La Nuit Blanche 2020

     La Nuit Blanche was attended by A.T., Queen Vic, Tibbs, Daisy Bell and Kirkpatrick Macmillan.  The evening kicked off with a brief listening and visual stop at Concordia University which featured an Inuit throat singing animation.

Kirkpatrick With His Distinctive Throat Scarf

     The group then proceeded to a modern Mexican dance highlighting a female dancer's smooth, fluid-like movements set to music performed by a guitarist and his unique vocal stylings.  Images of the dancer were projected on a large wall in a digitalized, enchantment-like format.

The Mexican 'Converted Dance of Our Ancestors'

     En route to our next event we swung by an inner courtyard garden featuring a bronze bust of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.

Bust of Raoul Wallenburg In the Winter Garden of Christ Church 

     We enjoyed hot chocolate while watching two different choirs at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral.  It was a pleasant contrast between the two groups.  While one offered a contemplative, traditional style, the other performed a medley of catchy show tunes in English and in French.

Le Choeur Gai With Their Dynamic Conductor In Christ Church

     Vestments and beautiful works of art were on display as well, in this wonderful structure built in 1859.

     Tibbs, Daisey Bell and Kirkpatrick then walked over to a jazz venue located near Place des Art.  The highlight was an extremely talented jazz trio that provided toe tapping, finger snapping rhythms.

Wonderful Improv Jazz Trio In the Montreal Jazz Festival Offices

     The next event was the Gésu Church on Bleury, which provided a dark and surreal atmosphere of new-age pipe organ music set to city images projected on the walls and pillars of this lovely gothic-style church.

A Photographic Attempt to Give an Inkling of the Atmosphere in the Gésu

     Our final destination was some down time while grabbing a bite to eat at Complexe Desjardins.
Fun time. Shall be back next year.  Thanks to Tibbs for planning the event.

- above evening notes written by Daisy Bell and Kirkpatrick Macmillan -



Few additional comments by Tibbs:

     The Mexican solo dance that was projected to the walls of small room after computer fragmentation and enhancement was quite magical.  The projected images were amalgms of thousands of light threads, mostly in whites with some reds.  These images would sometimes disolve and sometimes become a mass of glowing light.  The audience formed a crescent around three walls with floor candels defining the performance space.  For Tibbs it was the 'discovery' of the night.

     All the sites of La Nuit Blanche were quite welcoming but Christ Church outdid them all serving a wonderful hot chocolate and handing every one a lit candle.

Warming Up In Christ Church

     The Gésu again was a mystery to Tibbs.   The atmosphere created was almost overwhelming, hyper-gothic.

     The one disappointment was the long line-up for 24 Hours of Vinyl along Bleury.   We tried even a second time at 1:30 to see if the line was any shorter.  No luck.

     Tibbs cycled back along the well maintained de Maisonneuve path reaching home just after 2.


Great thank you to Daisy Bell and Kirkpatrick Macmillan for describing the evening in vivid detail!