Angine de Poitrine: Microtones, Masks, and Madness in Montreal

Angine de Poitrine (AdP) are a masked experimental rock duo from Saguenay, Quebec, featuring guitarist Khn de Poitrine and drummer Klek de Poitrine. They became viral superstars almost overnight after KEXP posted their 27-minute performance from the Trans Musicales festival in France. The video has received more than 30 million views across platforms and helped propel them to sold-out performances around the world. I have never seen anything quite like it in my decades of following music.

Khn plays an extraordinary double-necked guitar/bass, custom-fretted for quarter tones, while using loops to build much of the duo's dense sound. Klek's drumming is hyper-intense but remarkably precise, navigating abrupt shifts and odd meters without ever losing the groove. Their use of microtonality gives the riffs a strange, slightly bent quality, but the music remains remarkably infectious, accessible, and danceable. Their music has been described as microtonal math-rock. Angine de Poitrine uniquely describes themselves as a "mantra-rock Dada Pythago-Cubist orchestra." Khn and Klek present themselves as 333—year-old time-traveling aliens, with polka dots appearing throughout their costumes, masks, instruments, and stage presentation. Schtick aside, they are virtuoso musicians playing highly original music, and the unique presentation makes them all the more appealing, although they are certainly not everyone's cup of tea.

I worked the Montreal Jazz Festival as a photographer for All About Jazz, as I have since 2010. The excitement surrounding this concert was especially intense in Montreal, where AdP have been embraced as native sons, even though Saguenay is about 300 miles away. They had built a small but devoted following across Quebec over the past several years before suddenly becoming an international phenomenon. Although I did not see it, they played the fest last year to an enthusiastic but much smaller crowd.

AdP played a free show on the main stage at the Place des Festivals on June 27, 2026, which can accommodate about 40,000 people, with many more filling the surrounding streets. Reports estimated that between 100,000 and 200,000 people descended on downtown Montreal. Many who could not get into the site watched the duo on large video screens or simply listened from nearby streets. There was no parking anywhere. Stevie Wonder reportedly drew about 200,000 people when he performed at the festival's 30th anniversary in 2009. I was there a few blocks away and could see nothing, although I could hear clearly. It was reported that the AdP crowd was second only to Stevie's.

As photographers, we get about 15 minutes in the photo pit. I arrived 15 minutes early, and the atmosphere was already electric. Imagine a Beatles concert in the 1960s, although with somewhat less screaming and fainting. There were people of all ages, but especially a lot of young people, some wearing costumes. Giant polka-dotted, dice-shaped beach balls were being bandied around the crowd. It was a total gas. The stage is perhaps eight to ten feet high. Fortunately, there is a platform for photographers, although shooting is still a little challenging. A few minutes after 9:30, AdP took the stage and spent about ten minutes setting up. The lighting was unusually good for concert photography. I had a clear view of Khn and a somewhat less favorable view of Klek. I was using my Nikon 70—200mm f/2.8, my go-to concert lens, although it makes wider shots difficult.

Drawing on their two recent albums, they opened with "Angor" and "Yor Zarad," followed by "Tamebsz," "Mata Zyklek," "Ababa Hotel," "Sarniezz," "Fabienk," and "Sherpa." The 80-minute set maintained an extraordinary level of intensity, with the crowd responding especially enthusiastically to the favorites "Fabienk" and "Sherpa." The crowd erupted from the opening notes, and AdP seemed energized by the response. The intense, rapidly shifting light show heightened the music's impact and added to the sense of spectacle.

After 15 minutes, our photo privileges ended, and we had to exit the pit directly into an incredibly dense crowd. I worked my way to the far-right side of the venue near the beer stand, where there was at least a little breathing room. I watched for another 30 or so minutes before the congestion became too intense. I exited onto de Maisonneuve, a major street closed for the festival, and walked directly into another large crowd watching the show on a video screen. It took about 20—25 minutes to work my way through, being as assertive as reasonably possible. That part was not much fun.

Overall, though, it was a crazy, exhilarating experience, and I'm glad I got to be part of it. I will see AdP again in another two weeks at the Newport Jazz Festival.