Saturday night was the end of the road for me at Pop Montreal. What was weak about the Saturday is that it wasn't like the rest of the week. It was freezing, raining, and very, very blah. With the exception of beautiful fall leaves on the ground on L'Esplanade near Parc Jeanne-Mance, and good friends to walk with, the finale of the festival brought out good times.

The third night of Pop Montreal wasn't one to boast about. Unless you were dying to see Patti Smith and Patrick Wolf, everything else was just there for general entertainment. A Friday night in Montreal on Saint-Laurent is a bustling one, especially when more-than-half of the street has been torn to pieces by never-ending construction. Regardless, I took Friday night as it came.

The second day of the festival involved A LOT MORE WALKING. Montreal is a great walking town, unless you accidentally fall into a pothole, trip on a curb, or stumble across the construction zone that is Saint-Laurent. Trekking across town, I began my evening at the Ukrainian Federation to see Basia Bulat.

Pop Montreal 2007 has kicked off in fine form. The rain came, but only for so long. The rest of the evening was open to a clear sky and a half-cresent moon. As it was clear above, the city began with people roaming below, heading to their respective shows and events all over town. From Saint-Lauren all the way over to Papineau, Pop Montreal 2007 was ready to show off its ability and fine muscular toned body.

I was at Pop Montreal last year (here, here, here and here) and left Quebec thinking that it was the best music/arts festival in Canada. Possibly the world? Yes, I need to contest that with many other events in America, Europe and other places. However, Montreal is close, it offers great culture, great food (poutine-in-stomach), cheap cabs, cheap booze, and most of all, some of the best flippin' music on this side of the country.

Pop Montreal will host a ridiculous number of bands and artists from all around for four (4!) days, beginning October 3rd and ending on the even of October 7th. Big names appearing at the fest this year include:

* Patti Smith
* Pere Ubu
* Grizzly Bear
* Cody ChesnuTT
* Ron Sexsmith
* Buck 65

The Music Gallery will host two shows this week, featuring artists hailing from Montreal and London, Ontario. Friday night will be the cd release party for Montreal's Torngat. Saturday night will be another cd release party for recently-signed Rough Trade and Hardwood Record performer, Basia Bulat. Both acts have one thing in common: they are both perfectly suited for The Music Gallery.