The Mae Shi rocking out at South By Southwest — their energetic live show will be an early highlight at this year's Sled Island
DETAILS
Making a strong bid to usurp Canada’s indie festival throne, the second annual Sled Island will bring an eclectic mix of talent to venues throughout the downtown core. Closely mimicking last year’s festival, organizers have laid out an absolute smorgasbord of options, with nearly a dozen simultaneous shows at peak times. While the biggest crowds will gravitate to Mewata Field for all-day back-to-back sets on adjacent stages, some of the most exciting acts are performing off the beaten path.
Break out those spiral-bound notebooks, kids — it’s time to make an itinerary! In this edition, we’ll look at the first half of the festival. Keep an eye out for part two, covering the second half of Sled Island, in next week’s issue.
Tuesday
The action doesn’t officially start until Wednesday, but eager beavers can head to Broken City on Sled-eve to mingle with out-of-towners and check out noise rockers No Age, who hail from L.A.’s thriving experimental scene. Collectors will want to stop by the C1RCA Gallery to check out the festival’s selection of gig posters while listening to Kris Ellestad and a number of other local gems.
Wednesday
For the after-work crowd, Broken City hosts the seventh annual Indie Music Video Festival from 5 p.m. onward, celebrating the medium and screening some of the year’s best clips. Later on, watch for a throng of excited fans making a beeline for Central United Church to take in a dreamy set by Brooklyn’s Grizzly Bear. The foursome mixes vocal harmonies and acoustic melodies, building towards energetic climaxes. They construct the sort of memorable live show that make this the festival’s first can’t-miss performance.
By the time Grizzly Bear wraps up, the festivities at the Warehouse and The Underground will be well underway, featuring the hard-edged folk-rock meanderings of Blitzen Trapper, the synchronized audiovisuals of Halifax’s Rich Aucoin and the off-kilter electronic singalongs of Dan Deacon. At the end of the night, bringing another dose of the L.A. scene to Broken City, the Mae Shi will delight fans with their notoriously action-packed live show.
Also, anyone planning on checking out the showcase at the Amsterdam Rhino should note, the venue has been changed to Vern’s, and set times have been pushed back by 45 minutes from what’s on the schedule.
Thursday
Those of us who are lucky enough to secure an afternoon off will be treated to the all-ages ’zine show at The Palomino from noon onward, featuring performances by a handful of bands including local favourites Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome. Not long afterwards, The Underground will host a performance by Medicine Hat’s fantastic Christmas.
The Pumphouse Theatre boasts highly anticipated performances from bands on both ends of the experience spectrum. Yo La Tengo will be on hand to tell tales from nearly a quarter-century of indie rock experience in their “acoustic retrospective.” Meanwhile, up-and-comers Ghost Bees will be just across the hall creeping people out ever so slightly with their unique and beautiful but macabre-themed medieval folk. Chad VanGaalen’s set at the Telus World of Science is sure to be another highlight. While recent performances have been hit-and-miss, the local folkster tends to thrive in venues that allow him to focus on the interplay between his delicately crafted songs and his often dumbfounding but always amusing illustrations. A headline slot at the planetarium seems almost too good to be true.
Rounding things out on a jam-packed Thursday evening are a pair of irresistible intimate sets: Austin rockers Okkervil River at Central United Church and legendary Modern Lovers front man Jonathan Richman at the Martha Cohen Theatre.
Once the sun goes down, all eyes will turn towards the No. 1 Legion, Sled Island’s premier late-night venue. After a dose of alt-country lovin’ by Toronto’s suitcase-thumping trio Elliott Brood, the crowd will witness the first of Sled Island’s surprise performances. Devotees will notice that the late-night Legion slot on Saturday has been announced as a collaboration between festival curator Spiral Stairs and feel-good favourites Broken Social Scene, but organizers remain tight-lipped about the Thursday and Friday shows. Rest assured, these are much more than just “TBA” slots. They have the potential for once-in-a-lifetime collaborations between high-profile performers written all over them. Stay tuned for part two of the Sled Island preview in next week’s Fast Forward, in which exclusive details could very well be brought to light.
SIDEBAR: Artist’s picks
Rich Aucoin
Which act are you most excited to see at Sled Island?
Dan Deacon, and, luckily, I'm opening for him, so seeing him will be no problem.
You’ve made some ambitious plans for this tour. What do you have in store for Calgary?
So far, I've run two half-marathons (and now have a very, very sore knee), and I've got to record with over 50 musicians. In Calgary, I've got more recording plans and some include recording at that wonderful Synthesizer Museum [the Cantos Music Foundation] that I'm jealous that you're able to live in the same city as.
If people are having a hard time choosing between your show and another one, what would you tell them to tip the scales in your favour?
If you like seeing visuals with music and hearing an eclectic mix of pop songs, then you'll probably enjoy my set — at the very least, it's something that you haven't seen before.
Sari Lightman of Ghost Bees
Who are you most excited to see at Sled Island?
I'm looking forward to seeing Grizzly Bear.
What can fans expect from your show?
We like to create an intimate atmosphere during our live performances. We often dress the stage up to suit the mood of our songs. In the past, there have been magic tricks, costumes, riddles and other engaging and performative pursuits. Despite what our music may suggest, we don't take ourselves too seriously and like to dress up and tell jokes and summon the spirits and such, but the latter act is more severe, as we're dealing with ancestors and great-great-grandmothers who we can't really speak for.
