Your best bets for the week in music
The band with the nicest packages in Canada is coming through Calgary again this weekend — Edmonton’s The Famines will be at Broken City this Friday June 11 in support of its latest release the Syllables/Got Lies if You Want Them 7-inch. Singer guitarist and graphic designer Raymond Biesinger makes skronky hard-edged punk rock then wraps it in meticulously designed releases that practically beg to be bought. Scrappy Calgary punks Grown-Ups and the deliriously noisy Whatever Happened to Baby Jane open.
On a more melodic note The Palomino is offering up country-rocker Leeroy Stagger on Friday. But even though Stagger and his Wildflowers are the biggest band on the bill the night really belongs to Calgary’s own The Collapse which’ll be releasing its self-titled EP of harmony-drenched rock and roots. Fernie-based partiers (and banjo-lovers) Shred Kelly round out the lineup.
And that’s not even it for Friday. Fans of indie hip hop won’t want to miss the Move the Mountains tour at The Marquee Room featuring Vancouver’s Fallan Soldier Edmonton’s The Joe and Calgary’s Ricca Razor Sharp and Dragon Fli Empire . These guys are some of the driving forces in Western Canadian hip hop and they’re bound to prove it at this show.
On Saturday June 12 your best bet is to take in the ridiculous lineup at all-ages venue Comrad Sound’s fundraiser show. With Heather Greenwood Free Nude Celebs The Tetraktys Joel Learoyd Being a Bear Sharp Ends Go For the Eyes Gretzky Fist City and Hunter Gatherer all contributing sets plus a barbecue kissing booths and more all starting at 2 p.m. you’ll be kicking yourself if you miss this one.
You can also catch Sharp Ends again later that night alongside Edmonton psych-pop practitioners The Whitsundays at the HiFi. They’ll be joined by local DJ Ivan Rankic . But make sure to stop by Comrad Sound first.
On Sunday June 13 things get a bit less hectic which makes for an easy decision — head to the Ironwood for Edmonton’s Manraygun . This quintet mixes cinematic roots rock with spoken-word vocals and smoky melodies like the northern answer to Calgary’s Kris Demeanor.
Rounding off the week Tuesday June 15 basically has three options. You can head to the Saddledome for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Joe Cocker which will undoubtedly be a solid night of well-crafted rock ’n’ roll. You can go to Republik for the hillbilly thrill-show of alt.country royalty Hank III and Assjack . Or you can stay home and wonder why you missed out.
