‘Montreal is a music city’: protestors host ‘funeral march’ for closures of cultural venues

Protesters gathered to the sound of jazz funeral music on Sunday in Montreal’s Plateau neighbourhood to speak out against the recent closures of music venues, which they attributed to gentrification and restrictive sound bylaws.

The march, named by organizers as the “funeral march for lost spaces,” was hosted by Montreal artist collective Réverbérations d’une crise and saw protestors march from Jeanne Mance Park to the sites of various closed music venues. The first stop: Le Divan Orange, a music venue that closed in 2017, which lead organizer Hubert Gendron-Blais said was symbolically one of the first venues which has been closed because of noise complaints.

“When a venue closes, it’s like losing a loved one,” Gendron-Blais said. “Maybe there’s, like, an article in the news, but like, many people feel that like there’s no ritual that has been done for these places.”

Recent bylaws introduced in both Plateau and Ville-Marie neighbourhoods restrict noise levels from bars, music venues, and terraces. Fines for exceeding permitted sound levels can reach up to $20,000.

Gendron-Blais said that fines of that scale can spell out the difference between a venue remaining open or shutting down.

Advocates also said that gentrification and a rising cost of living contribute to what they call a loss of culture in Montreal’s music scene. Independent show spaces are the first on the chopping block when landlords are able to raise a venue’s rent, said Sergio DaSilva, owner of Turbo Haüs bar.

“Gentrification pushes people out, whereas the bylaws allow them to push people out,” he said. “Nobody here is being hyperbolic when they’re saying like you’re losing these spaces, you’re losing jobs, you’re losing culture.”

Advocates argue that safeguarding Montreal’s nightlife is essential to preserving the city’s cultural identity — one that is on par with the likes of Paris and Los Angeles, Gendron-Blais said.

“This is absolutely singular in North America, even in the world,” he said. “If you live in Montreal, you assume that culture is there, and that culture is making some noise.”