While Halifax Pop Explosion may be over, we are still soaring from the musical high we got from the week. Here’s what we caught on the last night of the festival, and don’t forget to check out the blog for rewinds from the entire five day festival.
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Town Heroes 4 p.m. at Grand Parade
As a Halifax favourite, the Town Heroes will always draw an enthusiastic crowd. Attendance was lower than usual at Grand Parade but, despite the cold, many serious fans made it out. It was an earlier show so some of the crowd even brought their kids and dogs. A fun playful vibe meant the show was a good one.
Islands 8 p.m. at Grand Parade
By the time the Grand Parade headliners came on the sun was down and it was more than just cold but Islands took us to another place, musically speaking. The crowd was sizeable and energies were high. It’s been a long, exhausting week but their amazing energy and lyrics set the tone for the night: “I’m sick of layin’ down/ I’m sick of being dead.” Last night of the fest and Islands (the first stop for many) started it off right.
Racoon Bandit 9:30 p.m. at The Carleton
Racoon Bandit are a collection of singer-songwriters. Throughout their set at the Carleton, lead vocal duties were spread around from guitarist Fraser McCallum, drummer Roger Carter and guitarist Adam Gallant. The band seemed right at home on stage, playing their folk songs to a crowd with lots of Islanders including both fans from P.E.I. and musicians from other P.E.I. bands.
Weed Thief 10 p.m. at Michael’s Bar & Grill
For a name like Weed Thief you might expect a laid back band but fortunately, that’s not the case: the band takes more from the “thief” in their name than the “weed” part. The three-piece band is composed of members from other groups such as A Sight For Sewn Eyes, Barlow, Castle Wolfenstein, Negative Rage and more. There is no guitar player in this band, simply a drummer, a bass player and a vocalist. They played short and fast songs with only a bass guitar, drenching the audience in deep distortion. The vocalist leapt off the stage, crashing into people and climbing the barriers in Michael’s Bar and Grill. A band with this much energy and no guitar proves that you don’t need to play by those conventions. Who needs a guitar when you’ve got four beautifully thick strings?
We’re Doomed 12 a.m. at Gus’ Pub
Toronto-based and Halifax born We’re Doomed played a very tight set, showing they’re quite capable of what they moved to Toronto for: playing music. The band’s sound is very fast and very technical, sitting in a weird grey area between metalcore and progressive rock. The singer and guitarist, Simon Outhit, jumped around stage showcasing his ability to put on a very intense show while hitting every single note perfectly not just with his guitar, but with his voice as well. The band is very impressive to watch, there’s no time to even think about what you’re seeing. It’s technical, it’s melodic and it’s heavy all at the same time. It’s beautiful.
Lunice 1 a.m. at Reflections Cabaret
Lunice got Reflections tuned up. All the way up. He played an awesome DJ set mixing lots of different things: one minute it would be an intense electronic banger and the next it would be Rick Ross yelling right into your ears. The energy he brought out was next level; the whole crowd was dancing as hard as their bodies would possibly let them. It’s only right that this man has so much hype behind him right now, the amount of enthusiasm he shows while playing transfers directly into the crowd’s movements. At some points, people would take to crowd surfing which is fairly rare for a smaller scale electronic show. This show was at capacity for a reason and that reason is that Lunice is the real deal.