Friday on My Mind: The hottest ticket this weekend is Quebec buzz band Angine de Poitrine

Friday on My Mind is a highly subjective, curated rundown of five of the cooler things happening in Montreal during the weekend.

Friday at Club Soda.

There is no hotter musical artist in Quebec right now than Angine de Poitrine, and this mystifies some. It even angers a few party-poopers, some of whom were furious that the eccentric experimental rock band was allowed to appear on top-rated Radio-Canada talk show Tout le monde en parle a few weeks ago.

Personally I love the idea that everyone is talking about a duo who play wild out-there instrumental music, refuse to reveal their identity, always dress in bizarre costumes with papier-maché masks and polka-dot outfits and speak in a language not understood by anyone on this planet.

I’ve always hated the fact that so much pop music has absolutely no sense of humour and is so earnest. These guys clearly don’t mind a little sly humour. Not that they’re a one-joke band. Guitarist Khn de Poitrine, who plays guitar and bass, and drummer Klek de Poitrine are very talented musicians.

There are plenty of echoes of prog-rock in the sound — hey they’re Québécois after all — with the duo from Chicoutimi clearly having listened intently to King Crimson, Rush, Frank Zappa, and Gentle Giant. But they are also heavily influenced by music from all over the world, particularly Asia, with the guitar and bass lines using microtones, which is not something you often hear in Western music. Khn plays a doubled-headed instrument that includes a six-string guitar and a four-string bass.

It might sound way off the mainstream commercial landscape, but whether it’s the gimmicky costumes or the strange sophisticated guitar lines unlike anything in rock music, this band is turning heads all over the place. They started building a buzz in their home province last year, ramping that hype up several notches with performances at the Pop Montreal and M For Montreal festivals in the fall.

But the moment that put them over the top globally was their performance at the Trans Musicales festival in Rennes, France in December. The performance was filmed by Seattle radio station KEXP, famous for launching artists with their videos, and the jaw-dropping 27-minute musical video just went nuts online. So far it’s been seen by over six million people! And it was only premièred on YouTube in February.

They have signed with major talent agencies in Britain, France, the U.S. and Canada, and shows are selling out all over the place. Their two upcoming dates at the 600-capacity Poisson Rouge club in New York City are sold out — the second show sold out in a minute! — and they also sold out three nights at the Mod Club in Toronto.

There are no tickets left for the gig Friday at Club Soda, which will be the launch party for the band’s second album. The good news for those of us who don’t have tickets for the show Friday is that the band will be performing on the main outdoor stage of the Montreal International Jazz Festival Saturday June 27 — nabbing one of the marquee slots on the opening week of the fest! That is going to be one cool soirée.

Friday at the Wheel Club.

I profiled Paul Cargnello in this very space last June when he launched his 20th album Combat Blues and I suggested the album’s signature track, Fascists in our Midst, was particularly timely with the U.S. military at the time taking to the streets of Los Angeles to try to stamp out anti-government protests. Well it appears it has remained timely, sadly enough. Since its launch, the video has notched 120,000 views on YouTube. I also wrote last year that I thought Combat Blues was the best thing Cargnello had ever done, mixing passionate leftist politics with music that sounds like what might come out if Sly and the Family Stone and the Clash had a baby.

And what better place to see proud N.D.G. rocker Cargnello and his crack band than at the Deeg’s most noted rock bar The Wheel Club.

Tickets: wheelclubndg.com

Saturday at Centre Greene.

How can you not love an event that proclaims itself “Canada’s Smallest Book Fair?” Booksellers from Quebec and Ontario will be selling collectible and out-of-print books, autographs, maps and prints. It’ll cost you a measly three bucks to get in. It runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Information: defreitasbooks.com/wbf.html

All weekend at PHI.

The virtual-reality show includes four animated works — Ferenji, Less Than 5 Grams of Saffron, Flow and The Art of Change. The PR material tells us that they question “how sensory experiences reactivate the past and reconfigure it in the present.” In spite of that kind of frightening description, I still think they might still be worth seeing.

Tickets: phi.ca

Sunday at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts.

This is another case where me and a big chunk of the world are out of step. I never got Meat Loaf. Apparently many of you did, with the Bat Out of Hell trilogy of records selling over 100 million units. One of us is right. The Bat Out of Hell album has been turned into a musical and this touring production stars French-Canadian singer Travis Cormier in he lead role. Many of you will be there at 4 p.m. Sunday. I will not.

Tickets: placedesarts.com

bkelly@postmedia.com

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