Behind The Curtain (16 June, 2023)
Accessible Audio read by Jason C. McLean
(Editor’s Note: This U2 song is the sole choice of Jason C. McLean and does not reflect the musical tastes of Forget The Box.)
I spent more time on St-Laurent Boulevard, the Plateau part, in the past week than I have in the past decade (and change) since I moved from the area. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t skip the Plateau overall. There were quite a few evenings, and even some afternoons, during that time where I headed to the Mountain, went to a party on du Parc, went to a bar on Mont-Royal, and so on. I even caught plenty of shows at places like Cafe Cleopatre and Club Soda, on the Lower Main. (Editor’s Note: That’s not.. No. It’s not the Plateau.) It’s just that stretch, THE stretch, the one between Sherbrooke and Mont-Royal, that I never found myself on for any reasonable amount of time. I had not been to a St-Laurent Street Fair for years, something that was always a prominent part of my summer.
It wasn’t intentional, at least not consciously. It just worked out that way. Most of my friends live in other parts of town, and the ones that do live in the Plateau, I usually saw them at their apartments or in my neck of the woods. It just so happened that the invites I got to events or parties at places like Bar Bifteck were the ones I couldn’t make. As for covering shows, well, on the old .net, we did cover events on St-Laurent, but I had carved myself out a comfortable niche as the politics guy who only left the house to write stuff occasionally. And when I did, I inherently gravitated to the shows that took place south of Sherbrooke, or even just east of The Main on St-Dominique.
Things changed this week. As you may have noticed, we’ve been covering the Montreal Fringe Festival on this site. Like a lot. 30 show reviews split among six contributors, me being one of them. I’m not going to talk about the shows I saw here, but please do read my reviews (and the other ones, too). What’s important here is where the shows were. The Fringe-for-All was at Club Soda, and my first three shows were at venues on Parc, Mont-Royal, and de Maisonneuve respectively. While venue was no consideration in my show selection (attending anything in the Fringe requires a metro ride for me), it’s like my streak was continuing regardless. Then Saturday night rolled around, and my show was at Mainline Theatre. In the heart of the St-Laurent street fair.
On my way to the show, the fair was more of an obstacle to me arriving on time than anything else, so I plotted a course from Sherbrooke Metro that only hit St-Laurent at des Pins, and I didn’t really take anything in. After the show, though, I decided to take the slow way home by heading south through all the excitement to St-Laurent Metro. I ran into our Editor-in-Chief Dawn McSweeney outside of the venue. She was on her own adventure that night. I was tired, and ultimately headed for home, but pretty much everyone around me was in party mode. The street was alive. I ran into one of the original Forget The Box (.net) co-founders Chris Zacchia a bit south, or rather he saw me walking and threw a ketchup packet to get my attention. I would always run into people I know at the St-Laurent street fair, and thankfully here I was again.
One thing that did seem out of place was the makeshift “entrance” and “exit” gate, complete with security, just south of Prince Arthur. The next couple of blocks were set up as some sort of interactive digital experience associated with Mural Fest, and presumably selling alcohol you could drink on the street, hence the security check. I was sure that this weekend, the same stretch of road would be occupied by some sort of Grand Prix event, as it has in years past. But that is not the case. And no, by “years past” I don't mean “back in my day”. I Googled it, and the race had a party on St-Laurent as recently as 2014. I also discovered that, technically speaking, it wasn’t the St-Laurent Street Fair with Mural as a sponsor this week, and someone else as a sponsor next week, the whole street closure was branded as Mural, from Sherbrooke to Mont-Royal. But I’m still going to call it the St-Laurent street fair. I know many of my friends still call it that. Do people in the area still call it that, Andrew? (Editor’s Note: It’s just “the street fair”, or maybe “the fucking street fair” if you live as close as I do.)
So that’s one major change I noticed…after the fact. But there were others. I already wrote about The Main Deli and Steak House closing, so I was prepared for that visual. There was also a refreshing lack of outside corporate branding, at least until you get to the aforementioned blocked off part of the street. It seems like the local merchants, including the bars and restaurants, are more prominent than they were a decade ago. Also, no more 4 Brothers. (Editor’s Note: I told you it’s not called that anymore. They had a fire, but they’ll be back. And it’s no longer 24 hours, so fuck them.) The biggest difference I noticed, though, would only occur to me a few days later.
On Monday, I returned to the Fringe to review my last two shows. The first was at Mission Santa Cruz, the big church on Rachel between du Parc and St-Laurent, and the second and final show was at Mainline. The two shows were far enough apart that it wasn’t one after the other, but close enough that going home between them really wasn’t an option. This left me just enough time to wander around the Plateau, and once again, through the street fair. The big difference that I noticed? The street was still blocked off and set up like an event, and it was Monday! Not a holiday Monday, just a Monday. Back in my day (there, I said it) the streets went back to normal during the week, and only went back to festival mode the following Friday, or maybe Thursday (my memory’s a little cloudy on some of the details).
And wouldn’t you know it, the street was full. No, not as packed as on Saturday, but just as alive. People running into people, chatting with people, events happening like Fringe, and bars welcoming seemingly more than their regular clientele with their regular Monday events like trivia. The $2 chow mein guy was even out on the street (though I’m sure it’s probably more than $2 these days). (Editor’s Note: It’s still $2.) If you build it they will come. If you keep it up, and keep the street blocked on Monday, they will come back. That’s the lesson I took away from this experience. Also that I should probably hang out on St-Laurent and the Plateau in general a bit more. Not as much as when I lived there, but still a bit more.
I do wish that we could apply the logic of how a blocked-off street can turn ordinary days into an event in other parts of town. They were supposed to do so in my neck of the woods, the Sud-Ouest, on Notre-Dame street during the pandemic. Unfortunately, one celebrity restaurant owner, David McMillan of Joe Beef, complained and the plan got nixed. I can see why a restaurant that relies on West Island car traffic might have a problem with fewer parking spots, but I don’t understand why this squeaky wheel could ruin it for the rest of us. Well, he’s retired now, so maybe we could give pedestrianizing Notre-Dame a go again. Try it for two weeks like St-Laurent, then hopefully extend it to the whole summer like Mont-Royal.
NOTES THIS WEEK
Tunes On The Canal
It may not be blocking off any streets, but there is a major three day festival in the Sud-Ouest this weekend. It’s on the Lachine Canal, in fact, it’s called Festival sur le Canal. The event runs tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday. All the headliners, and most of the acts booked, are local Montreal bands or performers, with some from elsewhere in Quebec. It takes place at the Esplanade du Centenaire beside the Lachine Canal in St-Henri. If you’re wondering where that is, it’s the same spot where FolkFest used to take place. In fact, the staging is the same: free entrance, donations accepted, a paid VIP area, and affordable beer and booze (please don’t sneak your own in, support your local events). Not sure if this current fest is simply the former one with different musical styles welcome and different branding, or if this is a completely new animal. While I may not get to call it a “folk-ing good time”, it does look like fun. (Editor’s Note: That was funny.) Check out the schedule and other info: https://festivalsurlecanal.com/en/
Cars on the Car-Free Streets
The Grand Prix is returning this weekend. The Formula One race is on Sunday, and while the street party won’t be on the Main, both Crescent and Peel streets will be blocked off to car traffic. However, they will both be full of cars, fancy, expensive racing cars. As you let the irony of that sink in, I’ll let you know that I’m not a fan of Grand Prix weekend. In fact, I generally avoid that part of downtown if I can during the event. I won’t go into the reasons here, or even the reasons why some people like it. This is your advisory on where to go, or where to avoid, this weekend, depending on how you feel about this event and the related festivities.
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