Friday on My Mind is a highly subjective, curated rundown of five of the cooler things happening in Montreal during the weekend.
Dominique Fils-Aimé
Saturday at Théâtre Maisonneuve, Sunday at Théâtre Jean-Duceppe.
The Montreal International Jazz Festival does a lot of good things. It throws terrific street parties. It brings in loads of world-renowned global artists every year. It helps put Montreal on the map for tourists from around the world.
But maybe the most important thing the jazz fest does is shine the spotlight on local artists and help take them to the next level. There’s no better example of that than what they’ve done with Dominique Fils-Aimé.
The totally brilliant Montreal singer-songwriter — one of the most original artists the city has spawned in recent years — has been playing the festival since the release of her first full-length album, Nameless, in 2018. Fils-Aimé’s first show at the fest was at The Savoy, the small 200-capacity room that used to be hidden away upstairs at MTelus, and she eventually ended up doing the big free outdoor show on the main stage in 2024, a memorable gig that was immortalized on her album, Live at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
This year, festival organizers booked her at Théâtre Maisonneuve, which seats just under 1,500 people, and when that sold out, they added a show the following night at another Place des Arts venue, Théâtre Jean-Duceppe, capacity 755, and that also sold out.
“It’s unbelievable to have so much support from the start from such an amazing festival,” Fils-Aimé said in a recent phone interview. “It kind of feels like it’s been feeding the growth of the relationship I have with the public. It also feels like an encouragement, to invite us for each album, so we can basically play every album at the jazz fest. It started at the small room at MTelus and it’s moved up every year to bigger rooms and bigger audiences, all the way to 2024 when we did the main stage on a Saturday night, prime time. I still feel shocked by how many people show up (to my shows).”
Of course, Fils-Aimé is just about the ideal performer for the fest to get behind. Her first three albums — Nameless, Stay Tuned! and Three Little Words — was a trilogy chronicling the history of African-American music from 19th-century slave songs to contemporary hip hop. The last two albums — Our Roots Run Deep and My World Is the Sun — are more personal. The latest, My World is the Sun, might just be her best, with Fils-Aimé and her longtime backing musicians playing live in the studio and giving the songs more of an emotional punch. It’s the closest she has come in the studio to recreating the inspirational vibe she has live.
“This time I allowed myself to be a little more open and vulnerable, with the topic being in a way my personal evolution within those musical genres,” Fils-Aimé said. “The idea is to be more in the present rather than looking back at past history.”
This album is a homage to her mother and actually starts off with a cassette recording the family recently found of her mom, now a retired doctor, singing a French song back in the ’70s. Fils-Aimé then reprises that song herself at the end of the album.
Speaking of the jazz fest supporting local artists and that mainstage headline show Saturday, keep in mind that the hottest Quebec musical artist at this time, a duo from Chicoutimi called Angine de Poitrine, will be bringing their polka-dot outfits, wacked prog-rock and mucho buzz to that stage Saturday night. Oddly, some local media types are grumbling about the band, but I think this is just the sort of thing the jazz fest should be doing. I’m thinking there will be a couple of people at Place des Festivals on Saturday night.
More information: Montreal jazz festival.
Montreal comedian Walter Lyng will be headlining the On Da Clock show at the Comedy Nest on Sunday night. Courtesy of Walter Lyng
Walter Lyng
Sunday at the Comedy Nest.
Local funnyman Walter Lyng will be headlining the On Da Clock show at the Comedy Nest, which allows a comedian to perform extended sets without strict time limits. Expect him to be cracking wise about grief, fatherhood and karate.
Tickets: On Da Clock
Li Alin, Masahiro Takahashi, Naomi McCarroll-Butler
Saturday at La Sotterenea.
If the jazz fest is too straight for you, then how about Suoni per il Popolo, a fest that puts the weird back in alternative (and I do mean that as a compliment). Take this Saturday night triple bill. Li Alin’s work ranges from torch songs to experimental dance to cave and bass — yes, cave and bass, not drum and bass. Masahiro Takahashi is all about electronic abstraction. Naomi McCarroll-Butler has a great love of the drone. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Tickets: Suoni per il Popolo
Akon, left, and Ne-Yo perform in Vancouver June 17, 2026. They are at the Bell Centre on Saturday night. Andrew Chin / Getty Images for Live Nation
Ne-Yo, Akon
Saturday at the Bell Centre.
If that is too odd, why not go way mainstream? How about heading to the Habs rink for a couple of hours of vintage pop/R&B hits?
Tickets: Ne-Yo, Akon
Malian duo Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, better known as Amadou and Mariam, are seen in concert in August 2009. AFP/Getty Images
The Blind Couple From Mali
All weekend in various cinemas.
This documentary from Toronto filmmaker Ryan Marley is a chronicle of the making of the last album by blind Malian duo Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, better known as Amadou and Mariam. If you haven’t heard their extraordinary music, do yourself a favour. The band mixed Afrobeat, Malian music and guitar-blazing British R&B, and it was simply amazing. Their show at the Spectrum way back in the day remains one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Bagayoko died just over a year ago.
Tickets: The Blind Couple From Mali