Photo by C. Gunn
Ah Sled Island… so many good shows so little time to write about it. I decided to go with Charles’s picture of Ian Blurton’s blood-splattered pickups from Wednesday night because that is more or less how I feel right now. Down but not out… Not by a long shot because there are two more days of festival to slaughter!
Yesterday was replete with highlights:
- Local 510 was reasonably busy for their afternoon show where I listened to a noisy but not unpleasant set from My Gold Mask . I also had the tempura mushrooms and they were excellent.
- Texture and Wyrd Canada threw a rockin’ party at Tubby Dog. I couldn’t stick around for the whole thing but I really enjoyed the show put on by Edmonton’s Dropping Out . Solid driving punk rock played by guys who seem to take sounding good very seriously. I don’t think they are playing any more shows at the festival this year but they should be on your radar.
- One Tuborg and one ten block walk later I was at the Republik to see Ty Segall . I heard a ton of favourable reviews of his show(s?) on Wednesday night so I figured it would be a good idea to check him out and I was not disappointed. Loud but not abraisively so. And yes as advertised (well maybe not but still…) the drummer is super smokin’ which is always nice.
- After a long dinner and way too much fine Canadian red wine I headed to the Dutchess & the Duke . They sounded fantastic nailing harmonies oh so well but the show was woefully under-attended. I guess people were still digesting their supper or something? Anyways sorry about that the D & the D we will do better next time.
- Caught the tail end of Foonyap & the Roar at Broken City (awesome!) then stuck around for a set from Quintron & Miss Pussycat . Man oh man are they ever good! The amount of sound this guy manages to generate on the spot is absolutly mind-blowing. I think FFWD should probably commission me to build our city its very own drum buddy.
- Next stop was Dickens where a huge crowd had formed for Why? I am not sure I get it… nasal vocals and fairly generic pop rock. Maybe I’m missing something so I will try to see them again at the outdoor show tonight. Fortunately they were followed by Ted Leo & the Pharmacists who were typically mind-blowing. With a restless crowd checking their watches by the end of a lengthy sound check I thought to myself "they should just go straight from bar noise and sound check and blast into that first song from their new album because that will be awesome." And they did! Do I have psychic powers? ALL SIGNS POINT TO YES.
- After a few songs I ducked out and hurried to the Ship & Anchor to catch the second half of Hard Drugs . Unfortunately they were leaving the stage just as I showed up. EFF! I did grab a beer and chat with some amigos and ended up being there for the start of Bison BC and hoooooooooly crap you guys were they ever loud. I am going to have to see them again for sure this festival but because of them I am putting a pair of earplugs in my pockets before heading down today. Incidentally the crowd for this was freaking insane and I saw bouncers hauling at least three party animals out of the mix (and the bar) within the first song. WHOA.
- Finally I couldn’t resist another dose of Deerhoof . As expected they were awesome. What I did not expect was that the Republik was absolutely packed. We’re talking close to capacity I think! This was one of those cases where the city exceeds expectations and in all honesty if I were in Deerhoof I would think twice about passing up an opportunity to play Calgary again on the next Canadian tour. Sled Island magic you guys!
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TONIGHT!
- Olympic Plaza ( Fucked Up Why? Ted Leo the Thermals ) until about 8:00
- DM Stith and Inlets @ Arrata 8:00
- North of America @ the Distillery 9:20
- The Jolts @ Tubby Dog 10:00 (+ dinner!? I keep missing meals…)
- Bonnaventure James @ Verns 10:20
- Cave @ the Distillery 11:00
- CEX and WhoMadeWho @ Dickens 11:20
- Les Savy Fav @ the Distillery 1:00
You guys! Inlets is frigging awesome! I hadn’t even heard of them when I woke up this morning and now I’m so excited to see them. Again Sled Island magic!