The nearly two week long Quebec City Summer Festival (known as the Festival d’été de Québec, aka FEQ in the French speaking territory) will be kicking off its 51st edition this year. From July 4 – 14 artists such as Logic, Chvrches and Slipknot, will be joining the likes of Blink-182, Mariah Carey, Alt-J, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Imagine Dragons, will be joining the fest’s numerous outdoor and indoor stages across Quebec City.
Founded in 1968 the FEQ is one of the largest and oldest music festivals of its kind across North America. It hosts hundreds of performers across stages spread throughout over a dozen venues in the city, with is main stage taking place at the historic Plains of Abraham.
Last year, the concert had over 132,000 passes sold, with a total attendance of about 1.5 million festival-goers year in year out during the recent iterations of the festival. The Foo Fighters, The Weeknd, Neil Young and Beck were among the most prominent headliners at the 2018 festival’s iteration.
Originally intended to show the artistic, economic, and tourist potential of Quebec City, the FEQ was organized by numerous business people, artists and other investors in the late 1960s. During the 1970s and 80s, during a period of great social upheaval in the Quebec region of Canada, much of the artists from the region were from French speaking nations (French is the predominant language in Quebec).
Since 2010 the festival out every year, greeting over a million concertgoers throughout the 11 day music festival. Concert passes for the summer festival can be purchased here.
Logic has recently released a complimentary album for his debut novel Supermarket, which hosts features from prominent indie artist Mac DeMarco. The DeMarco produced tracks “I’m Probably Gonna Rock Your World” and “Vacation From Myself,” were released along with the album on the same day as the novel on March 26th.
The Glasgow based synth-pop mainstays Chvrches, have also released a new song with prominent EDM producer Marshmello entitled “Here With Me.” This upbeat and melodic track blends Marshmello’s signature calm trap rhythms with Chvrches indie sound to make an upbeat blend of pop music that sounds ready for the beach.
As the song’s lryics state: “Can I tell you something just between you and me. When I hear your voice I know I’m finally free. Every single word is perfect as it can be. And I need you here with me. When you lift me up I know that I’ll never fall. I can speak to you by saying nothing at all. Every single time I find it harder to breathe cuz I need you here with me.”
Last month nu metal outfit Slipknot parted ways with their longtime percussionist Chris Fehn, who had previously filed a lawsuit with the band. According to a report, Fehn was “alleging that he was not fairly compensated for profits from touring and merchandise. [He] apparently accused his bandmates of setting up multiple business entities instead of funneling all the profits through one single company to be split among the band members.”
Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz