Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Sled Island Saturday

Busy day!

Market Collective's one year anniversary was big, big, big! Moving from Carpenter's Union Hall to the Ant Hill building turned out to be a really good decision. The road front windows and music provided by CJSW lured people in who otherwise may not have known what the Market Collective was! Congrats Angel and Angela!



Myke Atkinson of Beneath These Idle Tides put together a beautiful blend of 8 cd's on random and repeat with a film of various visuals playing simultaneously. The room was equipped with bean bag chairs, cushions and a futon. Absolutely fantastic.

Markus Michel.


Onto the Warehouse!

Women. King Khan gave a humorous and, probably, surprising intro. He should really start a heavy metal side project. Women are total dream boats...the band that is...admittedly...our gender can be somewhat of a nightmare sometime. 4 out of 5 for Women (the band!)
Colin Newman. Githead. Awesome. 5 out of 5.


Distillery briefly for The Bronx


At times throughout the weekend I was wondering "where is everybody?" and it turns out...they were all at the Distillery! 4 out of 5 for The Bronx.


And finally to Vern's for the one show I was absolutely not going to miss...
TRICKY WOO!


As soon as I saw Tricky Woo was playing on Saturday at Vern's I knew it was the place to be. Vern's has a small stage and is in general a pretty small place so I was really looking forward to seeing Tricky Woo pack the place to the brim. And that they did!! They blew a fuse twice. They played a killer encore, after fixing a guitar string. They were a highlight. No doubt. 5 OUT OF 5!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Olympic Plaza, Dicken's Pub




Biz! Markie! What a guy. Essentially he was seated for 80% of his performance so all the photos turned out...exactly the same. But all in all...he's a great entertainer even if word on the street is he and his dj got to the venue and said "What the fuck is this?!" 4 out of 5!


M5...totally awful. So bad it was almost awesome. 2 out of 5!



More Anvil. 5 out of 5. Sorry the crowd was such shit.

At this point...it was time to leave and put some fucking jeans on. I sacrificed Holy Fuck, Liars and the Breeders...kind of regretting it today.

DICKEN'S


King Khan and the BBQ Show. This dude was alllll over the place this weekend. Missed the show at the Legion Thursday but caught it on Friday night. Awesome. Crowd pleasers. 5 out of 5!




Monotonix. My camera died after the first or second song which, at this kind of a show, is more infuriating than normal.
I find myself a little torn on their live show. Yes, they are insane and have so much energy it's mind blowing. Yes, I will probably never see a band play on the bar while pouring ice down their pants and throwing limes at the crowd. Yes, I will probably never see the ceiling fan and panels get ripped down and electrical cords pulled out. Unless I see Monotonix at Dicken's again, that is. But I got the distinct feeling that a number of people go mostly for the stage (or lack of) antics as opposed to the music. Personally, I dig their records a whole lot and I dig the fact that they can do that kind of show TWICE in a day...but something just doesn't sit quite right...5 out 5 at any rate!

Coming soon: Market Collective One Year Anniversary, Women, Githead, The Bronx, Tricky Woo and a wrap up/highlights/lowlights!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Milkshakes and Githead

Githead came into CJSW today for a little on-air sesh on My Allergy to the Fans and, due to a milkshake debacle a few years ago, Peter's Milkshakes were bought for all!

If you're interested...the flavour choices for the dudes (and dudette) in Githead are...

Colin Newman - Crushed Maple Walnut
Malka Spigel - Strawberry/Pina Colada
Max Franken - Stawberry/Banana
Robin Rimbaud - Vanilla/Coconut

...for the record


Royal Canadian Legion #1 - Thursday

Well, well, well.
Last night was a big night here in Calgary. The Royal Canadian Legion #1, one of Western Canada's absolute best venues, saw a slew of major talent including Anvil, Andrew W.K. and King Khan and the BBQ Show.

Personally, I stuck around the downstairs to catch some Earth shattering rock n roll courtesy of New York's Japanther, Vancouver's Japandroids, the always partying Andrew W.K. and Canada's own Anvil - who haven't hit Calgary since 1981.



Japanther sufficiently warmed up the crowd with their usual Telephone-microphones and a couple of Ramones covers that maintained the energy of Joey, DeeDee, Johnny and Tommy while not losing any of the vibe that Japanther fans have grown accustomed to and, no doubt, expected from their show. Solid. Four stars.



Up next were Japandroids who served as a good "palate cleanse" before the two "Surprise Guests" hit the stage. Hint: they weren't exactly surprises by the time Thursday rolled around...it was Andrew W.K. and Anvil. Three stars for Japandroids.





Is there really much you can say about Andrew W.K.? This dude knows how to party and knows how to put on a wicked live show. With a five minute keyboard intro the crowd's energy was nearing complete explosion and, after his trademark "inspirational" speech, he got straight to business - mashing the keyboard, wearing on an understandably ecstatic girl's denim jacket, surfin' the crowd and pretty much giving everyone in the crowd exactly what they wanted: a night to party with Andrew W.K. Five stars!





Welcome home guys! Drummer Robb Reiner is too much awesome to get a photograph. Which is totally a good excuse...right? His mega solo near the end of the set (which was at 2:30 by the way...long show!!) was absolutely magical...impeccable...one of those "life-complete" kind of things. Steve "Lips" is on top of his game and seemed somewhat surprised at the amount of people who still give a shit about Anvil. The crowd had thinned out quite a bit by the time they hit the stage...sort of understandable considering it was that late on a Thursday. Five stars!!

All in all...Thursday at the Legion downstairs for Sled Island was the perfect kick-off for a Friday, Saturday and Sunday that is sure to be packed with more rock and more roll.

Stay tuned!

No Time Like The Present!

Welcome to the newest facet of BeatRoute - Alberta's (and Vancouvers!) Indie Arts & Entertainment Monthly!

The blog is going to feature exclusive content not featured in the magazine or on the website.
Staffed by our best writers, the blog is a must-read for any arts and entertainment junkie!

This week marks the 3rd Annual Sled Island Music and Arts Festival! Over the next few days the blog will be host to up to the minute coverage, photos and yummy little extras!

Stay tuned!