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Montreal Kinetik Festival! Gothic Industrial EBM concerts & nightlife: Katacombes club, Bar Passeport.

goth fashion blog, alternative modeling

Ready for my Montreal Goth clubbing and travel guide? Here’s a round-up of the city’s best Dark Industrial and Punk parties, and review of Kinetik Festival 2013!

When night falls, I’m ready for a crawl. Full info about my hair and clothes are in this outfit post.

Montreal goth club, bar passeport, ebm

The friendly door person invited us into Bar Passeport, located near many restaurants on St-Denis.

Montreal goth party, bars

It was the first stop on a nightcrawl with my friends, Lauren and Asta. The lady at the bar recognized me from my Myspace days! To welcome us to her city, she gave us shots of whiskey and maple syrup.

industrial goth clubs, parties, montreal

Bar Passeport has various themed nights, as illustrated on the flyers. (Funny how you can see our faces in the reflection.) We had fun dancing to “EBM, Alternatif, Synthpop, New Wave, Gothique”. Upcoming darkwave parties are listed on their Facebook page.

club chaos, montreal punk bar

Right next door is Club Chaos, a legendary punk bar. Cheap drinks and skeletons are always a good sign.

Foufounes Electriques

Another classic bar is Foufounes Electriques, which often has live music performances. In the 1980s, this club was a gathering place for punk and Goth subcultures.

Montreal concert venue, bar, live bands

The metalwork inside “Foufs” and outdoor enclosure remind me of the Monster bar in Berlin.

katacombes, Montreal heavy metal club

Lauren and I had fun at Coop Katacombes. From the exterior, you can guess this is a heavy metal hangout.

queer punk, girl riot club, red mohawk

Our stay coincided with Queer Ass Punk. To our delight, the night was dedicated to Grrl Riot! DJ Velvet Underparts blasted music by L7, Joan Jett, Sonic Youth, and even the Daria theme song.

live bands montreal, alternative clubs

John Waters’ movie Hairspray aired above the bar, and Millie Rosado sang while playing keyboards and guitar.

belmont sur boulevard, kinetik concert

On to the main attraction: Festival Kinetik at Le Belmont. Known as North America’s Wave Gotik Treffen, the event brings in international Industrial-Noise-Goth-EBM bands for a weekend of performances. Previous years have featured Nitzer Ebb, Funker Vogt, VNV Nation and more.

Montreal kinetik festival, goth music

2013 featured a scaled-down version of Kinetik, which created a friendlier atmosphere. Everyone gathered in one place, to see bands like Project Pitchfork and Terrorfakt.

kinetik festival, Montreal industrial concerts

Lots of fun fashion at Le Belmont. In the side room, Goths gathered at the bar and browsed CDs at the merch table. (My deconstructed top is by h.NAOTO Red.)

montreal Electro Noise EBM Festival

We perched at the upstairs balcony, which gave us an unhindered view of the stage. My silhouette proves I’m an alien…

suicide commando, live performance

I was impressed at the level of organization; all the bands started on time. Suicide Commando took the stage with a giant cross projected in the back.

kinetik festival goth bands, tickets

They showed a countdown for their “Cause of Death” song: “Every 40 seconds someone attempts suicide…”

daniel graves, aesthetic perfection singer

The next evening, I met up with my friend Daniel Graves of Aesthetic Perfection, one of Kinetik Festival’s headliners. We filmed a hilarious “bagel tasting battle” together — can’t wait to show you the video!

aesthetic perfection live, kinetik festival performers

As always, Aesthetic Perfection performed with charm. Daniel has a knack for making the audience smile and dance.

funny sleep masks, eyes mask

After a long night, it’s time to put on our slit-eyed sleep masks. They’re gifts from Velvet Moustache, who we met during our art studio visit.

What’s your impression of Kinetik Festival and the Montreal Goth alternative scene? Did I miss any nightclubs or parties? Let me know by leaving a comment.

Coming up next… Goth and pin-up shopping in Montreal, and an announcement about my August destinations!

Monsterland: monster theme restaurant re-opens in Mesa. Watch my Arizona bizarre travel video!

Monsterland Bar & Grill, monster restaurant, horror themed restaurant

Help! I’m locked in a cell with a Gothic Lolita… Where in the world am I?

To find out, watch my new video about alt, spooky travel in Arizona.

