Friday on My Mind: Blue Metropolis, a Strokes cover band, Mean Girls top cool agenda

Montreal Gazette

25-04-2025

Friday on My Mind is a highly subjective, curated rundown of five of the cooler things happening in Montreal on the weekend.
Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival
Friday to Sunday at Hotel 10.
There are many intriguing authors to check out at this year's Blue Metropolis, but arguably the hottest ticket is Salman Rushdie. The Indian-born author — best-known for his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses — will be given the Blue Met's 2025 Grand Prix on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Hotel 10 and at the event he will interviewed by longtime CBC Radio host Eleanor Wachtel.
'He's a great author and the goal of the festival has always to bring together writers with different points of view,' said Blue Met director of programming Marie-Andrée Lamontagne. 'Salman Rushdie has become an icon of freedom of expression because of some tragic circumstances. He's also just published a remarkable book, which is why we want to give him the Grand Prix. He receives it for his work but also as someone who represents freedom of expression and freedom of the imagination. These things are particularly important in the era we're living in right now.'
Rushdie was the object of several assassination attempts and many death threats after the publication of The Satantic Verses and he survived a stabbing in New York in 2022 that resulted in the loss of his left eye. Last year he published an autobiographical book inspired by that vicious attack, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.
Other authors set to take part in the literary festival include British historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, German author Peter Wohlleben, and American novelist Stephen Graham Jones. Wachtel will also interview Montreal author Madeleine Thien, whose latest novel The Book of Records comes out May 6.
Lamontagne underlines that the fest continues the mission of founder Linda Leith to try to bring the city's anglo and franco literary communities together.
'This is important for me personally and for Blue Metropolis,' said Lamontagne. 'There is programming in English and programming in French. I also like to program bilingual events whenever possible with bilingual hosts. Language should never be an obstacle. Blue Metropolis is all about the circulation of languages.'
Tickets and info: bluemetropolis.org
Gala Dynastie
This is the ninth edition of the annual gala that rewards artists, creators and personalities from Black communities in the province. This year's ceremony is hosted by comedian Garihanna Jean-Louis.
The evening will also include a tribute to Quebec comic Anthony Kavannagh.
Tickets: www.galadynastie.com
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The Brokes
Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at Fairmount Theatre.
All you need to know to sell you on this one is the band's Instagram tag line: 'Too broke to Stroke? Try ... The Brokes.'
The Brokes are a Strokes cover band from Toronto (of all places, just seems like the least Strokes-like city!) who pay tribute to the legendary too-cool Manhattan garage band from the early aughts.
In a New York Times piece on them last year, one fan said: 'Being here feels like being at a Strokes nerd fest. The Brokes play deep cuts, songs the Strokes would never play live at some big stadium today.'
'Nuff said. Strokes nerds are thus alerted!
Tickets: www.theatrefairmount.com
South Asian Film Festival
Friday to Sunday at the DeSève Cinema in Concordia's Webster Library Building.
Don't tell Donald Trump. This week's film fest — yes there is apparently one every single week of the year — proclaims in its press materials that 'Diversity, equity, inclusion and cinematographic merit' power its programming choices! Shocking, I know.
Kidding aside, it's another popular film festival that provides a welcome alternative to the Hollywood shlock at the nearby multiplex. Shambhala, for example, the opening-night film, is set in a Himalayan village in Nepal and tells the story of a pregnant woman who heads out on a quest to find her husband who has gone missing.
Mean Girls
Friday to Sunday at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts.
This is the first time in Montreal you get to see a touring version of the hit critically acclaimed Broadway musical based on the Hollywood flick of the same name penned by Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey. There's undoubtedly an audience for this but me I'm not a musicals kind of guy and I didn't become any more enthused when I read the last line of The Guardian's review of the original Broadway production: 'Here's the best/worst thing you can say about Mean Girls: it's nice.'