Music

Halifax Pop Explosion: Day 2 highlights and Day 3 best bets

by AUX staff

Between CMJ and Halifax Pop, AUX’s intrepid crew of writers are valiantly losing their brains trying to to cover our October festival bases. Here, Nicole Villeneuve gives us an east coast update… beginning with Gwar.

Photo by Claire Richardson/AUX

Day two of Halifax Pop Explosion has wrapped with more than enough happening to make walking up and down the streets that slope towards Citadel Hill worth it.

Highlights included a rowdy, very inebriated blood-seeking room full of Gwar fans at the Palace, and a packed, intimate performance at community radio station CKDU. The station hosted Halifax-via-Kitchener post-garage duo Cursed Arrows, and surprise special guest Mark Sultan. Not so great was the seeming tantrum Sultan pulled—playing one song, proclaiming the show “bullshit,” strumming one chord for too long, then playing another song before abruptly finishing. Overheard was his “justification” of not wanting to have played the set in the first place. Overheard again, later, was that a similar meltdown happened at his Tuesday night show at Gus’ Pub, after a close-watcher repeatedly bumped into his gear. What’s eating BBQ?

Day three promises tons of choices once again, though with Halifax Pop’s modest, selective line up, you’re not likely to go wrong. Here’s a quick rundown of some top picks.

Rebekah Higgs, Halifax NS (8pm, Citadel Hotel. FREE)

Rebekah Higgs is gearing up to release her new Little Voice EP (November 23), but seeing her live proves she’s got anything but. Her soulful, shoegazy indie rock has elements of folk as well, and her dynamic stage presence a is treat to watch. You may also know her as the voice of dance-pop group Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees.

Bad Vibrations, Halifax, NS (1am, Gus’ Pub, $10)

They just released the new Under Pressure seven-inch, and it’s a little slice of quick, sludgy post-punk topped with tuneful melodies and layers of harmonies. Featuring Halifax music veterans including ex-members of Dog Day and Husband and Knife, their tight live show hits harder than the medium-fi production heard on record.

Sloan (12am, The Paragon, $18)

They’re at work recording their twentieth anniversary album, but none of that will be debuted tonight: Sloan will be performing their seminal 1994 album Twice Removed in its entirety. Highlights are sure to include a full-room singalong to “Coax Me” and spotting the diehards who know all the words to Patrick Pentland’s slow jam “Loosens.” This show will be worth it to see Chris Murphy giggle his way through “Deeper Than Beauty” alone.