Friday, July 02, 2010

Canada Day the Sled Island Way

My first night of my first ever Sled Island was not exactly a roaring success music-wise; after abandoning the hopes of seeing the Pack A.D. at the ridiculously crowded Ship and Anchor, I spent the evening downing wine at the Living Room with my best friend, her mom and her mom’s friends (yay for keeping it in the family!). After, I stumbled to the “secret” BeatRoute afterparty, but decided to make it a relatively early night.

For Day 2, I was determined to soak up as much as I could to make up for the previous night’s lack of musical activity, so I started early with the afternoon show at Republik. Though it was sadly empty for the tail end of the Boys Who Say No set – which is a shame, because it seemed like a good show – Chain and the Gang took the stage to a filled-out crowd. What Chain and the Gang lack in lyrical variety they more than make up for in stage presence; lead singer Ian Svenonius gives the distinct impression that he may be a time traveler from some indeterminate distant future where white disco suits are back in fashion and dancing has devolved into some sort of hybrid between the 1950s jitterbug and some kind of wild epileptic seizure. Throughout the show, Svenonius talked about everything from the inherent contradiction in rock ‘n’ roll to Prince Charles’ (not-so) slender arms.

Needless to say, San Francisco’s Ty Segall had a hell of an act to follow, which he recognized by joking that it was “not fair” to play after Chain and the Gang. He and his band definitely held their own with their performance, but in a very different way than the previous band. Chain and the Gang’s songs are rather formulaic, but they have a larger-than-life presence onstage, with plenty of between-song banter and WTF? appeal. Ty Segall, on the other hand, is less of a showman and more of a musician, up onstage to share his well-written songs. As a lover of over-the-top performances, I have to say that Chain and the Gang won my vote for this afternoon show.

Later that evening, my slight lingering hangover led me to appoint myself designated driver, which naturally upped the badass quotient of the night considering I’m currently piloting my parents’ old minivan. First it was off to Dicken’s, where Mico were celebrating their tenth year as a band with a show that wasn’t particularly attention grabbing. The highlight of the evening – and probably the whole day – was the weird and wonderful set from hip-hop/rock indies Why?. Though it started on a bad note with a ridiculous thirty-minute sound check, they more than compensated with their colourful show. Lead singer Yoni Wolf has a quirky Urkel-esque quality to him that enhanced their already great performance.

Much like Ty Segall earlier in the day, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists had a tough act to follow, but the punk rockers were not going to be intimidated by a strong opener. Their music has a way of taking complete control over your body, reaching inside your chest to pump the blood from your heart and jerking your head back and forth relentlessly, blatantly ignoring the complaints from your neck. Crowd surfer after crowd surfer launched themselves into the surging audience, which got ever rowdier and seemed poised to explode at any moment.

Leaving Ted Leo a few minutes early, I raced across town in the minivan to try and catch the Black Lips show at the Legion, only to find out that it had been delayed half an hour, so I moved on to the Palomino where a small motley group of characters were in the basement preparing for the poorly-attended By Divine Right show. The sad truth is that while the three guys in By Divine Right seem like really nice and talented people, they just aren’t the band they used to be.

Overall, Sled Island proved that the best way to enjoy Canada Day is with a mix of punk and weirdo rock, and I can't wait to see what else Calgary's best indie festival has to offer this weekend!

Thursday, July 01, 2010

And then there was mayhem...

Ahhh, Sled Island. This raucous festival was first unleashed upon me last year, and it blew my mind. The plethora of great bands, the (not-so-secret) secret shows, and the absolute madness of being part of a collective entity of freaks, geeks, and bicycles (and I mean this in the utmost of good ways) running around downtown like a crazed, disorganized swarm of vermin ready to feast upon ill-prepared venues.

To say that I was excited for this year's iteration would be an understatement.

However, my festival experience this year started off in a bizarrely PG-13 manner. My good associate in mischief Sebastian and I began the Wednesday by heading down to Cantos to check out 40 Gun Flagship, an up-and-coming alt metal/hard rock/punk/whatever band. Now, I knew coming in that this was going to be an all-ages show, but I certainly wasn't expecting these ages to include anyone older than, say, 25. A lot of kids showed up with their moms in tow, creating the weirdest of vibes. As soon as one woman started handing out what looked like treat bags (so very Grade 1), we decided that it was time to migrate. To their credit, 40 Gun played a solidly respectable set, getting the kids jumping up and down on spot or whatever the hell it is kids do when these days when they're amped on music.





