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Arcade Fire, Strokes Will Play Basketball for Our Amusement (and Charity)

Win Butler, off the court / Photo by Mark C. Austin

If you missed Arcade Fire’s Win Butler playing basketball for charity as part of last year’s POP Montreal, no worries. He’ll take it to the hoop again this year in POP Montreal’s second annual “POP vs. Jock” basketball game, joined by the Strokes’ Nikolai Fraiture, actor Martin Starr of Freaks and Geeks and Party Down, and others. Set for September 22 at McGill University, the event will also feature some impressive halftime entertainment: fellow Arcade Fire-r Régine Chassagne, plus David Byrne and Kid Koala. DJ Sports Club, a nonprofit Montreal youth charity offering sports and education programs, will receive all the proceeds.

Butler and Byrne aren’t meeting only on the hardwood. POP Montreal’s Symposium and the Librairie Drawn & Quarterly bookstore have previously announced they’ll bring the two together for a discussion of Byrne’s upcoming book How Music Works. The talk, which will be held at Montreal’s Ukrainian Federation, takes place the same day as the basketball game, so it’s a good thing Byrne will be performing rather than playing.

POP Montreal runs from September 19-23. The lineup includes Byrne and St. Vincent, Lil B, Gotye, Grizzly Bear, Grimes, Big K.R.I.T., Dirty Three, Hot Snakes, Gang Gang Dance, Tim Hecker, Stars, Dam-Funk, Diamond Rings, Antibalas, Laetitia Sadier, Deerhoof, Lunice, Austra, Elite Gymnastics, Cadence Weapon, Wild Nothing, and many more. Check out the full schedule here, and (via CoS) watch goofy video from last year’s “POP vs. Jock” game below while remembering the time Win chilled with Steve Nash.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xwCvwIiSyys%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded