Earlier this afternoon I handed in my PhD dissertation and my examination period has officially begun. Fortunately my defense isn’t until July 13th which means I am free as a bird for Sled Island this weekend!

So the 2011 iteration of the fest is upon us. Peter Mark and I are going to be tweeting and blogging throughout. Find me at @pmjboyle ; they should be kicking around there as well! In the mean time let’s take a very quick look at some of the bands on my must-see list:

Cheeseburger

Fri 12 AM : Legion upstairs

Sat 12 AM : Verns

Sun 6 PM : Republik

I’ve been kicking myself since I missed these guys last year. Their album is a blast and I am thinking their live show is going to be epic. Plus it’s at the Legion late on Friday night–how can that be a bad thing!? Plus shows at the legendary Verns on Saturday and at the sweet sweet pig roast on Sunday. I might see them 3 times to make up for my truancy last year!

The Donkeys

Thu 11 PM : Marquee Room

Fri 5 PM : Ship & Anchor

Checked these guys out yesterday while I was proof-reading the beast. Sounds really really good. I also want to check out the Soft Pack so why not get a stamp for the Marquee early! Quick fact: all the computers in this lab are named after bars mostly from New Orleans. But this computer is called marquee . Believe it.

Sleep

Fri 8:45 PM : Olympic Plaza

These guys are going to blow the doors off Calgary. Somehow I hadn’t heard of them until friend-of-the-blog Gunner told me about their album "DOPESMOKER" while we were riding up a chairlift this winter. Then they were announced for the lineup. Oh serendipity!

GOBBLE GOBBLE

Thu 11 PM : The Distillery

Fri 10 PM : Tubby Dog

My Edmontonian homies have been all over me to see this character for months. I pulled the ripcord at Wyrd Fest and went home before he started; I won’t be doing that this time. Plus Tubby Dog! Remember MONOTONIX rocking that place out two years ago? I DO.

Twin Shadow

Sat 3:30 PM : Olympic Plaza

Sat 1 AM : Hifi

These guys made the rounds with their fantastic performance (and hair) on Jimmy Kimmel a while back. That video is inexplicably no longer available but yeah… great live show. Should be huge. Might have to line up to get a spot at HiFi that night…

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