The Art of POP Scheduling

I went to bed early last night in anticipation for a week of very little sleep curtosy of mid-term projects, houseguests from Victoria, and of course, Pop Montreal.

Crafting the perfect Pop schedule is an art and with about 5 versions of my would-be schedule in existance, I still can not come up with a final one.

First of all, you need to know any venue changes. For example, the SoCalled show that was supposed to be a house party (with a tagline that read “It’s a real house party people!!!!”) will now be held at Sala Rossa. Also, all shows happening at Main Hall or Green Room will be happening at Le Gymnase (4177 St-Denis).

Once you’ve got that sorted out, draft a first schedule, complete with all time frames, and then go through the Pop schedule (you can get it from the website or pick up the paper copy at various locations around town) and write down every possibility at every time with the venues. Make sure you don’t leave anyone behind. If you’re extra courageous, you should take the time to read all the bios carefully because chances are you’ll discover a truck load of exciting goodies.

After that long process, pour yourself a nice strong drink and get ready to get your heart broken. You can go for practicality and try and go see as many shows as possible in the same area. You can be a good little soldier and settle for a show that has a bunch of good acts and spend your night there rather then venue-hoping. You can be reckless and just select a completely ridiculous selection of bands and plan on seeing every single one, no matter where the show is and who cares if you have to miss the last few songs. I won’t lie, I’m going to have to go for that last option.

So basically… good luck, have fun and get home safe!