| Since that d-bag Dallas Green beat out Chad VanGaalen at the Junos last weekend, I can’t really make the triumphant "Calgary’s gonna make it" introduction I was planning for this month. However, there is lots of interesting local stuff happening on a smaller scale.
First off is a show featuring three of the city’s best balls-to-the-wall rock bands, with Gaye Rage, The Ostrich and The Cryptomaniacs all creeping through The Hifi Club on April 14. The Ostrich are also playing on April 21 at The Distillery and The Cryptos are performing as part of the awesomely-titled benefit Corpses for Cancer at The Underground on April 13, with The Blind Assassins, Rigor Morticians and Conniving Cadavers.
April 14 will also find the crazily talented Kris Ellestad opening for the ever-lovin’ Vailhalen at The Marquee Room. According to ’Halen, they’re going to play a couple of sets with their new and improved lineup, and will include old songs, new songs and even a cover of Africa’s ﾒToto."
If they decide not to beat each other up this time, those motley rockers The Pine Tarts are also scheduled to play on April 14 at Re-Store. This bill also includes openers Face The Music, Modern Arts And Crafts, Secret Broadcast and more. Why does one night feature three good shows? Meshugas.
Calgary’s favorite Christian rappers Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome (SIDS) are spreading things out, starting with a gig on April 6 at The Castle with The Neckers and Michael Rault & The Mixed Signals. Next up is an all-ages show at the Scarboro Community Centre on April 15 with Wednesday Night Heroes, The Skitzos and Portland's Clorox Girls (!). SIDS is also dropping its 2 Many Babes seven-inch and starting work on a debut full-length this month, so gird your loins.
The Consonant C is an assemblage of inspired and inspiring music lovers creating impressively orchestrated sounds (can you name another Calgary group with a harp?), as well as doing wonders for the all-ages community. The Consonant C’s five-song Bunnyfish EP is a fantastic little sonic document, and the band is now readying the release of its debut long-player, while still making the time to play four shows this month.
"Everyone in the band brings unique and distinct elements to the music," says singer and multi-instrumentalist Clea Foofat. "We all have our own styles and write extremely different songs, but once we add all the parts together a strange, homogenous and eclectic mix is created."
"I’m really excited about scrambling the lines between disciplines," adds vocalist/harpist Jennifer Crighton. "There is a climate in Calgary that is like a pressure cooker for creative production, and people really badly want to prove that there is more to this city than the Stampede."
"I’m also pretty excited that the harp is now a cool thing to have in a band," she says. "When I first started playing it seemed mostly like a wedding instrument or a hippy instrument, and for a long time I resented the cliché. I’m still kind of amazed that the harp has become trendy."
The band’s members also work under the title The Summerwood Warren to co-organize monthly themed all-ages music/art events, most often held at EMMedia. "The shows we put on are part of the bigger effort to contribute positively to the artistic community," explains singer/multi-instrumentalist Laura Leif."Every show has been spectacular in its own way," Leif continues. "One time everyone was dancing so hard that the lights were falling out of the ceiling of the business below, so to solve it we all laid down on our backs and flailed our limbs upwards. There was a beautiful blanket fort and a lovely cave, helium balloons and a tobogganing party. So much spectacular and heartfelt fun."
The Consonant C is recording its debut long-player at The Outhouse with engineer Grant Howarth. "The new record is going to have a different sound for sure," says drummer Jared Andres. "Based on the rough mixes we’ve heard, it sounds a little more professional, and the music itself has evolved. This time around, the songs have been written by all of us as a group, whereas the EP was mostly songs that Laura and Clea already had. I think that the full-length will be a bit more of an expression of where we’re at as a band right now."
You can catch The Consonant C live on April 6 at Re-Store (which is also Azeda Booth’s all-ages CD release), on April 15 for an intimate set at the Devonian Gardens, on April 26 at the cheese-themed EMMedia show and on April 28 at Cliff Bungalow Community Centre, both with Jane Vain. Check out myspace.com/theconsonantc for updated info, songs and awesome videos.
If you’re a local artist doing something interesting and want to have it written about, drop me a line at either alvy411@hotmail.com or myspace.com/alvy411. Oy vey? |
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