Critical Zero

The last time we visited Montreal was in 2023, and we had an amazing time; we were very eager to come back. This time, we travelled with Black Budget to perform at Bâtiment 7. We packed our car with the gear and made the five-hour drive. The show was Friday night and we got in Thursday night, so we had the entire afternoon to explore Montreal.

The area we stayed in was Little Burgundy, a really nice, walkable, and relaxed neighbourhood. We arrived at 1 am following a small set of instructions - pitch dark and stairs covered in ice. Following the instructions, we found that the lock wasn’t working. After retrying the code and retracing our steps, we finally got a hold of the owner, only to realize we were trying to enter the wrong apartment. Oops! After finding the right place and lugging the gear up three flights of icy stairs, we were rewarded with a warm apartment and a retro gaming system we set up to play before bed.

The next day, we walked around and stumbled upon Greenspot Restaurant, and all we can say is wow. We ate an insane amount of amazing food, and it was an absolute bargain for the massive plates that filled our table. We explored the area a little more, and then it was time to head over to the venue.

The location, Bâtiment 7, is a shared community space that was previously owned by the Canadian National Railway. It is independently run by the collective 7 à Nous. The space has art studios, a bar and restaurant with live jazz music, a photography studio, a community fridge, and the spot we were headed to: a DIY punk rock space. We grabbed some more amazing food at the restaurant and we were ready for the show.

The first band on was Cleanse, and they jumped right in with high energy. They gave us a punk and grunge-filled set with originals and a cover of Green Day’s “Welcome to Paradise.” The room went nuts with moshing, dancing, and singalongs. They are performing in Toronto at Dock Ellis on Saturday, April 4th - make sure to be there.

Next on the bill was G String, with punk, riot, and grunge influences. They made sure to bring people closer to the stage, which is always great when bands do it. People moshed and the energy kept up throughout their set. We really enjoyed their set and we are looking forward to catching the next one. In between sets, we walked to the other area of the building where the bathrooms were. People were hanging out in the halls and getting a little break between the music.

Third on the bill were Black Budget, the out-of-town band. Montreal gave Black Budget the warmest of welcomes by going bonkers and moshing, crowdsurfing, dancing, and everything in between. The band fed off the audience’s energy and the audience fed off the band; it was amazing. It was one of our favourite sets of the band’s career - a 30-minute, energy-fuelled frenzy.

Last but definitely not least were the headliners, General Chaos. We last photographed and saw them at Ravengrove in Toronto, and when they invited Black Budget to join this bill, we knew we were in for a good set. It wasn’t just good; it was great. The band is so tight, with influences reminding us of '90s punk bands like Rancid, Propagandhi, and more. This is a band you have to see live; the crowd was going nuts. People were climbing on poles, crowdsurfing during every song, and dancing - it was smiles all around. This band has a great future ahead of them. The audience requested two encores, and even then, they ended the set with us wanting more. At the time of writing this, it was announced that they signed to Stomp Records; we’re so happy for them.

The show had a hard cutoff at 11:00 pm, which gave us time to drop off the gear and pick up some midnight poutine at a location called “AA,” recommended to us by one of our new friends at the show. With full bellies and full hearts, we can safely say we had an incredible trip to Montreal and we can’t wait to be back.