Montreal, Canada

[peterson]

So I'm headed to Montreal this weekend.  Pretty excited to finally eat poutine!!!!!

Anyone been and have any must sees will I'm there?  Any non-record store sights to appease the wife would be much appreciated!!!!!

Any recommendations on who serves up the best poutine or is it pretty standard everywhere?

[goneoffdatlean]

Check out the Kama Sutra, it's a very.....classy place.

[fuckgaze]

Check out the hill and do join in on some drum circles or medieval foam fighting.

[Scrod Prickknee]

Fuckin' Larry.

[jabber77]

Any place called "la belle province" has good poutine.
You can go see the formula one race car next week-end.
Go to ste-catherine street with your girl for shopping, leave
her there and go to super sexe and get loaded.

[shauuuun]

Go to LaFleurs for your poutine fix, it beats the shit out of La Belle Province's poutine any day of the week.  There's one just above the corner of St-Denis and Sherbrooke, right next to this park with a fountain called Parc St-Louis (which is one of Montreal's finest outdoor drinking spots, BTW).  You won't regret it.  I took the Catholic Boys there a couple of years ago and they were all like "this is the best shit I've ever eaten in my life." 

Other suggestions:

Avoid St-Laurent street below Pine avenue at all costs if you can this weekend.  The F-1 Grand Prix is in town this weekend and every single rich fucking asshole in the universe with Ferrari's, spinning rim Escalades and customized Honda Civic's will be partying on the lower part of that street.  Everything on St-Laurent above Pine is fine, though, and much recommended to visit (since most of the cool bars and show venues are on that part of the street).  Check out Miami, Copacabanna and Barfly (the best hole in the wall bar in the world) for fun drinking times.

Also on St-Laurent above Pine: You absolutely must try a Smoked Meat sandwich at Schwartz (which will be packed, you've been warned).  It blows away any meat sandwich you've ever had.  Go around 3 AM or in the middle of the afternoon if you don't want to wait in line.  And dig on the $2 Chow Mein at this take out Thai place on the corner of Pine and St-Laurent (can't miss it, its got a take out window).

The drum circle thing that Josh is talking about is this lame hippie fest known as the "tam tams" where literally thousands of people gather on Parc Avenue just beside Mount-Royal on Sunday afternoons to smoke weed, play hacki sack and (if you're into Live Action Role Playing) beat each other up with plastic swords and axes.  Its fucking retarded, but its very unique representation of the kind of street hippie phenomenon that exists in Quebec.

Other cool spots:

Olympic Stadium: far from downtown, but its one of the most amazing pieces of architecture you'll ever see in your life.  Its like a massive spaceship with the worlds largest inclining tower jutting up from it.  Too bad it was pretty much the worst sporting facility ever once you got on the inside.

Au Dieu Ciel: Amazing bar on the corner of Laurier and St-Laurent.  Best homebrew I've ever had, hands down.

St-Denis street: great street to walk up and down in the summertime.  Lots of great stores to take the wife to, as well.  Some of the bars are a little on the yuppie side, though, but pretty much all of the best record stores in town are also either on this street or very close to it.

Mount-Royal: The tam tams are fucking stupid, but you should still check out the mountain if you can.  There's a giant lit up crucifix on the top of it and lots of beautiful parks all around it.

I don't feel like typing anymore, so maybe Alex C. will fill you in on more shit to check out.

[peterson]

Thanks for the boatload of info, razor. I'll be sure to avoid the choads at all costs.  I was thinking about checking out Mont-Royal on Saturday and the Olympic Stadium, too, cuz I wasn't sure what's all gonna be open on Saturday for the Quebec National Holiday.  Anything cool go on with that?

[Alex C]

Razor Shines basically covered it all. I haven't lived in Montreal in a while and I only go back a few times a year, but the places listed are the ones I always try to hit up.

You'll be there for St Jean Baptiste day, so the place will be going crazy all weekend.

[SSR]

record store report? I only was there once and passed up an original Hubble Bubble lp on the wall of a small shop because $75 was "too much" by the time I got to Buffalo I was kicking myself. Called the place and it sold that morning.

[shauuuun]

I'm guessing it was Primitive that had that record.  They are the king of collector priced records.  Just when you thought no one would pay $100 for that Q'65 LP on the wall, Primitive has to prove you wrong.

Record stores:

Sonik: Easily the best store in town for us folks and one of the best record stores in the country.  Red building located on the corner of Duluth and Berri, can't miss it.

Primitive: Really large store that used to be the best until Sonik came along and started selling a lot the same shit for way cheaper, but still a must hit nonetheless.  Best used record selection in town.  A little on the pricey side, though.  Located on St-Denis just above the corner of Roy and St-Denis.

Beatnick: Really good used record store with a large selection of 60s re-issues.  Just below Primitive right after the corner of Pine and St-Denis (right next to a gas station).

