popmontreal.com

There’s never any shortage of interesting and unique things to do and see at POP Montreal, but there’s been nothing quite like this in the festival’s 10-year history. This year, the festival hosts the first annual Pop vs. Jock Charity Basketball Match, an event organized by Arcade Fire’s Win Butler.

The game will benefit the DJ Sports Club, a non-profit organization in Montreal’s Little Burgundy that provides sports, education, and social programs for children between seven and 17 years old. Arcade Fire isn’t new to charity—the band has previously raised funds for Haiti relief—and Butler, a McGill alumnus, is a basketball enthusiast, so it’s fitting the two are combined to come together for a local cause.

“My brother and I play a lot of basketball and since I moved to Montreal I’ve played in these leagues run by Dexter John down in Little Burgundy,” says Butler. “He’s a great community leader and he runs all these after-school programs for kids and we’ve kind of just become friends over the years. I’ve been wanting to do an event to help him out for a while, so it’s the perfect chance.”

As its title suggests, the game will see Team Pop pitted against Team Jock. The former will be made up of Butler, his brother and bandmate Will Butler, Vampire Weekend drummer Chris Tomson, and San Antonio Spurs centre Matt Bonner, among others. Players from McGill and Concordia will make up Team Jock, including Martlet shooting guard Marie-Eve Martin and Redmen power forward Tristan Renaud-Tremblay. The inclusion of university-level athletes was a conscious effort to make the game more legitimate.

“Usually when you go to a celebrity basketball game it’s a couple of retired guys on each team and then it’s a little bit more of a jokey sort of game,” says Butler. “I thought it would be fun to try and put together a somewhat competitive squad and have it be more of a proper game because it’s a little bit more fun to watch.”

For founder Dexter John, a Concordia alumnus, this event yields an extra bonus.

“The best part to me is to get Concordia and McGill on the same team … to get both universities together for a common cause.”

Martin echoes John’s sentiments.

“I have no issues. My brother played for Concordia for four years. This is just a game for fun and charity so I don’t think it has rivalry or anything like that.”

It also gives McGill and Concordia students the chance to play with their idols, musical or otherwise.

“Personally, when I heard that Matt Bonner was going to be there I was just looking forward to meeting him and playing with or against him,” says Renaud-Tremblay.

“I’m excited for that too, but not as much as [for] Arcade Fire,” laughs Martin.

Some may be surprised to learn that the musicians can hold their own on the court.

“With musicians it’s always sort of like they come out of the closet as being into sports,” says Butler. “There’s a dream [basketball] team of indie rock guys, and not everyone’s available. I think [if] one day we get everyone on the court at the same time it’ll be a pretty good team.”

Butler himself stands over six-feet tall and played basketball throughout high school.

“He surprises a lot of people,” says John. “He’s a tall guy and he can play. He knows the game. I’d pick him on my team any day.”

Renaud-Tremblay was also impressed by Butler’s basketball prowess.

“I had a little scrimmage with Win and he’s such a good competitor,” he says. “At first we didn’t want to bump him too much because he’s a celebrity so we went a little easy. He started throwing some elbows and started playing really pretty hard so we got after him. It was pretty good.”

As an added bonus for music fans, Arcade Fire member Régine Chassagne will be playing organ and taking requests throughout the game. The halftime show will feature a DJ set from Kid Koala and the premiere of Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist Richard Reed Perry’s bicycle symphony, “DRONES/Revelations.” The symphony is a “site specific 20-minute multi-channel composition for voice, woodwinds, strings, and synthesizer” that will be broadcast from speakers mounted on bicycles circling the audience for the length of the performance.

The event is inclusive, not alienating, and according to Butler, that’s ultimately the goal.

“We’re just going to try and make this as entertaining as possible. My dream with doing it during Pop Montreal is to try and have it so that people who aren’t really into basketball can still come and find it funny and entertaining.”

The game takes place Sept. 24 at the McGill Gym. Tickets can be purchased from popmontreal.com or the Red Bird Sports Shop at the McGill Sports Centre.