Grimskunk Celebrate Their Debut’s 30th Anniverary by Selling Out Montreal’s MTelus [Photos]

Montreal’s alternative rock roots were on display at the MTelus this past week as one of the city’s premier alt-rock outfits. Grimskunk have been at the head of Montreal’s alt-rock table since the early 1990s, and the band is the perfect musical companion to the city. Known for its uniqueness and diversity, Montreal ranks among the top cities in North America for a good time. As for Grimskunk, they are the poster children for musical diversity. Their songs feature several different languages, and there is no genre they have not tried and mastered.

On this evening, Grimskunk were celebrating the anniversary of their self-titled debut album, Grim Skunk. It has been 30 years since the release of that landmark album, but neither the songs nor the band have lost any of their energy. This was their third sold-out Montreal show over the last year, and fans came from all corners of the province, and beyond, to participate in the non-stop party.

Sharing the MTelus stage were a couple of other local bands known for their noise-making abilities. Up first was Thee Soreheads, who describe themselves as four slightly angry punks. They blasted the crowd with a short set of songs from their just-released Thee Wee Demos album. The songs were short, but full of energy and anger as singer Maria growled and threw herself around the stage. This was a performance with a message, and it was delivered with a swift kick to the seat of our pants.

The next band to hit the MTelus stage was Gros Soleil. Their mix of grunge and stoner rock was really popular with the crowd. The band was obviously having a great time, as well as the moments on stage without smiles on their faces were few. Their set featured songs from their two albums, Occulture Populaire and their most recent, 2023’s 2038. The whole building was enjoying the set, including the fan in the three-piece suit who seemed to be having a grand old time in the mosh pit.

Grimskunk then hit the stage to the wild cheers of the crowd that only grew louder as singer/keyboardist Joe Evil looked out upon the masses from his mask. The band ripped into action with “Let’s Start A War,” from their most recent album, 2018’s Unreason in the Age of Madness. If there were any people who had still not been moved to action by the end of the song, the follow-up, “F@ck Shit Up” had stirred the MTelus into an early frenzy of banging heads, flailing limbs and crowd surfing bodies.

The next two hours were a celebration of not only their 30th anniversary of the Grimskunk album, but also the city that they call home. The entire album was performed, as well as a selection of hits and crowd favourites.

The show was just as wild and impressive as it was when I saw them back in my school days, though I was much closer to the stage on this night than the younger me would have dared.

Grimskunk (w/ Thee Soreheads & Gros Soleil) @ MTelus (Montreal, QC) on April 17th, 2025

30 photos