All right everybody, wake up. It’s time to let go of the blankets, the hot cocoa, The Wire and whatever else you distracted yourself with while the snow came and went — the mild yet erratic winter season has finally had its way with us, and now we can start the healing process together.
Our bitchin’ healing quest kicks off on Thursday, May 8, with rock ’n’ roll whirlwind Ghostkeeper at The Marquee Room, supported by the hypnotic, tumbling rhythms and sweet, swelling melodies of The Neighborhood Council. Catch the Council while you can this season — being the young, wildly talented and highly ambitious band that they are, they’re heading to the epicentre of wildly talented, highly ambitious young people, Montreal.
Women and their Medicine Hat pals Mt. Royal will be kicking off their national tour at the Royal Canadian Legion No. 1 on May 18. They’ll be joined by the powerful mysticism of Knots and Kelowna’s Jon Rae, whose fist-pumping folk rock anthems tore up last summer’s Calgary Folk Music Festival. Not satisfied with providing only one reason to celebrate, Women and Mt. Royal are also making the show a release party for a recently procured seven-inch single, split between the indie rock innovators.
May 18 is also the launch party for “Midnight Social Club,” a new music blog with its sights firmly set on local music. Featuring the explosive, thorny punk rock of The Dirty Dirty North, a laundry list of saucy local DJs and Vancouver invitees Ghost House and What’s Wrong Tohei?, the show at the Underground is sure to rock the seasonal affective disorder right outta you. The filthy, nasty three-piece will also join danceable indie-rock band The Shagbots at The Marquee Room on May 29.
For artistically inclined music fans, there are a couple of special events coming up that will certainly quench your thirst. The first, on May 16, is a benefit show for Elephant Artists Relief, an organization established by Calgary artists to provide support for artists with medical emergencies or in need of long-term care. The event, housed at the Arrata Opera Centre, revolves around the unveiling and subsequent auctioning off of “the Creature,” apparently an enormous monster-like installation created through the participation of multiple city artists. There is no telling what the thing will look like —if a rare performance by Chad VanGaalen’s electronic alter-ego Black Mold is any indication of the Creature’s countenance, then I guess it will be cold, foreboding and calculated. If the sounds of The Consonant C come into play, though, it’ll also be sincere and heartwarming, with a fondness for the ukulele. Sounds terrifying.
One half of the Consonant C will return the following evening at the Arbour Lake Sghool as part of an all-female cast of musicians and artists entitled MAYDAY/MAYDAY. The event will bring some of Calgary’s most talented ladies together to “explore ideas of gender within a domestic space that is commonly considered male.” In addition to the ladies of The Consonant C, the show will feature performances by Indiensoci (better known as Raphaelle Standell-Preston of The Neighborhood Council), experimental pop duo Womb Baby and travelling girls Ghost Bees with (the unfortunately male) Fall Horsie, from Halifax. Many of Calgary’s finest female artists will help turn the patriarch-loving school into a wellspring of feminine energy, incorporating various art installations into the performance.
Finally, feel-good singer-songwriter Michael Bernard Fitzgerald will be wrapping up this transitional month with some kind of massive spectacle, stretched over two nights at The Grand, May 22 and 23. There are few details available about the gigs, only that the performances will feature an epic cast of 60 Calgary artists and that there will be “marching band percussion, dancers, singers and many other musicians.” Say no more.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve just taken over this space from some smart-ass who fancied himself a funny man, so send me information about upcoming events at his old e-mail, alvy411@gmail.com, or through MySpace at www.myspace.com/alvy411.
