September 22, 2025
Not even a pesky cold can slow down Joey Cape
Joey Cape, the frontman of Lagwagon and his good pal Brian Wahlstrom who have had a long-term musical relationship together, appearing in bands such as Scorpios, with the late great Tony Sly, and Bottomofthehill, Bad Astronaut and so on, returned to Montreal – a city he loves and a city that loves him.
Even with the Viagra Boys playing just a few doors down at the Mtelus, Cape and Wahlstrom were still able to draw a solid crowd into the Foufounes Electriques, which really isn’t much of a surprise given the mutual love affair between Jory Cape and the city of Montreal. After all, there’s no song called Oh Toronto… is there? Nope. And for good reason too.
See Also: Korn at Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa
Of course, as soon as Joey Cape came down the stairs on the side of the stage, the place erupted. Beer cans in hands shot up, splashing everyone in the face. People pushed their ways closer to the stage to be closer to Cape. Yeah, it was going to be one of those nights.
Prior to Cape announcing that he had a cold, it was evident. You could tell on every note he sang, that something was off. His tone wasn’t the same and he seemed to struggle a little bit, but being the trooper that he is, he kept on keeping on. Being so beloved here, the crowd helped him, singing along loudly and frequently. After all these years, when Joey Cape comes to town, its more of a gathering of friends than it is a concert. All of us just hanging out at a party that this one guy has brought an acoustic guitar too, to sign Lagwagon covers.
Everyone sang along in unison, almost to the point where it didn’t really matter in Joey Cape was even playing his guitar, or even singing or not. People seem to just want to be in his presence. Like it is a gathering more than a musical event. Cousin Joey is in town and there’s going to be shenanigan’s afoot.
The members of the Sainte-Catherines were all there, cheering on their former label-mate and close friend from the comforts of the balcony.
midway through his set, somebody from the audience handed Joey Cape a Montreal Canadiens jersey, which endorsed the number twenty-two of Habs star forward Cole Caufield on its back. Hesitantly, Cape pulled on the sacred jersey, sacre flanelle, which suited him fantastically. “What will the rest of Quebec think?” said Cape, pondering for a moment he said “Wait, they don’t have any other hockey teams in Quebec, do they?” which earned him a raucous cheer.
We do, of course, but whatever. We don’t have any other NHL teams until that fateful day that the Quebec Nordiques return. And they will. I feel it in my bones.
As Joey Cape and Brian Wahlstrom played out their set, and the crowd kept on singing along. As the beer supply in the fridges behind the bar dwindled ever lower and lower, it became more and more apparent that we were standing in a room filled with nothing but love and good, good vibrations – and we don’t get to feel that feeling nearly enough.
I sometimes wonder what it is that makes up the Joey Cape and Quebec love affair. Where is started, how and why. Yeah, the easy answer is that he sings in a band we all love, but if we’re honest, Montreal is a mecca for punk and metal and there are a whole lot of bands that love playing here because of it. So, why Joey Cape? I don’t really know why. I doubt even Joey Cape knows why – and it doesn’t matter anyway. It just as the way it is.
It was a fantastic night. Of course it was.
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We don’t yet know where. We don’t know when. But deep down, we all know Joey Cape will back here with us in Montreal soon, either solo or with Lagwagon. We know this because Joey Cape knows it. This is a city he truly loves and a city that truly loves him.
So, until then, be well Caper! Hope that cold doesn’t trouble you too much.
