On the opening night, Oct. 1, there were shows at 20 venues around the city, so obviously it was impossible to get to all, or even most, of the good events. But I tried hard, and this is how I fared:

Hot Chip and Growing at Metropolis, 8:00-11 p.m.

Metropolis is a huge downtown venue located on St. Catherine, a street with a carnivalesque mixture of department stores and strip clubs. British electro rockers Hot Chip were the biggest act to play the opening night, so despite my non-fan status, I decided to check them out.

Opening band Growing kind of blew. I may or may not have left halfway through their set to get a sandwich, so if they turned it around for the last 20 minutes I guess I'll never know. I could imagine their breed of disjointed electro-hum sounding good at somone's loft, but some bands just lack the charisma to play 2,000-person venues.

Hot Chip, on the other hand, pleasantly surprised me. Unlike their many of their comrades in the electropop/dance/DJ revolution, the band is, well, an actual band. Six members, including new drummer Leo Taylor, played a stellar set with live harmonies, maracas, a cowbell, and a quaint light show. The crowd felt it, and the Chip were gracious enough to come on for an encore after having left the stage for about 45 seconds.

Sic Alps at Divan Orange, midnight

I showed up too late to a show and missed San Francisco's Sic Alps this past summer, and still haven't quite gotten over it. Unfortunately, last night did not provide much relief. I was psyched to see them at Divan Orange - a small bar on St. Laurent Street in the city's Plateau neighborhood - but apparently the twosome did not share my excitement to be there. After starting a little late due to apparent guitar trouble, Sic Alps played two songs before lead vocalist-guitarist Mike Donovan lost it, threw down his guitar, proceeded to jump on it, smashed it with a sledge hammer, and then walked off stage.

Drummer Matt Hartman began to quietly back up his things, and the background music was eventually queued, leaving the crowd as bewildered as we were disappointed. I made my way up to the stage to survey the scene, and there was definitely a noticeable crack in the wooden stage. A francophone man in his 30s - presumably the owner or manager - started yelling about the damage, and that was that.

Everyone left to smoke outside. Was it premeditated? Hard to tell. The guys at Divan Orange didn't seem to know this was going to happen, but then again Donovan did have a sledge hammer prepped.

Mixylodian at Balattou, 12:30 a.m.

The one benefit to the truncated Sic Alps set was that I was able to run up the street and catch Mixylodian, a Montreal band that has emerged on the scene over the past year or so, showcasing members of local favorites Dorian Hatchett and Shapes and Sizes. Playing in what is usually an African bar, this 100 percent Canadian pop band utilized handclaps, boy-girl harmonies, and enough energy to go around.

The crowd was a little tired, sadly, most of us were sitting down, but that didn't curb their zeal. The lead singer-keyboardist was wearing a white sweatshirt covered in red paint, probably originally made for a recent Die-In, a regular event here in Montreal where local bicyclists lie in the middle of a busy street as if they were run over by cars.

Woodhands at Portuguese Association, 1:30 a.m.

Woodhands are going to make it big - you heard it here first. Everyone in the crowd was probably exhausted - it was a long night - but the Toronto duo's dogged energy kept us sweating. Synth master-drum machine technician-lead vocalist Dan Werb freaked out with style to Paul Banwatt's relentless drumming. Among the band's special guests were Chicago chanteuse Alex and Hollywood rap duo Knux, who came out for the second half of the set. It took me about 3.4 seconds to fall asleep when I finally, finally got home.

And for that, Montreal, je t'aime.