I've been at shows in churches before – including other festivals like SXSW – but I was ill prepared for the sight of Eglise St.-Jean Baptiste: a 19th century basilica on Rachel St. in the Plateau. With its massive pipe organ and globe chandeliers, it reminded me of La Trinite in Paris, where I spent time last May.
Of course, tonight's agenda is a bit different, and when I arrived, local girl group Ladies of the Canyon were onstage, sweetly harmonizing with guitars, tambourine and upright bass. Headlining was Buffy Ste-Marie: the veteran Canadian/Native American singer-songwriter who's been performing nonstop since the mid-60s. Backed by a full band, she sang songs of protest and vision, interspersed with otherworldly chants that were both mesmerizing and frightening. Some of her recent material was politically heavy-handed, but she rescued it at the end with "Star Wonder": a rocking number about invisible everyday heroes that nearly took the roof off and sent the crowd to its feet.