McSweeney’s List (12 July, 2023)
Accessible Audio for McSweeney’s List will be available soon!
This week’s McSweeney’s (Play)List is a mix of the bands appearing at Turbo Haüs this week.
I've been thinking a lot about community lately. It's not really surprising, given the nature of this project, but it's also not new. I've thought about community a lot over the years, but in the context of what was missing. Now I'm thinking about fostering and growing community, and how that could save the world, or at least our lives. (For the literal and unpoetic, to transform our lives into something enjoyable and productive is to save them, don't get all itchy about it).
For me, community starts at home, or with whoever and whatever feels like home. Sure, we have friends, but the people we can count on for help moving, or a ride, or a loan, that's family, and that's community. And I'm not talking about favours done begrudgingly, I'm talking about the people who show up before you have to ask. There's comfort in those connections, and also strength. Community creates a supportive net, one which we can safely rest on, one that can launch us higher than we could've launched ourselves. That's a meaningful network.
Not everyone is inclined that way of course, and I know some fiercely independent people who would never think of asking friends for anything. I imagine that must be a scary existence, just floating solo in this weird life. It seems to work for them, and I can see how being an island might also feel strong. It's an illusory strength as far as I can tell. Yes, born alone, die alone blah blah, but that's a terrible way to live the in-between part. In my heart, I wish that me and my friends could just have a multi-family dwelling together, or a line of row houses that share a backyard. A small, powerful support system where we could take on the highs and lows together.
Recently a friend vomited his complaints at me. He was on a defeatist, nihilistic soapbox, spinning out into the void. Listen, we all feel that way sometimes, but wrapping yourself in that feeling like a blanket and building a fort in it doesn't help anyone. A sense of community can get us back on track.
Buddy Wakefield said it best: "I choose to politely ask myself to step aside if I am in my own way. If I do not get out of my own way, I choose to call a friend who will have me removed." That's community too, a network tightly woven so we don't have to fear our falls from the heights of our highs.
So much of our hopelessness and panic can be healed with community. I say this with confidence because I participate in both hopelessness and panic regularly. Whether it's a matter of knowing who to call to clarify that I'm being too hard on myself or nihilistic to the point of paralysis, or knowing who to share with when I'm in abundance or need. When I think about how the world is a dumpster fire, I also think about the people who give me refuge from the growing list of sorrows that plague us. We're so often told that the best way to find joy is to think of others. So many of our miseries come from woe-is-me-ing, and so many of the world's problems are overwhelming, it's hard to find a safe place to rest our minds. Community provides that space. When I hear a new local band, I get jazzed knowing I can share it with the FTB community. When I see a good price on clementines, I know who always appreciates surprise citrus. And just like that, I'm out of my own head, out of my own way, a part of something so much grander than myself.
This past weekend Jeann-Mance park was filled with colourful tents, music, and dancing. The annual Festival of India brought out the curious and the committed, many decked out in symbols and trinkets that communicate esoteric details of our hearts to others who know how to read them. I was completely in my zone. Walking through the park beyond the fairgrounds, there were tennis folks in their outfits doing their thing, a little past that were dudes in lawn chairs killing White Claws, and across the street the Tam-Tamers were beating their drums. Each group was its own little community, parts of the greater whole, Montreal, a city made of communities.
And I have to tell you, I felt quite connected to it all. Connected to the guy with the guitar lying in the sun with his girl, connected with the volleyball players and dog walkers. Sure, they aren't in my direct community (making them the "people" I refer to when I don't feel like "people-ing"), but they're each a vital part of their own, and in the end our networks are only as strong as their connections to others.
So give some thought to the friends who are really family. Go out of your way to do something beautiful for the people who get you out of your own way. Invest in the ties that bind so that you may always rely upon those connections. And you know what, smile at strangers too; you never know where you'll find your next soul sibling.
Tonight!
A cabaret about RAT-ical self care. Calling all rats to come buy a drink, buy some art, and to come see a great show with amazing artists that are ready to make some noise. A queer Pay-What-You-Can event. Stay after the show to mingle, dance, and flirt if you feel it.
