Friday on My Mind is a highly subjective, curated rundown of five of the cooler things happening in Montreal during the weekend.
Mike Ward
Friday and Saturday at the Bell Centre.
Mike Ward is so happy that the Canadiens will not be playing in Montreal on Friday or Saturday. If that had been the case, he would’ve been forced to move his two gigs at the Habs’ home rink, because he needs to do the two shows on consecutive nights to save on costs. Montreal will be playing Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Friday night.
“I was so stressed out,” Ward said in a phone interview this week. “Everyone in my crew is saying, ‘Oh, that sucks (that the Canadiens are still in the playoffs). If they weren’t playing, if they were eliminated, it would be way easier to sell tickets.’ But I’m happy that it’s harder to sell tickets. It’s been so long since Montreal’s had a good team. This is the best. A lot of people who are huge Habs fans have never seen Montreal have a team this strong.”
There will be around 11,000 people Saturday, estimates Ward, for a live taping of his podcast Sous Écoute. Friday is the final date of his Modeste tour. He figures there will be 8,000 fans there.
He says the Habs’ playoff run is killing ticket sales. He notes that the last time he played the Bell Centre, he sold 8,000 tickets the month leading up to the show and right now he’s selling almost nothing. That’s because people here have one focus right now: the Habs!
Still, he’s not complaining. He’s sold 200,000 tickets for his Modeste tour, and to get 11,000 folks for a podcast taping is frankly just astonishing. Ward still holds the record for the biggest audience ever in the world for a podcast taping, with 20,986 fans showing up on July 22, 2022 to attend the event at the Bell Centre. That’s in the Guinness Book of World Records.
He’s done 580 podcast episodes so far and it’s the most popular French-language podcast on the planet. It’s a straight-ahead format with Ward cracking wise and chatting with two other standup comics. The podcast gets around two million views a month on the various platforms.
Ward is known as an edgy, foul-mouthed comic. The first time I interviewed him, way back in 2013, he was happy to call himself a dirty comic. One joke of his — making fun in vulgar fashion of a teenage singer with a disability — went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where it was ruled that it did not amount to discrimination under the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
But his Modeste show is surprisingly upbeat and positive for Ward.
“This show was weird to write because it just came out so quickly,” he said. “At first I didn’t think it would be any good because it was too easy to write. It’s been the most fun I think I’ve had on stage in my life. I’ve always been kind of dirty on stage, but I wanted something that would make people feel good when they left the venue. I want people to leave and say, ‘I had fun; he didn’t make me feel bad. He made me laugh. It was stupid and it was funny.’
“My last show before this was called Noir and I was going through a depression, going through the court case. So everything was dark, everything was angry. This one, I’d just met my new girlfriend. I was in love. I was in such a happy place.
“Whenever I wrote stuff when I was going through a depression, I always felt my comedy was better. I thought you had to be in a dark place to write quality material, and then I realized writing stuff when you’re happier is so much easier. I’m happy to be happy on stage. I’m happy to not be yelling and angry, just having fun.”
Tickets: evenko.ca
Randy Bachman, left, and Burton Cummings perform with the Guess Who at Moncton’s Avenir Centre on Tuesday. They’re at Place Bell on Friday as part of their Takin’ It Back Tour. Alan Cochrane / Brunswick News
The Guess Who
Friday at Place Bell.
After a lengthy battle to get back rights to the name of the band, the Guess Who are back touring Canada with original members Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings. In a phone interview from Moncton this week, Bachman said he was pumped to return to the road with his old friend.
“It feels wonderful,” said Bachman. “We’re like old friends who used to play hockey together. You go your own separate ways and then you happen to meet again. We’re very lucky to be brought back together. We can still rock and we can still roll. And the audience still wants it.”
They’re singing songs they wrote together back in the late ’60s and early ’70s — hits like These Eyes, American Woman, Laughing and No Time.
“It’s funny — when Burton sang These Eyes, I think he was 17 or 18,” said Bachman. “So when I look over on stage, I still see an 18-year-old Burton Cummings. It’s a time-travel thing.”
The Winnipeg band’s first big U.S. hit was These Eyes in 1969 and Bachman waxes poetic about Cummings’s singing on the track.
“It is one of the best vocals in rock ‘n’ roll history,” said Bachman. “It’s Elton John. It’s Billy Joel. It’s incredible. It’s like Mariah Carey, Céline Dion, Roy Orbison. It still sounds good on the radio.”
Tickets: evenko.ca
Luke Combs
Friday and Saturday at Parc Jean-Drapeau.
One of country’s biggest stars is in town, headlining a hot lineup that also includes Dierks Bentley, Ty Myers, and Thelma and James (not Louise). Note the early start, 5 p.m.
Tickets: evenko.ca
Leeroy Stagger
Sunday at Casa del Popolo.
Victoria-based alt-country artist Leeroy Stagger began his career in the punk scene, and there is still a high-energy edge to his tunes.
Tickets: casadelpopolo.com
Montreal Asian International Film Festival
Friday and Saturday at Cinéma du Parc.
There are screenings this weekend at Cinéma du Parc and the festival continues at various cinemas through June 13. Great way to discover films that rarely screen here.
Tickets: cinemacinema.ca/en/events/maiff
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