FIMAV 2005 Lineup announced

Looking at that list, I'd have to say this might be the year I finally drag my butt up there.

Damn. I am going to have to spend the weekend in Victo then...

Yeah, I was just gonna go to see the Boredoms, but now I might pitch a tent and live off the land for the weekend with all the other weird noise hippies.

Exactly the plan right now. Unless I find some other people to split a room with (hint, hint, wink wink)

I had lots of fun last year just one day with those shows:

DAUNIK LAZRO SOLO
SAM SHALABI
FENNESZ
PITA, TINA FRANK
FLY PAN AM

What I like the most about FIMAV is how respectful people are of the performers, how silent the crowd is and how everybody just talks to everybody about all sorts of music... Lovely festival.

hmmm

THE BOREDOMS
Japan
Canadian Premiere
(uh, lollapalooza 199?, also a Vancouver show at some point)

THURSTON MOORE « DREAM AKTION UNIT »
USA
World Premiere
(no fun last year I think)

NO NECK BLUES BAND
USA
Quebec Premiere
(not true - several mtl shows)

(I'm still going - lineup is great this year)

I think what the FIMAV means is that the piece/pieces they will play are premieres.

how is FIMAV set up? Are there headlining bands like a Coachella, ATP, etc, or do all of these acts get equal time?

That's a really strong line-up, lots I'd like to see (Anthony Braxton, Inue Mori, Wolf Eyes, Philip Jeck) but I have to decide between this and the LA Boredoms show. Will Boredoms get as much time to play as they need?

I went in 2003 and it was awesome. When the lineup was announced last week it WEIGHED HEAVILY UPON MY BRANE. Unknown to me, the friend in London who I went with was also spazzing about the lineup, and yesterday we emailed each other into a frenzy, and so now we've decided to go this year. He already has his flight booked.

All the acts get roughly the same amount of time, 60-75 minutes or so. (Parker Trio + Brotzmann Trio played about 80 minutes.) There are three venues: CÉGEP (a local college); Cinéma Laurier, a movie house downtown; and the Colisée des Bois-Francs, a larger auditorium where the biggest names play. Between shows, there's the expected lemming-run from venue to venue.

In '03, the announced lineup was pretty much in the order they played. If that holds true, then the Boredoms will close the festival, so they could conceivably play longer than the standard set. The Fantômas/Melvins Big Band closed '03, and played a 40-minute set and 5-minute encore. (When all the kids who'd come over from Montreal just for that show realized they were done, the cheering quickly turned to booing. At CAN$32 for a single ticket, I would have too.)

Thanks for the info, that sounds pretty great.

Everything's in-doors? That's kind of dissapointing. I was envisioning Sermon on the Mound type performances for most of these. ;)

A few more questions... do a lot of people turn out for this or is it relatively intimate? Is there enough in Victoriaville to keep one occupied for a week in between performances?

The weather in Victo was awesome, sunny and warm the whole week, so that was one of the only downsides to the festival, having to spend most of it indoors.

I'm terrible at estimating crowds, so I won't guess at the numbers. There are different ticket packages you can get short of a full festival passport, so the crowds varied. I would guess the number of people who get full festival passports in the hundreds, not the thousands. Oops, I just said I wasn't going to guess.

Is there enough in Victoriaville to keep one occupied for a week in between performances?
Not really, but fortunately the concerts are enough to keep you busy if you have a full festival passport. The shows start at 1:00 p.m. most days, and the last one of the night starts just after midnight. Sleep late, eat breakfast in the Colibri, notice that William Parker or Le Quan Ninh is at the next table and that nobody's being a fanboy about it, off to the gigs and the day goes by in a big rush. Repeat x4.

Last year the crowds were fairly big, it all depends on the act. For Daunik Lazro there were about 20 peoples. Fennesz-Pita/Tina Frank I would estimate 250-300. Even in the bigger crowds it feels intimate because it has been the most silent crowds I have ever seen.

There is not a whole lot to do in Victoriaville outside of the shows. You could spend a few days in Montreal or Quebec before or after to fill up the week. In any case, I am spending the weekend there most probably.

I can't remember -- is there more than one bus per day between Montreal and Victoriaville? I'd like to maximize my time in Montreal before and after the festival, if only by a few hours.

No idea about the bus, I could check it out if you like.

Just got my ticket today. I am psyched.

Schedule/profiles brochure arrived today. Excitement!

Two combined sets on Saturday:
Hair Police/Wolf Eyes, 3 p.m.
Dead Machines/Double Leopards, 12:15 a.m.

Also, apparently Eye is now going by the name Tetsuo Yamatsuka.

Anyone know where I could find information on bus service to Victoriaville from Montreal? Are the venues close enough together to walk around once you're there, or would renting a car be a good idea?

Argh, I found the bus website at one point. Why didn't I bookmark it? I'll find it again and post the link. There are three buses a day, I remember.

The venues are close enough to walk between, and the Colibri is close enough to the venues also, though it's not a particularly fun walk. A rental car would totally be throwing money away.

OK, thanks for the info. I figure that the bus will be the way to go.

Googling is 100% useless. Fortunately, I had my old bus ticket in my box of FIMAV '03 keepsakes. The bus line is Autobus Drummondville Lte., and the bus station is at BERRI-UQAM in Mtl, and it has a Metro stop right there at the station.

Here's a bus schedule: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5355/bourgeois.htm
It says last updated 1998, but I think those times were more or less accurate in '03.

Thanks! I was having a devil of a time finding it online.

Bump. Who all up in this jernt is going?

I'll be there. Perhaps a FIMAV-FAP would be in order?

You're reading my mind. A bit of the old Rickard Red.

This is me:

My buddy D4ve and I are getting to the Colibri Wednesday evening. Nate, if you or any other ILXor sees me, holla and let's have a beer.

Does that e-mail work? I just sent you an e-mail with some contact info, so hopefully we should be able to meet up once we get up there.

This is what I look like:

http://home.att.net/~o.nate/self_05.jpg

so.... how was it, guys?? reports please!

I've been meaning to write something up properly on the ol' blog, but haven't got to it yet. It was nice to meet up with Rock Hardy and his friend Dave from merry old England. Suffice to say that many pints were poured. First show starting at 1pm and the last one ending about 1:30am, makes for a long day, and we didn't miss a single one. Lots of highlights for me. Braxton & Frith definitely up there, also Braxton's sextet, Brotzmann, Wolf Eyes, the Boredoms, William Parker, No Neck - lots of good stuff. There's a good write-up on it here that covers most of the high points:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=17750

sad to miss the boredoms :(

stupid fimav radius contracts!

I have now written up the first day of the fest here.

Did any ILMers go this year? The lineup looked kinda meh aside from a few big names.

No, didn't make it this year. There were still some things I'd have liked to see.