Pop Montreal got off to a great start yesterday. If you didn't catch one of the stellar opening night shows (Hot Chip would've been a good choice), there's still a lot of opportunity to revel in Montreal's epic concert-hopping festival. Picking a venue at random is always an intriguing choice: you could easily end up at the next big thing, or you could see some guy hitting a guitar for an hour (it happens). In case you're not that adventurous, here's some recommendations for Days 2 and 3 (Thursday and Friday. Let's start with the obvious choices for Thursday: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Metropolis. Any chance to see a legendary blues-folk-poet like Nick Cave is a no-brainer. The other easy choice is The Silver Apples at Sala Rossa. The late 60s electronic psychedelic band were hugely influential, but only gained popularity long after the fact. So they reunited. What else is new? Other sure bets are: The Dears at Temple Maconnique, Jason Collett at Petit Campus, Two Hours Traffic at Barfly, and for the classic rock fan, Neil Young's "Tonight's The Night" performed by the Ideal Lovers at Cinéma L'Amour. Friday is even more impressive. For starters, you've got the 60s songwriting legend, Burt Bacharach at Eglis St. Jean Baptiste. Then there's some international sensations like Ratatat and Panther at Club Soda and Akron/Family at Sala Rossa. Other heavyweights include Julie Doiron and Chad Van Gaalen at Ukrainian Federation, FemBots at L'Escogriffe, Wintersleep at Theatre Nationale, The United Steel Workers of Montreal at Quai des Brumes, and The Evaporators and The Pack A.D. at Bar St-Laurent II.