But what happened? Where was the ubiquitous zanity that had triumphed last year?

Oh, wait, there it was, setting up at The Ship & Anchor.

Bogus Tokus, a quirky little stoner-thrash ensemble, dominated the Ship like no band I've ever seen. They got on the tiny stage and only moved a collective 19 inches their entire set, but hot damn could they shred. And shred and shred and shred and shred. Shred shred shred shred. Every new song would start with a creative, slow little intro before descending into enough shredding to cut up the clothes of the first two rows of people. Now, I'll give the Ship credit for being smart enough to keep their shows free, allowing anyone and everyone access (if you can withstand the monstrous line), which creates more dollaz for them, but this really did a disservice to the band. More than half the people in the bar had no desire to watch those long-haired hooligans do their thing (which was shred, in case you didn't know already). The people that DID pay attention to every little riff, however, certainly got a joyous kick in the ass.




Quintron and Miss Pussycat at the Legion soon followed. Use your imagination to picture what a band with a name like that would sound like and you'll get the picture, but still be completely way off. In fact, I don't have the words in my current lexicon to even come REMOTELY close to describing this alien two piece's sound or style. What I can tell you with full certainty, though, is that they were adored by the giant, dancing, drinking crowd that came to see them, and that they're a must-see act this Saturday at Tubby Dog. In fact, I fully predict that poor little hotdog house to be transformed into some sort of spacecraft and hover off into the night sky before the set is up.

I popped into Vern's quickly afterwards to catch the tail end of Battle Snakes garage-punking it up, but was very dismayed at how small the crowd was, especially considering how much these guys tore it up at the Palomino at last year's festival. Regardless, they played with the ferocity of a Tasmanian Devil high on Red Bull and ecstasy to the dedicated fans that showed up, giving me one last push of energy to move on with my night.



The true highlight of the first night of the festival, however, was the "secret" after party show that went down at the Beatroute office. I say "secret" lightly because that poor little office was ill-equipped for the hordes of festival-goers that arrived in droves, looking to keep their nights going into the wee hours of the morning. Bands played, beers were drank, and the true spirit of the festival emerged: a group of happy music lovers from various scenes and genres uniting to celebrate an awesome start to an awesome festival. The fact that so many people showed up is a testament to the strong music scene that Calgary has, as it was ultimately word of mouth that brought so many enthusiasts together to share the stores of their nights across downtown and keep creating more.

If Round One was any indication, I can't even predict what the next three days have in store.

Friends, Thai Thi and a free bike



My first show of the night (after I pried myself away from old Big Bang Theory episodes on my computer) was Deerhoof at Central United Church. My friend Jordie showed up from a barbecue he attending with a new free bike that had been given to him. Apparently he has really good bike karma. We tasked him with leaving the bike unlocked as much as possible to see how long it takes before his new wheels are stolen. I'm not sure if he believes that he will still have it by the end of the weekend, but I have faith in Calgary and I want to prove it's safer for bikes than Vancouver. I didn't catch local veteran Lorrie Matheson opening the show, although it would have been neat to see him play the church, especially since he had Scott Munro and Chris Dadge of Bug Incision as part of his backing band - seriously how awesome are those guys. Lorrie is one of those musicians who has been playing forever and has earned people's respect because he's really good and also, very kind. But I have never seen him live because whenever he's playing a show, I always think that I will catch him the next time. I really need to see him play very soon.

Deerhoof were their usual charming and quirky selves. Having seen Deerhoof before, I knew what to expect. Satomi Matsuzaki has boundless energy and does some weird dancing, Greg Saunier is his crazy drummer self and the band puts on a great show. This time was a little different as Ed Rodriguez joined the band since I saw them last. I'm not sure how much the dynamic of the band has changed, but for the most part, it seemed like they were four separate entities that happened to be onstage with each other, barring a few short moments of interaction. There wasn't as much Satomi dancing as I've seen in the past, maybe because she played bass for most of the band's tight set. And the set seemed to have a lot more interesting instrumental work than I've seen them do in the past. Greg stepped out from behind the drums and made a point to mention that this is the band's first time in Calgary, a statement that was preceded by a long and awkwardly paused bit of talking wherein he claimed to have stage fright while talking to the crowd. It was tough to tell if it was a put-on or if he really is that awkward. it was kind of endearing.

