Music

Cadence Weapon shares his most memorable Edmonton music experience

by AUX staff

As part of AUX’s launch in western Canada (on Shaw 138) we’ve asked a few of our favourite artists to share their most memorable hometown music memories. First up is Rollie Pemberton AKA Cadence Weapon sharing a story from his hometown of Edmonton.

Cadence Weapon on Edmonton

Edmonton is a place with lots of legends. I could tell you about bands getting squids thrown at them or the salacious actions of traveling musicians at house parties, but I’d rather skew it to a more personal space. I wouldn’t say it would be an individual experience but more in terms of time and space. Specifically, the Shark Tank/khz in 2006/2007. It is a location that holds a lot of formative memories for me. Run by Cameron Dahl, it’s one of the first places I played a show on my own as Cadence Weapon. It is the setting for the photos in the Afterparty Babies booklet and the setting for many of the stories within that album.

The energy there cannot be replicated. It was a semi-legal death trap that could house both the most amateurish bands and actual world class DJs. It was in Chinatown and pretty much nothing else around it was sustainable. It was a dirty beacon beyond downtown. It got shut down by the Church of Scientology. Drinking Hot 100 in the girls bathroom. Christmas lights year round. A place free of promoter agenda and the poison of the aesthetic. It shares a vibe with places like the Emergency Room, the Peanut Gallery, the Silver Door and other legendary bygone venues across Canada. More than a physical location, it represents a willingness to take control of the presentation of art and for that, it deserves this worthy epitaph.

Photo by: Michael Joffe, AUX TV