Groovy Aardvark Rock Les Francos De Montréal [Photos]

The 37th edition of Francos de Montréal is in full swing. The fun thing about these festivals is that you get the chance to stumble upon some great bands. This whole gig came together as kind of a last-minute decision. As such, I didn’t really have the chance to see all of the bands that were playing. After arriving early for my Saturday night show, I walked around the site for a little bit. After finding a nice spot in the shade, I pulled the festival pamphlet from my pocket and gave it a good look.

Just a few steps from where I had been sitting, Groovy Aardvark was due to hit the stage. The show was taking place at the Loto-Québec Stage. But it might as well have been renamed the Hydro-Québec stage. That’s because for this performance, the atmosphere was electric and the energy levels were off the chart.

After the ceremonial delivery of the band mascot, singer and bassist Vincent Peake ripped into a chord and the crowd went wild! The band tore into “Ultra-sonde” as the downtown festival core roared to life. Most of the festival acts are a little more on the tame side, but there is nothing tame about Groovy Aardvark. “Y’a tu kelkun” may have been the second song, but we were getting close to our 10th mosh pit already.

There were a couple of special guests. Marc Vaillancourt from the legendary ’80s band B.A.R.F. joined Groovy Aardvark on stage for a brutal version of “Le p’tit bonheur.” In what will undoubtedly go down as an epic moment, Yves Lambert of La Bottine Sourriante hit the stage. They were playing “Boisson d’avril” when there was suddenly a loud bang, followed by the audio cutting out. They were rocking so hard that they blew out the power.

The crowd was a little bit older than the usual Francos de Montréal fare. There may have been a few more grey hairs than usual, but they were jumping around just as much as the younger fans who were there the night before. These legendary rockers came out to make some noise. They did so and made for an unforgettable night for their hardcore fans. Hopefully, they did the same for the other festival goers as well.