We were so excited that the Constantines were reuniting and coming to Calgary that we opted to put them on our cover a full week before the event. The show’s finally arriving at Commonwealth on Thursday October 9 where the post-punk greats will be joined by Vancouver’s Ladyhawk. This night is rare proof that Cancon isn’t a four-letter word.
Though he’s now based in Vancouver Sonki Sharar is best known for his work with Calgary shit-disturbers like Hamas and In Vacuo. Rather than blistering punk however his homecoming show will see him performing with the post-rock/pop outfit Summering. They’ll be joined by the brotherly R&B duo Shaani Cage and local shoegazers Divepool at Local 510 on Thursday.
Once Vancouver’s greatest skate-punk export Gob’s Tom Thacker sounds like he went through a musical identity crisis after life as the touring guitarist for Avril Lavigne and Sum 41. That resulted in 2007’s weirdly aggro Muertos Vivos before the band released Apt. 13 earlier this year. That album saw them exploring more mature ideas and includes everything from acoustic numbers to straightforward rock songs. None of that will matter when Gob plays Dickens Pub on Thursday October 9 however — they’ll probably just perform “Soda” as many times as you want.
If you want more of that vintage board-shorts-ready pop-punk you’ll no doubt want to park your longboard outside of the Republik on Friday October 10. After all Floridian ska group Less Than Jake have outlived the er skampetition leading a 22-year career of gentle respectable mosh pits.
For a newer take on poppy peppy punk you could check out Pup who’ll play Broken City on Friday night. The Toronto group recently signed with SideOneDummy (who also worked with Less Than Jake’s ska tourmates Big D and the Kids Table) which released their self-titled LP earlier this year. Those looking for skankable horn parts will be disappointed however as the band is more of an indie-leaning punk act. They’ll be joined by Mint Records signees Tough Age.
Another punk-leaning musician hitting town on Friday is Ryan Adams but don’t make Cam Lindsay’s mistake and ask him about his aggressive 7-inch releases. Instead he’ll likely stick to the M.O.R. radio pop of his recent self-titled album when he headlines the Jubilee.
The Palomino is known for meat and loud blasts of rock ’n’ roll — it’s certainly difficult to imagine booker Spencer Brown kicking back on a vintage bean bag and vibing out to some pastel-hued chillwave. He may just do that on Friday night however when the venue plays host to long-running subgenre mainstays Small Black.
Of course it won’t take long for The Palomino to start ripping out the riffs again — the venue will host Portland stoner metal dudes Red Fang for a two-night stint headlining shows on Saturday October 11 and Sunday October 12.
Speaking of riffs two of North America’s most interesting punk bands will perform at Tubby Dog on Saturday night with Vancouver’s Weed and Olympia’s Naomi Punk taking the (lack of) stage. They’ll be joined by locals Teledrome making this a show not to be missed for fans of artful out-there punk.
After Cam’ron brought Dipset to Calgary in August the movement continues with a show from his buddy Juelz Santana. Though he hasn’t been as prolific as Killa Cam in recent years the Harlem rap great will undoubtedly have the crowd whistling along to “There It Go” when he plays Marquee Beer Market on Saturday night.
Not only are Ladyhawk playing in Calgary this week but bassist Sean Hawryluk will also return with his other band the crushing metalcore outfit Baptists. Thanks to the intense skills of drummer Nick Yacyshyn the band has found a fan in one Dave Grohl who regularly gives them daps on his Facebook page. But don’t get it twisted they’re not some alterna-metal jokers — Baptists play brutal fast frill-free metalcore that’s worth a damn. They’ll perform on Sunday October 12 at Nite Owl.
Like it opened the week’s offerings will conclude with another show from some Canadian rock legends. Sloan have mustered up a fantastic discography with few if any sore spots. That said their recently released album feels like a return to form thanks to its cohesive batch of top-tier pop songs. The record’s called Commonwealth so in an act of perfect branding synergy the band is playing at Commonwealth on Wednesday October 15.
