bagels, crêpes and unmissable poutine made multiple appearances throughout the trip.

While Schwartz’s smoked sandwiches are a must-have on most people’s list, there’s a hideous queue to tackle most of the time, and a just-as-good deli right across the street called The Main, where you’ll find some of the most tender meat in town.

Don’t miss an opportunity to grab some great Canadian coffee at Sardine and bagels in the Mile End part of the city. Only a short metro ride away (if you can use London’s underground system then you’re already a professional), there’s a variety of some of the best bagel places in the city, including the infamous St-Viateur Bagel and Fairmount, which use open ovens so you can gawp at the mountain of fresh bagels, which are boiled in sweet honey water; a different, and better take on the bagels we know, and at a very decent price.

While you’re in Canada you may as well try some maple-flavoured food. We found the maple gelato is mouth-wateringly good, particularly in Montréal during their bizarre heatwave. There’s a great selection of dessert shops and gelato parlours that will undoubtedly have you in a tough predicament when narrowing down your favourite flavours.