Day three of Halifax Pop Explosion has come and gone, but the Mixtape crew is here to keep you informed on all the happenings that you may, or may not, have caught. Don’t forget to check out our photos from last night too!
Mark Grundy (Quaker Parents, Heaven For Real) 5 p.m. at Parentheses Gallery
Mark Grundy, member of Quaker Parents and Heaven For Real, showed a different side of his musical talent. Playing solo at Parentheses Gallery, Grundy showed off his sharp lyricism in the humblest way. It was cool seeing Quaker Parent songs and other tunes completely stripped back putting the focus on vocals and a guitar plugged into a tiny amp.
Jerk Damaged 6 p.m. at the Pavilion
Jerk Damaged was originally a one man show – Evan Mumford, his guitars and a drum machine. He then put together a full band and started playing shows here and there. This odd transition from solitary one-man-band to full gritty pop-punk is interesting because when you listen to the songs, you can tell they were largely written alone. They’re introspective and without the desire to pander to anyone. At one point vocalist and guitarist Mumford purely shouts for a whole song “everything sucks and I don’t want to grow up” over and over again. If you growing up means you lose the simplistic genius of this band, I couldn’t agree more.
Leif Vollebekk 8 p.m. at St. Matthew’s United Church
Concerts at St Matthew’s United Church are a great Halifax tradition and Leif Vollebekk fit the space beautifully. His contemplative style of folk is challenging but carried out with soaring vocals that swept the audience away. He was slightly thrown off by the church it seemed. “It’s quite churchy in here, isn’t it?” He said. A highlight was his cover of “Read my Mind” by the Killers, a “guilty pleasure” of his. “We’re in the right place for guilt,” he added. The audience took great pleasure.
Hannah Georgas 9 p.m. at St. Matthews United Church
After the success of her latest release, the audience was packed with Hannah Georgas fans. She played a tight show, packing all the favourites into a festival time slot. She still managed an encore, playing her cover of “Stay” by Rihanna, which was just released in an iTunes session. Hoping to respect the space, she suggested she’d censor herself during “Millions”, until an audience member (ok… Me) yelled “Just fucking go for it!” Initially surprised, she then launched into an uncensored performance.
Negative Rage 9:45 at Hell’s Kitchen
Negative Rage channels so many different areas in punk music and draw from so many different time periods. Their set blazed by like a train that couldn’t be stopped with vocalist Cody (who is also in other Halifax punk bands such as Castle Wolfenstein and Life Chain) not saying a single word to the crowd. He stood with his back to the audience, rarely ever looking out on the people he was playing to. It was the perfect thing for him to do, though. Negative Rage doesn’t need to look at you to be heard. They just don’t care if you care.
The Mouthbreathers 10:30 at the Marquee Ballroom
The Mouthbreathers really got the Marquee party started. The crowd went unexpectedly wild for their set, with people crawling on top of each other and bouncing around. But it was in the most friendly way as The Mouthbreathers played some of the happiest pop-punk I’ve ever heard. At one point the vocalist sings the words “sometimes we use the same words, but we pronounce them differently, because we’re from different parts of Canada”. It was a borderline poetic shoutout to East Coast and the whole venue lit up with smiles and laughs.
Woodpigeon 11 p.m. at The Company House
Woodpigeon fans rejoiced as Mark Hamilton finally made it to Halifax. This was an important show — both his debut in Halifax and the debut of his fabulous 70s porn-stache. The house was packed for Kim Harris’s set just before (who reportedly brought the house down) but the audience stayed for Woodpigeon’s set. The trio elevated their simple drum-guitar-bass set up with beautiful harmonies and captivated the crowd.
Killer Mike 11 p.m. at Olympic Hall
Olympic Hall turned into another rowdy party last night with Killer Mike headlining. Displaying true showmanship, Mike dedicated his set to Action Bronson, who had to cancel due to an illness. But by the end, it was obvious everyone had come to see Mike, not Bronson.
Drinks flew through the air, smoke rose from the crowd and crowd surfing was involved. The charismatic MC had the crowd cheering along to songs “Untitled” and “Reagan”, finishing them up by telling the audience he was just like an athlete, “sweating and farting up here.”
Repeated shout outs to Halifax and his love for Canada was another way Mike got the crowd more hyped. He joined the crowd near the end of his set and proceeded to finish his set amongst the people, preaching that Olympic Hall had turned into his church and tonight had been a spiritual awakening.
Rah Rah 12 a.m. at Michael’s
Regina’s Rah Rah had a shortened set due to a late start and had the crowd wanting more by the time they played their last song. With James the robotic cat looking on, the band played a set heavy with songs from their latest album The Poet’s Dead. Band members were constantly rotating instrument duties, sometimes handing off one instrument for another mid-song. The energy of the show peaked during “20s” with the crowd bouncing along as confetti was shot into the crowd and giant blow-up letters spelling “Rah” were thrown around.
Fucked Up 8:45 p.m. at the Pavilion/12:30 a.m. at the Marquee Ballroom
Fucked Up at the Halifax Pavilion was everything everyone wanted it to be. It was their third time playing the venue so they’re no strangers to how the venue works and lead singer, Damian, made that obvious. He stood on the wooden barrier that separates the stage from the audience and shouted most of his words from this perch. At many points, he would jump completely over the barrier and walk around the audience, high-fiving and hugging people and weaving his way through the crowd with the microphone in hand. If Fucked Up keep playing the Pavilion this often, I think they should invest in a wireless microphone for Damian alone.
At the Marquee, Fucked Up played a relentless set filled with a lot of the same songs from the earlier show but also adding in other songs such as “Baiting the Public”. Fucked Up is a band that transcends genre at this point, but this show was a reminder they they’re very much still a hardcore punk band. With many people climbing over the barrier, onto the stage, and jumping off for stage dives, it was a sight to behold. The crowd was very violent, but very respectful to everyone, including the security guards who had the job of dragging people down. At the end of their set, guitarist Ben Cook passed his guitar into the crowd and people played with it. They then announced they were going to play one more song, a crowd favourite called “Generation.” Ben Cook asked the crowd if anyone from the audience wanted to play guitar for it. Cody from Negative Rage got up on stage, took the guitar and played the song with the band. It was the perfect way to end their set because it embodies everything to do with Fucked Up as a band.
Dusted 1 a.m. at Michael’s
Brian Borcherdt was happy to be back home in Nova Scotia with his latest project Dusted. The Toronto via Yarmouth, NS artist along with Leon Taheny created a textured and deep sound that was impressive for just two musicians. The intricate live show of Borcherdt’s other band, Holy Fuck, and the earnest and haunting lyricism of his solo albums translated well on the Michael’s stage. Mark Mullane of North of America fame joined the band for one song as well.
Photo: Mixtape Magazine