WHAT: Animal Noise
WHERE: Diving Bell Social Club, 3956 St. Laurent Blvd., 3rd Floor, Montreal, H2W 1Y3
WHEN: Tonight! Wednesday, July 12, Doors @ 830 PM, Show @ 9 PM
METRO: Sherbrooke (Orange)
TICKETS: Eventbrite
Beyond Land Acknowledgements
Saying a land acknowledgement at the commencement of events is a fairly new trend I can get behind, but it's hardly enough. We need to learn the things schools intentionally didn't teach us, and build meaningful relationships between communities. With that in mind, Indigenous Fridays are back again this summer at Cabot Square! Indigenous artists and performers will be hosting workshops and concerts at the square. All events are free and open to the public! Come by the park for a fun and impactful way to engage with our neighbours and hold space for Indigenous cultures and legacies!
WHAT: Indigenous Fridays
WHERE: Cabot Square, Atwater Ave., Or Lambert Closse, between St Catherine W., and Tupper
WHEN: Every Friday through August 18, 1PM - 4PM
METRO: Atwater (Green)
DETAILS: Facebook
We're All Getting Through This
A new art exhibit is dropping this Saturday!
Per the gallery:
"Passer au Travers (Getting Through This), is a solo exhibition by Dominic St-Aubin.
Through assemblage, sculpture, and painting, the artist explores the duality between destruction and creation, both materially and conceptually. A testament to the post-vandalism movement, the very notion of destruction is reimagined as a catalyst for personal rebirth."
Accessibility Notice:
Unfortunately Gallery Parfois is located on the second floor, up a flight of stairs (18 steps in total). If you are in need of assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us, we are glad to help in any way possible.
WHAT: Passer au Travers Vernissage
WHERE: Gallery Parfois, 4064 St. Laurent Blvd., Montreal, H2W 1Y8
WHEN: Saturday, July 15, 5PM - 9PM
METRO: Mont Royal (Orange)
DETAILS: Facebook
Abby Stonehouse at Zoofest!
It's no secret that we love Abby Stonehouse, and will promote her shamelessly (that's how we roll for the folks we believe in…it's legit in our manifesto). Her show at Zoofest this year will be fully accessible to the hearing impaired. They're using multiple ways to ensure that everyone who attends will catch every word, including an ASL interpreter. Don't miss it!
WHAT: The Include Me Tour
WHERE: Le Balcon, 463 Ste. Catherine St. W., Montreal, H3B 1B1
WHEN: Sunday, July 16, 5PM
METRO: Place Des Arts (Green)
TICKETS: Zoofest
Community Call-Out!
If you feel what we do in your heart, there are some low impact ways you can help boost our voices and this project. Sharing our posts matters more than you know. Our only advertising is word of mouth, so if you believe in us, please pass us along. We survive on your belief that DIY, non-corp art coverage by artists matters. Tell your friends, hit those socials. That's how we grow this beautiful weirdo shit we do.
Doing a thing that you want mentioned on McSweeney's List? SUBMIT HERE and we'll boost it the Wednesday before.
Like podcasts? Listen to Andrew Jamieson and I guesting on 9to5's Go Plug Yourself here! Let's get those numbers up, break some records and get us invited back, ya?
Jeanne-Mance Is The Plateau's Backyard
You know, I'm never really a regular anywhere, but I keep coming back to these open mics. It's such a part of my week, that when it rains my plans shift, and I wonder what the other Jeanne-Mancers are doing. Cross your fingers for sunshine. See you there.
WHAT: Open Mic at Parc Jeanne Mance
WHERE: Parc Jeanne Mance (Near Duluth)
WHEN: Every Monday at 6PM
METRO: Sherbrooke (Orange) / Mont Royal (Orange)
DETAILS: Facebook
What a week!
We dig Turbo Haüs, and they always have a ton going on. So much in fact, that I'm just leaving this schedule right here. Check my Playlist for a taste of the upcoming bands, and go show your support! Tell 'em McSweeney sent you.
For more details, check out their website!
McSweeney’s List drops every Wednesday with the best events to catch each week in Montreal. Don’t forget to SUBMIT YOUR EVENT to be listed!
