That time has finally come! after years of not going, I finally attended my fourth Heavy Montreal festival. Located on the newly renovated grounds on Parc Jean Drapeau, the festival attracted an estimated 60,000 this year! (With 25,000 attending the Saturday) That is the second most successful festival attendance-wise, with the #1 being 2014 with attendance being 75,000. This is also much more than last years edition, which only brought in 27,000 people. This years lineup included bands such as Slayer, Ghost, Godsmack, Killswitch Engage, Kataklysm, Evanescence, Devin Townsend and much more. Sadly, I was only able to attend Saturday but that’s fine since most of the bands I liked were on this day.

You might be wondering why there’s a lack of pictures on this update, and that’s an easy answer. When I’m at a concert or festival, I’m hardly on my phone. I’m either watching the bands perform or I’m in the moshpit.

Review

Getting at Jean Drapeau earlier was a wise choice, as the lineup was long to get in. It was considerably longer than the lines I encountered last time I visited in 2015 (except the day Slipknot performed). Starting off the day, we decided to skip Fever 333 and head over to watch Brand of Sacrifice, Harms Way, Lorna Shore and Devin Townsend. Brand of Sacrifice is a technical slam/deathcore band and it was the first time watching and hearing them. These guys have amazing breakdowns, technical parts and the vocalist is brutal. Their set pleasantly surprised us and we wish they had a much longer set. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Harm’s Way. Harm’s way is a hardcore punk/metal band that I used to listen to quite often and was excited to see for the first time. Unfortunately, the set was quite boring and lacklustre, which led us to leave three songs in.

While leaving Harm’s way, we decided to stick around for Lorna Shore and when they came on, they absolutely killed it. The new singer is a great fit and his stage presence and vocals were 10/10. At about 2:20 we left to go watch Devin Townsend for a little before going to see Kataklysm. With Devin Townsend, he played a solo acoustic set in front of thousands of metalheads. What we got was an amazing musical show and comedy show, as Devin was cracking jokes about love, sex and the married life after 30 years. Although he only played 7 songs during the set, he had a good collection of his side projects and songs from when he was in Strapping Young Lad. Devin Townsend is not only a metal legend, but he’s a Canadian legend and we’re proud of that!

Up next was the Montreal death metal band Kataklysm! It was my first time seeing them and it was worth the wait. They played songs off Prevail, Shadows and Dust and In The Arms of Devastation amongst others. The crows response was great, the circle pits were insane, and the band played a tight, clean and amazing set. After this, we had a choice between Quiet Riot and All That Remains, we opted to go see All That Remains. All That Remains are a classic metalcore band known for their melodic songs and crushing breakdowns, and they delivered. Opening up the set with their most popular song “this calling”, played a mix of their newer stuff off of Victim of the New Disease and off their fourth album Overcome. The set had a mix of all songs throughout their career, although I wish they played Safe House, that would’ve caused an amazing most pit.

After All that Remains, we took a food break and to check out the YUL gardens as well. It was nice to see local options and varied options for vegans, meat-eaters, gluten-free, etc.. but the food prices were pretty insane (as expected). For example, at one of the vendors which name escapes me, one small taco was $9. Instead, I opted for Jerry Ferrer and got a burger and fries for $14.50, which was worth it (although the burger was a bit dry). After eating, we went to watch Hatebreed, which was my fourth time seeing them! and yet again Jamey Jasta and the boys killed it! the moshpits were intense as expected for a Hatebreed show and if you can’t handle it, don’t go in it.

We decided to stick to the two main stages for the rest of the day to catch Killswitch Engage, Steel Panther, Godsmack, Evanescence and Ghost. Killswitch once again proved that they are one of the best metalcore bands in the business and of course, the crowd reaction was amazing to them. The band were having a blast and some members were drunk and cracking jokes and acting silly. At one point, they called on their band manager to get on stage to chug a beer since it was his birthday. It was a fun party with an amazing band.