Can you tell I had fun on this trip? I’m especially happy with how this video turned out, thanks to the original soundtrack by Leon Lindon, and performed by the Lindon Automata.

** Please support our creative work by Sharing and Liking the article on HuffPost, or below. Thank you so much.

monsterland downtown Mesa, Arizona, us theme restaurants, Alien statues

Eerie music plays as we explore Monsterland Bar & Grill, a theme restaurant in Mesa, Arizona (east of Phoenix).

biggest haunted house, usa halloween, phoenix costume parties

I was already shaking as I entered the restaurant through a winding passage. Creatures of the night awaited me…

classic monsters, big moving monster statues, halloween decor, crazy theme restaurants

… some of which jumped out unexpectedly!

Monsterland Bar & Grill, haunted houses phoenix arizona, horror film sets

Inside, it was every horror scene come to life, from dungeons to dragons.

Monsterland parties, horror themed restaurant, monsterland downtown Mesa,  gothic phoenix

I got tied up in Frankenstein’s lab.

Bunny shirt: Miffy store in Hong Kong
Scallop shorts: KiLaRa, from the Hong Kong Hello Kitty store
Bunny-eared headband: gifted by Soho Hearts
Monster gloves: gifted by Josie Loves J Valentine (remember the photoshoot we did in LA?)
Lolita shoes: Yosuke, from Marui One Shinjuku

mesa halloween, haunted houses phoenix arizona, monsterland

Leon Lindon, in the Adventure of the Pharoah’s Curse.

monster costume parties, monster statues

His visual musical band, Colosseum Thesis, braves the Grim Reaper’s scepter.

Monsterland, frankenstein lab, goths phoenix

“We did the Monsterland mash. It was a graveyard smash.”

alien statue, monster themed restsaurant, horror theme cafe

The VIP room was ruled by an alien (perhaps from our Sedona road trip?). Monsterland often has special events like video game nights, costume parties and “Scary-aoke.”

Monsterland food, horror halloween food, halloween cooking

The food matched the monstrous theme: beer tasters in a skull, “Children of the Corn” balls, bat wings.

blue cocktail, monster drinks, goth cocktails

The blue Swamp Water cocktail had a surprise at the bottom. You’ll have to order one to discover what lies beneath.

halloween statues, nightmare elm street statue

Dare to be scared! Monsterland re-opens on August 24th (they were on temporary hiatus); check their Facebook for upcoming events.

phoenix wine bar, postino wine cafe, phoenix arizona cafes

Here’s a bonus outfit photo, from dinner with Visit Mesa at Postino Wine Cafe in Gilbert, AZ.

Octopus print dress: gifted by Sourpuss Clothing; buy it here.
Black eyed bag: Hyoma, Izzue boutique Hong Kong (store photos soon)
Sunglasses: gifted by Lumete

postino wine cafe, gilbert restaurants

I have fond memories of this meal. I tried a Macedonia Tikves Vranec wine, and stuffed myself with salads and bruschetta.

gilbert arizona, gilbert water tower, women travel blogs, tv host

Gilbert, a town known for its water tower, has a nice food and arts scene.

liberty market, phoenix arizona restaurants, gilbert, mesa, cool restaurants, gilbert cafes, phoenix lunch spots

I also ate very well at Liberty Market, across the street from Postino’s.

gilbert arizona, liberty market, food bloggers

We enjoyed fresh favorites like caprese salad, pizzas, burgers, and endless coffee refills.

boutique hotel bathroom, modern design bathroom, white big bathtub, freestanding tub

I leave you with these photos of me in the Downtown Phoenix Westin hotel bathtub. You can see more photos of my Miffy bunny dress in this post.

big free standing bathtub, westin phoenix hotel, fashion blogger white dress, downtown phoenix hotels

Did you expect Arizona to have such spooky culture? Would you visit the monster restaurant?

I hope you enjoy the video and soundtrack. Tell us what you think of our Arizona adventure.

PS: Plane tickets booked for August! Can you guess where my travel team’s going next?

  • LA CARMINA IS...LA CARMINA
    is an award-winning travel & fashion blogger / author / TV host.

    La Carmina has appeared on:

    Travel Channel Food Network National Geographic CNN She's visited 70+ countries, written several books for Penguin Random House / Simon & Schuster, and is a SATW prize-winning journalist for The New York Times, National Geographic, Travel + Leisure, Time Magazine etc.
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