Hunger pangs were calling and some of my festival mates were in dire need of nutrition so I took them to Thai Tai. Being Vietnamese sub experts, they were quick to inform me that Calgary prices are double those of Vancouver Vietnamese subs, but apparently what we lack in cheapness, we make up for in size. Calgary subs are double the size of Vancouver's - take that former hometown!
When we got to Broken City, I was surprised to see how few people were there. I guess I thought that since the owner of the club put on the festival, his home show would be packed. We arrived in time to catch Vancouver band B-Lines play their noisy energetic punk. Apparently the Dyck brothers (vocalist Ryan and drummer Bruce) have a bit of a reputation in Vancouver, and not just for being really tall. Ryan is a great frontman, engaging the crowd and stalking the stage. And he's really tall. The band's set began to fill up as it went on and I think they won the crowd over, but I had to run so I could catch Chain and the Gang at the Legion.
One thing I've noticed about Sled Island is that it seems like everyone is riding bikes to the shows. Good work Calgarians - you go with your environmentally friendly selves.

Chain's set was delayed by an extra 15 minutes, which meant I was able to catch a bit of Brooklyn's Golden Triangle. This might be one of my new favourite band's - thanks Sled Island. With elements of surf, garage and other types of awesome from decades of music past, Golden Triangle was a really fun band to watch. I described them to a friend as being like Alison Mosshart of The Kills and The Dead Weather cloning herself so there are three of her and they all sang in harmony together and are badass. Depending on how you feel about her, this may make you think the band is either really rad, or really annoying. I choose AWESOME!
Have I mentioned yet that it was INSANELY hot inside the Legion? Because it was/is.
Chain and the Gang was sweet. The set was packed and most of my friends were there so I'm guessing that while his name may not mean much to the general public, Svenonius is a mega-celebrity to intelligent music fans. So much so that when he was wooing my friend's girlfriend during the set with some erstwhile serenades, he thought it was cool and a badge of honour.
And now a word from Whitney: For those lucky enough to catch Ian Svenonius and his newest funky garage group Chain and the Gang at the packed Legion upstairs lounge should consider themselves fortunate. Svenonius made it a theme to remind his audience that he, and implicitly, his audience is “privileged”. This is true not only because the former Nation of Ulysses and Make-Up singer Svenonius and his gang put on a stellar audience-participation-required set but as in past projects, political and sociological themes have tended to be a central theme. This was again the case last night at the legion. All of us are privileged to be able to go to a festival and see great bands all week long! Svenonius made sure we didn’t forget it and made us dance all at the same time.

People crowded around the band in the cozy atmosphere that is the upstairs legion. Some on top of tables and chairs and even some of the opening bands’ guitar amplifiers (watch where you stash your stuff bands!) Everyone in the room found a dance surface to get down on – whether it was people shimmying on table tops or even Svenonius climbing up top of the PA system and onto the bar itself (for this he apologized to those that might end up eating off the bar, but claimed he has really clean shoes – Svenonius only walks on the cleanest parts of the sidewalks, never the cracks.)

For a lot of festival goers, Chain and the Gang is a huge draw. Svenonius has been keeping it real in the music scene since the late 80s. His bands have been incredibly successful as far as independent punky garage acts go. Sled Island was smart to book the band for three shows during the festival’s four days. Those that missed the band last night hopefully caught them at the Republik this afternoon or will see them at Broken City at around 1 am (Broken City standard time). Missing Chain and the Gang would be a definite Sled Island faux pas.

I took a little break after the Chain set, mainly because how do you top that?I caught most of The Duchess and the Duke's set. This band seemed to be very popular with other bands, who showed up in sort-of droves. Their songs were slow and melancholic and a good soundtrack for a conversation about sexy musicians and South by Southwest. They sounded like basement music, the kind of stuff that you would put on while lounging around and daydreaming, but bittersweetly. It was a nice palate cleanser, but a little too slow for a night that still had some steam left in it.


The night finished with a muggy experience at the Beat Route office party, and a walk to my car at 3am. Yay for Day 1. Day 2 will be a long one.