By this time, we decided to chill on the hill for the remainder of the day, as the heat got to us. It was +35 celsius with lack of clouds and being surrounded by thousands of people, it really drains you. It was also a good time to observe the expanded festival grounds and yes, it clearly shows how much larger the area is. The hill was pushed back and flattened, and the main area was wider than a few years ago. You don’t really notice it until you reach the hill and observe it for yourself. At this point, Steel Panther was playing their set and of course, being Steel Panther, we’re talking (and singing) about partying, drugs and sex and of course, also started a “boobies” chant amongst the crowd.

The crowd started picking up when Godsmack started performing, and once again they delivered. Although, I do wish they played more of their older songs rather than mainly newer songs. They also did their amazing drum off, which they did when I saw them last year at Rockfest and that was also very entertaining to witness, along with the surprise fireworks that scared everyone else (but me). It was also at this time where I had to choose between Godsmack or Carnifex/Cattle Decapitation. I do like the latter bands more than Godsmack, but I’ve seen both 5+ times in the past couple of years, vs Godsmack, which was my third time seeing them since 2006.

Another band I’ve been waiting to see, even though I’m not the biggest fan of them is Evanescence. All I have to say is Amy Lee absolutely crushes it on vocals. They sound exactly the same as they do on the recordings and it blew all of us away. The band as well were extremely tight and the sound was clean. The band oozes with talented members such as Amy Lee, Jen Majura and Will Hunt, all showing their skills respectively. It was definitely a highlight of the night.

We finally end our night with the headlining band, Ghost. I’m not gonna lie, I’m not a big fan of them at all. I heard their songs and it really didn’t do much for me. I decided to stick around anyway because songs transpose differently live and I always want to give a band a chance when I see them live. All I have to say is, I am 100% glad that I stuck around for Ghost, cause they are insanely talented live. The very songs I didn’t like hearing on recordings sounded amazing live and was made for that setting. The vocals, the instruments, the saxophone solos, everything about this show was absolutely amazing. I would recommend anyone to go watch this band live if they ever come to your city.

Pros and Cons

Of course, there has to be a pros and cons list.

Pros

1. The new festival site is honestly amazing and worth the two-year renovation. No more mud, flying dust, clean, modern and of course, much larger. It made walking from stage to stage and other places in the main area much easier.

2. The lineup and festival experience was 10/10 this year!

3. Shoutouts to Devin Townsend, Brand of Sacrifice, Killswitch, Godsmack, Evanescence, Ghost, Hatebreed, Kataklysm and Lorna Shore for the kick-ass sets with a lot of intensity.

4. Food, thank you for more food trucks and the YUL Gardens! it was much needed.

5. Water geyser platform! thank you for having this, it honestly helped with the heat and it felt good going headfirst and wetting our faces/hair.

Cons

1. The crowd response on day 1 was pretty lacklustre for most parts of the festival. I understand it was a hot day, but Montreal is one of the best metal cities in the world and it fell short on Saturday. At least from what I saw, it was better Sunday.

2. Lack of shade was pretty crappy, but I also understand that they will plant more trees in the future. Don’t forget to put them on the hill too.

Verdict

Heavy Montreal came back stronger than ever this year! a great lineup, 60,000 fans from all over the world all showing up in Montreal to mosh, drink beer and enjoy amazing music. The festival has struggled a little in years prior, but it came back very strong this year and I am very glad to see it and to be apart of it. Heavy Montreal is by far, one of my favourite festivals ever, which is why I’ve gone four times already. The festival also proves that Montreal is 110% indeed a metal city and one of the best in the world (outside of European cities of course). I cannot wait for Heavy Montreal 2020!

Bonus

Who I hope performs next year: Tool, Slipknot, Deftones, Korn, Staind (reunion), Alice In Chains, Lacuna Coil, Bullet For My Valentine, Deadlock, August Burns Red, A Day to Remember, Aborted, Thy Art Is Murder, Fit For A King, Cryptopsy, Dimmu Borgir, Behemoth, Whitechapel, Periphery. That’s all I can think of for now.