As cruel and as frigid as Canadian winter nights can be, the fire inside the hearts of Montreal party-goers refuses to die. With so many artistic, eccentric, and creative cats looking for a good time with some good tunes, our city is blessed with a local music scene that is bursting at the seams with secret treasures and crazy parties. If you know where to look, you can find an amazing underground show on virtually any night of the week, whatever the weather. The Lovely Haze is one of these hidden gems, and their EP release party was well-worth the five bucks.

Fashionably late, as per usual, I headed over to the venue around 11pm. Luckily for me, I was still able to catch a few of the opening acts. This was Cider Punk Productions first shot at booking a night and they really delivered. The place was packed and the lineup left nothing to be desired. Riot Porn, who never fail to get the crowd pumped as fuck, were as fast and as furious as any good punk band should be. Blame the Name were a fun watch as well, and the pit got even more energetic than before as the crowd playfully taunted the band members between songs, threw half empty cans of beer around, and sprayed silly string up in to the air.

Finally, around 1:30am, The Lovely Haze took the stage as lead singer Mille Rosado personally thanked each and every one of the crowd members for coming. Despite Mille's initial sweet and welcoming persona, the music kicks in and she quickly switches to “front man” mode and her badass attitude fits perfectly with the bands' heavy instrumentals. Headbanging her purple and blue dreadlocks while ripping on electric guitar at instrumental breaks, she nails her personal performance, as does the rest of her band.

Flawlessly alternating between tasty guitar riffs, groovy bass lines and chilled out drum sections, this is a band that recognizes the artistic merit in being dynamic. In my view, The Lovely Haze is the perfect mix between the Distillers and Death From Above 1979, with a hint of 90s grunge in some of the tracks. Johnny B's bass playing is complex and refreshing; ridiculously funky and deep in the verses yet ultra heavy in the choruses. Paul Marchand, mastermind at lead guitar, makes playing complicated and original riffs look like a day at the beach. Becca Field's ferocious drum playing is the icing on the cake, her steady rhythm and interesting beats neatly ties up their sound with a tight ribbon and bow. Mille builds up the tension from the whiny voice of a teenage brat to the powerful growl of a wild lioness, and the crowd loves every minute of it.

In a sea of short black skirts and multicolored hair in motion, a pack of punk chicks take over the pit for the majority of their set. The only thing louder than The Lovely Haze was the crowds' enthusiastic screaming at the end. Their last song “Right Mind” was the perfect choice for a final tune, showing of the instrumental skills of each of the individual members in the bridge of the song before heading back to the catchy energetic chorus. This is a band you won't want to miss next time around.

Like them HERE.

Check our their new EP HERE.

Live Photos by sketch comedy nerds: Season Xero