Music

Halifax Pop Explosion 2011: Day four roundup

by Nicole Villeneuve

You know what they say (at least I think I have heard them say this)—what a difference a day makes. Friday was a sunny, warm, beautiful day in the city, a nice change from the miserable rain storm the day previous. It was an ideal day for a lunchtime time stroll by the Halifax waterfront, and so that’s exactly what I did.

It was easier to get an earlier start—maybe because of the weather, maybe because there was no choice, based on all of the amazing music happening last night—so I did just that and caught the end of Charlotte Cornfield and the beginning of Halifax’s Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers in the Citadel Hotel Lobby. Caplan insisted the mostly bow-legged floor-sitting room get up to their feet and come to the front of the stage, something you don’t normally see at a quiet little intimate show. Was he going to stage dive? Anyway. I’m bummed I didn’t get to make it to any of the CKDU lobby shows this year, but the hotel lobby did well in its absence.

I had decided to spend my evening in the cluster of North End venues, so I stopped where else but the Pavilion on the way. All-ages punk shows are where it’s at, guys. Twelve year old boys starting circle pits by themselves while in front of them, girls of the same age but just post first pre-pubescent growth spurt line the stage and thrash? Bands and fans being best friends? Bigger guys watching out for smaller kids? The few bands I saw (She Kills and We’re Doomed, who’ve got incredible command of a room) and the short time I stayed demonstrated a purity and sense of fun that’s easily lost in the translation, I find. It was a heartwarming (and, admittedly, sometimes amusing) pit stop.

From there I high-tailed it to the Herohill showcase at the Company House so I could check out Adam & the Amethysts. Their cutesy folk-pop lacked a bit of the texture heard on record, but their grounded banter and group dynamics held the packed room, which isn’t always an easy feat for a quiet folk band in a bar.

I left for Gus’ Pub immediately after to catch some of a band I’d never seen, Reversing Falls. They were easily a stand out at the festival for me. A Montreal trio playing songs like Thrush Hermit might have, had they started a band ten years later and gone through the indie onslaught of the internet. They were huge and hooky and funny, too, playing to a drum track and dedicating all their songs to “the guy with the penis.” Go see them if they come through town.

I’d decided to plant myself there as I’d also never seen the Skeletones Four, and they proved every bit as skilled as their recent album Gravestone Rock indicates. They really hit their stride when they settled into one of their vintage rock grooves, which is something I should never say, but a live setting showcased their knack for nailing a hook in a much more obvious way than on record. Best part was the failed crowd engagement from the singer about eating a donair only to say “no I don’t eat meat” and then “but I’m not preaching” and anyway maybe you had to be there, but it was funny.

At this point Gus’ Pub was rammed tight for Shotgun Jimmie, and why not? What a prince charming of Canadian indie rock. The place erupted into a manic singalong right off the top with “Late Last Year” and it didn’t relent. Another highlight of the week.

A departure with vague plans of seeing what else I could check out somewhere a little closer to homebase dissipated within minutes. I was tired. And there was still another day and night ahead. So I took a photo of these adorable houses and headed for home.