SubAltern:  Only sells CDs, but the selection is amazing and the prices are pretty good.  On St-Denis across the street from LaFleurs, just above Sherbrooke.

Cheap Thrills: Mixed bag store that covers just about every rock music related genre base, but the selection is great and the shit there is really cheap, probably the least expensive in town by a long shot (I've figured out their the only store in town that has lowered its prices to reflect the current strength of the Canadian dollar).  On Metcalfe just below Sherbrooke

Not really any other places worth writing home about.  Oblique (at Rivard and Marie-Anne, near Sonik) has a good reputation and may be worth a peek, but you'll probably be disappointed.  There's also a few decent used record stores on rue Mont-Royal (Le Pick Up, Paul's Boutique), but nothing to write home about.  Only other place I could wholeheartingly recommend peeking in is C'Fou on Duluth about five blocks west of Sonik, its a pretty good used record store.

[Maltodextrin]

I'm guessing it was Primitive that had that record.  They are the king of collector priced records.  Just when you thought no one would pay $100 for that Q'65 LP on the wall, Primitive has to prove you wrong.

Record stores:

Sonik: Easily the best store in town for us folks and one of the best record stores in the country.  Red building located on the corner of Duluth and Berri, can't miss it.

Primitive: Really large store that used to be the best until Sonik came along and started selling a lot the same shit for way cheaper, but still a must hit nonetheless.  Best used record selection in town.  A little on the pricey side, though.  Located on St-Denis just above the corner of Roy and St-Denis.

Beatnick: Really good used record store with a large selection of 60s re-issues.  Just below Primitive right after the corner of Pine and St-Denis (right next to a gas station).

SubAltern:  Only sells CDs, but the selection is amazing and the prices are pretty good.  On St-Denis across the street from LaFleurs, just above Sherbrooke.

Cheap Thrills: Mixed bag store that covers just about every rock music related genre base, but the selection is great and the shit there is really cheap, probably the least expensive in town by a long shot (I've figured out their the only store in town that has lowered its prices to reflect the current strength of the Canadian dollar).  On Metcalfe just below Sherbrooke

Not really any other places worth writing home about.  Oblique (at Rivard and Marie-Anne, near Sonik) has a good reputation and may be worth a peek, but you'll probably be disappointed.  There's also a few decent used record stores on rue Mont-Royal (Le Pick Up, Paul's Boutique), but nothing to write home about.  Only other place I could wholeheartingly recommend peeking in is C'Fou on Duluth about five blocks west of Sonik, its a pretty good used record store.

I think it was at Primitive that I nabbed a copy of the Master Tape comp LP for $10 a couple years back, as well as a real cheap Unruled EP.  They have a box of rare punk 7"s behind the counter, but good luck if you don't speak French.  I know they also sold a Genetic Control EP for like $60 when I was there, which isn't cheap per se, but is nothing near its going rate.  With the exception of the Montreal stuff, I think they tend to underprice a lot of great '80's hardcore that flies under their garage hipster radar.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Sound Central, because I've had a few good finds there.

Lastly, my friend found GG Allin "No rules" EP for $0.25 when she was living there for awhile-- in a clearance box of crap Top 40 45s in the basement of a hip hop store her DJ roomate dragged her to...so maybe it pays to look around...

[shauuuun]

Forgot about Sound Central.  It's been awhile since I've shopped there regularly, but its a good store.  On St-Denis below Sherbrooke (again, within 5 minutes walking distance of every store on this list except Cheap Thrills).

[peterson]

You'll be there for St Jean Baptiste day, so the place will be going crazy all weekend.

What goes on in Montreal during this??

[shauuuun]

Lots of drunken partying.  Its basically our 4th of July.  There used to be a giant street party every year on St-Viateur street but they had to stop doing it cause the condo dwellers and new yuppie businesses complained it was too rowdy.  There's probably something happening at Mount-Royal, but I'm not sure.   I have a feeling a lot of the outdoor partying will be co-opted with Grand Prix weekend festivities, but you should try posting a message on stillepost.ca on the montreal board to see what's happening this year.

[SundaySinner]

Take some LSD and Go to the Botanical Gardens....(its right near the olympic stadium)
St-Jean Party - eveything is white and blue.
Also food: On east pine there is this portuguese chicken grill which is insane,
Its called Romados.
Mont-Royal is best appreciated while on top, that way you can avoid most medieval-afro beat types.
The Planetarium is cool, especially if you get high before hand,
If you wanna do some real tourist stuff go to 'Old Montreal' , its french colonial style with caleche (Horse and buggy) there is a super old cathedral and there will be most likely fireworks in the evening for the St-Jean Celebrations. Its really nice but not very 'cool' also the old port is pretty wicked too, thats right on the St-Laurence River in Old Montreal. There is a water fountain in Old Montreal that shoots fire every hour on the hour.
The best Poutine is found in the trash areas, but I'm not sure if you wanna venture there.