So, this past Sunday, I went to Tamtams, a public, free, outdoor drum jam that has been touted by indie pop/rock hippie hipster girls as THE destination, THE to-do of Montreal. I could see why. I guess.
The crowd of people at Parc Mont-Royal counters Old Market Square any given time of the summer. However, this doesn't take place squished between heritage buildings; it takes place at the bottom of Mont Royal, at Parc Avenue. The air smells of pot, dog and horse poo, and dead fish.
Highlights below.
One black man (Jamaican, I'm sure - he had wide eyes) waved at me from 35 feet away. I look around. I point to me. He points to me. Good vibes. I walk up.
"Salut, mon ami!"
"Salut."
"Frenchfrenchfrenchfrenchfrenchfrenchfrenchfrench," looks down at his hand, barely turns it to show a couple grams of pot.
"Ohhhhh, non, merci!"
"Oh boy. Pourquoi pas? Frenchfrenchfrench, il fait beau, frenchfrenchfrench."
"Je n'ai pas de l'argent," I can manage.
"Ah okay."
"Next week," I say, even though I know the phrases 'prochaine semaine' and 'prochaine dimanche.'
"So have you ever tried dating guys?" said the warrior princess to the armoured paladin whilst lazily carrying her sword.
"De l'eau, de l'eau, de l'eau," sings a big black man from the medieval battlegrounds.
Giggles from a post-TVOTR black hipster w/ square glasses, "We are just too high for this park!"
These are better than WPG's drum circles, no doubt for a few reasons. There are more varied instruments than just fucking djembes (p.s., how was Folk Fest, everyone?): surprisingly, an old white dude with a whistle and a tambourine makes all the difference. Secondly, all the '60s hippies and several ethnic communities come to show off their stuff.
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