porchfest day in ndg

some montrealers have asked this weekend what the hell porchfest was. it's funny how, once i've heard about a thing, it seems logical to me that everyone else will know about it. (i think it's just my modest nature?). anyway, to reiterate, this was porchfest NDG this year:

http://www.porchfestndg.com/schedule--mapcarte.html

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrTcdJG0khVjJ0A2n1kmolQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBsOXB2YTRjBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkAw--?p=porchfest+ndg&

i only arrived in NDG at 2 pm, meaning half of the festival was already done. also, we mostly stuck to the east side (closer to downtown) and south (of sherbrooke street). as such, i don't know how representative my sample is....and, with the mention that i was there more for the atmosphere than for the music proper, i'll give you some of my not-trying-too-hard pictures of the events i've passed by:

regent street, between 2 and 3: this is "blue matilda", i know because they told us so. some bands we went by after they'd started their sets, we had no idea who they were. anyway, these people were kind of breaking the rules (i thought) by playing on the front lawn instead of on the porch :)

i still have no idea who this woman was, but we sure did stop to listen! also appreciated the decoration; and there was another porch/ decorated setting right across the street. it felt more neighbourly than woah, big public venue, but it's definitely part of what i'd wanted and expected.

this is oxford street, so looking back on the schedule, these guys have to be "Dirty ol"Band". All I know is that one of them is from Timmins, again cause they said so repeatedly. Oxford street was very animated at that point, probably the biggest clusters we've seen

...with the clear popularity winner for this time and area being "Filly and the Flops"( that vocalist is a powerhouse - but also, the location was very close to sherbrooke so in 1 hour managed to attract everyone who was just wandering around aimlessly.) by the time we got to the scene, the audience had kind of blocked the whole street. which is not a bad thing. 

this group didn't have a proper porch! they're on a corner of sherbrooke, but they did have lots of equipment! then there were 4 young people with 2 guitars (and a mandolin?) on another corner, on the steps of a bank, for whom we stopped because they had no audience; also, no speakers. i guess they had to sit on sherbrooke to get audience, but a porch would have suited them better. just get on the list next time, i'm sure organizers can provide porches for all the bands  somehow!!

"get sick, get well". i am told that this festival happened in NDG of all places because a lot of the neighbourhood dabbles in music to various extents. it makes sense. 

this is from the last event of the day, 4 to 5 on connaught street (stress on the second syllable!), way west and up. it's just somebody's house, probably one of the organizers, and as it was the wrapping-up point, the block and lawn were invaded. also, i got to satisfy another expectation i'd had for a street fest: lemonade! yes there was lemonade, and a grill, and even mini-cupcakes right in the beginning, until there weren't. 

sitting on the grass of a neighbour's lawn, this was most of the view. look at this girl's dorothy shoes! she looked very much like a mini-bjork, and i kept trying to get good photos of her

the band was called "audiocassette"and they did mostly covers: radiohead, silverchair, adele, janis joplin (!) and this right here, towards the end, was hozier's "take me to church". interpretation nothwithstanding, great musical tastes, dudes! at that point i was singing along, and i don't think they spiked the lemonade

also on connaught: first magnolia of this year. take that, 2014, we're ahead already! i think. there were also other magnolias and bunches of tulips etc. so, nice meeting you, NDG, there are a couple of cafes i have to return and check out over the next few days/weeks.