{"id":766332,"date":"2026-06-28T07:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T07:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/766332\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T07:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T07:37:16","slug":"quebecs-angine-de-poitrine-fills-jazz-fest-site-to-capacity-for-free-outdoor-blowout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/766332\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec’s Angine de Poitrine fills jazz fest site to capacity for free outdoor blowout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Timing is everything. The Montreal International Jazz Festival<\/a> had the perfect band in the perfect place on the perfect night Saturday: Quebec\u2019s Angine de Poitrine is the biggest indie music act on the planet<\/a> at the moment, and our city\u2019s biggest fest just happened to have them playing its biggest stage on opening weekend, for free.<\/p>\n

The site was as packed as it ever gets, as a massive crowd came out to see what all the fuss is about. The polka-dot-costumed Chicoutimi duo went viral in February when a video of their Live on KEXP performance at France\u2019s Trans Musicales festival was shared by the Seattle radio station. The 28-minute clip has since been viewed 16 million times. Their fans include rock stars Jack White, Dave Grohl, Sean Lennon and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Guitarist Khn de Poitrine and drummer Klek de Poitrine are sonic adventurers from another universe. They speak in an absurdist alien dialect and have a thing for thrillingly funky, high-speed math-rock jams. The pair\u2019s second album, Vol. II, was released April 3, with the leadoff single Fabienk topping Spotify\u2019s Viral 50 Global chart. The song has been streamed nearly 12 million times.<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s largely sold-out European tour this spring garnered rave reviews, with the Guardian calling the Leeds performance \u201chypnotic, harebrained and 100 per cent worth the hype<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA sea of people arrive early to see Angine de Poitrine perform on the Montreal International Jazz Festival\u2019s main outdoor stage on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

An hour before showtime Saturday, Jeanne-Mance St. was crammed with people of all ages staking out a spot at the outdoor TD Stage. Fans Antoine Geoffrion, 31, and Joe Hutson, 29, sported polka-dot face paint. Hutson said he likes Angine de Poitrine because \u201cthey\u2019re original and they\u2019re qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois. There\u2019s nothing like them in the music world. They\u2019re rock, alternative, progressive, microtonal, they do (guitar) looping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Geoffrion said he tried to see the band when it played Club Soda in April<\/a> but couldn\u2019t get tickets, so the fact that they were playing the jazz fest for free made it a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

Hutson said getting dressed up for the occasion was \u201clike wearing a Canadiens jersey when you go to a hockey game, to show support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd be part of the movement,\u201d Geoffrion added.<\/p>\n

\"AFans take in the show as Angine de Poitrine performs on the Montreal International Jazz Festival\u2019s main outdoor stage on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

McGill chemistry grad students Sam Jee, 27, and Zach Katz, 26, came down with a half-dozen lab mates for the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s about the spectacle,\u201d Jee said. \u201cThey\u2019re really gimmicky, so I wanted to see them in person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool they\u2019re from here,\u201d Katz said. \u201cThey\u2019ve had so much international acclaim, to get to see them in our own backyard for free is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AFans watch Angine de Poitrine perform on the Montreal International Jazz Festival\u2019s main outdoor stage on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Pablo Rodriguez, 39, and Maya Shyamprasad, 38, aren\u2019t Angine de Poitrine devotees, but they were in attendance \u201cto see their presence, the show,\u201d Rodriguez explained. \u201cThey put on a visual show, and musically it\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe energy of the crowd is going to be insane,\u201d Shyamprasad predicted. \u201cIt\u2019s 8:30 and people are already here. And I\u2019m spotting a lot of polka-dots. I feel under-prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ASome fans dressed up for Angine de Poitrine\u2019s Montreal International Jazz Festival show at the main outdoor stage on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Alexandre Boudry, 32, brought crowd participation to the next level with his polka-dotted papier m\u00e2ch\u00e9 mask.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend made it,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s an art student.\u201d Getting dressed up is part of the experience with Angine de Poitrine, \u201cso why not contribute to the experience?\u201d<\/p>\n

Boudry was expecting \u201clots to stimulate the eyes and the ears, a real party. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ASome fans dressed up for Angine de Poitrine\u2019s Montreal International Jazz Festival show at the main outdoor stage on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Anticipation grew as the clock ticked down to showtime. Inflatable dice \u2014 some might call them polka-dotted\u00a0\u2014 were tossed through the crowd, while polka-dot projections covered a UQ\u00c0M building behind the stage. There were successive waves of cheers and clapping as the 9:30 start time came and went.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re living a historic night,\u201d jazz fest programming director Maurin Aux\u00e9m\u00e9ry told the crowd at 9:40. The band performed to 2,000 people at last year\u2019s festival, he said. This time, \u201cthe festival site is sold out!\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right: As it has done only on rare occasions, the jazz fest stopped admitting people to its site, having reached capacity.<\/p>\n

\"AngineAngine de Poitrine performs at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

When Khn and Klek broke into an off-kilter jam a few minutes later, the audience clapped along giddily. As the groove intensified \u2014 Khn building layers of loops on his double-necked, microtonal guitar and Klek pounding out complex rhythms in lockstep with his partner \u2014 the result was met with a roar of approval.<\/p>\n

Each new song garnered renewed enthusiasm. And these guys were not softening their sound for the occasion \u2014 this was hard, heavy, rollicking stuff, with influences ranging from jazz to punk, Middle Eastern and heavy metal.<\/p>\n

\"AngineAngine de Poitrine performs at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

People loved every minute. In fact, the wilder and weirder it got, the more everyone ate it up. To glance out over the sea of people was to witness legions of heads bobbing and arms in the air.<\/p>\n

Between songs, Khn and Klek grunted and bleeped, eliciting laughter. When Khn raised his hands to form a triangle, the tens of thousands in attendance did the same.<\/p>\n

\"KhnKhn de Poitrine of Angine de Poitrine at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

The band never relented. And though many curiosity-seekers had their fill and left before the end, the bulk of the crowd never lost interest. Au contraire. This was a night for celebration as these local boys done good brought their internationally acclaimed, absurdist rock carnival home.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, it was a home run for the jazz fest: presenting a Quebec band at the height of its hype on the main stage and drawing the biggest crowd in years for a show that will go down in history as the night festival-goers were abducted by aliens.<\/p>\n

\"KhnKhn de Poitrine of Angine de Poitrine performs at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

\"AngineAngine de Poitrine performs at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

\"AngineAngine de Poitrine performs at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

\"KhnKhn de Poitrine of Angine de Poitrine performs at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

\"AngineAngine de Poitrine performs at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

\"KhnKhn de Poitrine of Angine de Poitrine performs at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

tdunlevy@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Timing is everything. The Montreal International Jazz Festival had the perfect band in the perfect place on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,219168,2338,270914],"class_list":["post-766332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-festivals-and-parades","tag-montreal","tag-montreal-international-jazz-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}