Arkells, Harlan Pepper, Beaches, Dead Tired - Supercrawl (Sep 12)

Arkells
I didn’t exactly make the trek to Hamilton because I wanted to see a certain new song or a particular sequence and that was good because the set highly resembled that of Riverfest, Elora from a few weeks back – right down to the new year’s resolution piano solo. The reason I came was to see the hometown boys, the proudest ever Hamiltonian’s, rock the biggest festival of their fair city. Rock they did, and the crowd came out in droves, jamming (around) Jackson Square and anywhere nearby (even caving in an unfortunately placed van’s roof) to get a glimpse of the Hamilton heroes. Max, speaking for the group, was honoured by the opportunity and had a lot of shout outs and local references to make both through banter and in song, such as pointing out the payphone referenced in Leather Jacket. Starting similarly, with the two High Noon opening tracks before busting out an old one, they managed to mix in a bunch of new with a lot of classics in their hour+ set. They did include 11:11 at 11:11pm no less, which was a notable omission previously. A bummer was that they sucked so much energy in the beginning that they actually cut the speaker system early on, yet continued to play into their monitors. This took a song or two for the technicians to work out – apparently needing to pull from the light grid as the next few tunes were played in the darkness. But by mid-set the technical difficulties were behind them and the Arkells could hit their stride. Plenty of buy-in meant clap-alongs and shout-it-outs galore as there wasn’t much free space for dancing. To close out they Rock(ed) the Casbah, a nod to the venerable local music hall, and a tune that fits their catalog and keys quite well before one of their most Hamilton-proud songs, Cynical Bastards. Not to let us down they returned for a post-midnight encore which blasted Whistleblower before throwing it back to their debut with a singalong on John Lennon. Somehow this morphed into Iggy’s Fancy to the delight of the drunken high schoolers, and wound through a lengthy list of thank-you’s, before closing out in rock. Worth the trip!

Harlan Pepper
In my head it seems that Harlan Pepper dropped out of high school to make music seriously. And by this I mean smoke pot and jam a lot. This because they are young lads that I have consistently seen pulling their weight behind their seemingly large instruments in Toronto, and now Hamilton, for the past five years, and their musicianship is extremely high. The vibes are still throwback with a nod to old school guitar work and psychedelia. They seem comfortable on stage and were playing mostly unfamiliar music compared to the last few times. Bob Dylan’s secret grandson (a dead ringer anyhow) took up the keys for a few track before switching back to the guitar. Seems like they’ve got more than a few more puffs to take as the end is nowhere in sight.

Dead Tired admitted to being the odd one out at this festival, not because they aren't from Hamilton – they are – but because they are playing screaming hardcore. What else would you expect from George Pettit, the former lead vocalist of Alexisonfire? The five of them played their instruments quickly and savagely, except George who did the same with his voice that was definitely screaming but not completely raa-raa. Despite this, the size of the crowd was surprisingly big and they even had a mini pit going with a few teenagers up front.

The Beaches are a four piece all-girl outfit from, I believe, The Beaches, Toronto. Despite being not even a couple decades old they have a comfortable stage presence and can all handle their instruments. This allows them to craft a rock and roll set styled over with punk, even adding elements of surfabilly and 80’s synths. I shouldn't have been as pleasantly surprised seeing as they'd played the Rebel stage at Riot Fest this past weekend.

Strumbellas, Harlan Pepper - Dakota (Dec 22/13)

Harlan Pepper

Heavy on the intoxicant referencing song titles Harlan Pepper brought their whiskey soaked guitar country and blues to the Dakota, once again in support of the Strumbellas. The only remaining piece of their Harlan and Pepper deer is one had on the kick drum. Easily holding their own with their sound rooted firmly in classic guitar work they also brought us a couple new songs in Modern Blues and the drum-led new one from the forthcoming 2013 LP. After Whiskey Business they wound down by winding us up with their riff referencing instrumental medley taking us from Ozzie through Secret Agent Man and finally the King of the Hill theme song. Cheers.

Strumbellas

Following a friendly game of dice pre-show the full 7 piece began sound checking for the show. Yes, Dave was back and making his presence felt. Barefoot count off the top was once again a disappointing 4, two pair. That was quickly forgotten as they launched into a My Father and the Hunter heavy opening set that had everyone singing along, except the brand new Jesus Doesn't Like Me. In fact, on Left for Dead a super fan who'd requested that song earlier was invited on stage to singalong and he definitely did it justice, beaming the whole time. Maybe just being on the stage with The Strumbellas infects happiness? Sure seems that way.

Simon had playfully been tossing in some Meatloaf - Anything for Love - all night and during the second set the covers took off in earnest. As in weeks earlier there was Ryan Adams, and Modest Mouse. They also covered Royal City and not sure exactly what else but whatever they played everyone remaining in the place seemed pleased. Even minutes to 2 a.m. a call for an encore went up and an impromptu band meeting had them perform a final cut for the hardcore. See you next week!

Strumbellas, Harlan Pepper (Horseshoe, Sept 7/12)

Harlan Pepper were already on stage at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern and were much as I recalled them to be. Still four young guys in cowboy shirts with mighty talent forging their was in rock and roll. Even the Harlan Pepper buck and doe were still on stage in all their cardboard glory. They played Wine, including a seemingly lazy guitar solo (that probably wasn't) and a cover of a Toronto artist I didn't recognize. At one point an obviously excited friend was asked to add some harmonica and he gave it all he had. Included was the double guitar party trick where they play each other's in the other guy's arms - it's neat! They've also updated their closing tunes, Wooly Bully followed by a medley of classic covers that pays homage to their influences, including Morrison's Gloria. Too easy to say it was glorious?

Details are sketchy as I was too busy dancing and clapping along to the fun folk of The Strumbellas but the gist of it was a great show. Still barefoot, still giving it their all, they folked out hard and brought the Toronto crowd along for the ride.

Graydon James and the Young Novelists were the hosts of the evening and they put together a heckuva bill. However their set didn't hold me too too long. Still a solid evening.

Sunparlour Player, Harlan Pepper, Strumbellas (Great Hall Dec 10)

 As always, the three-piece Sunparlour Players were in fine form and snazzy dress for their home-away-from-Windsor homecoming album release show. With much happening on this busy Saturday night in early December there was still plenty of room left in the hall to dance, but the still solid amount of members of the crowd poured out the love to make it a beautiful show. Releasing Us Little Devils it was fitting to open with its opener, Runner, though following it with fan-favourite If the Creeks Don’t Rise was only disappointing in that this song wasn't there to look forward to as the show progressed. The strength of the rest of the catalogue proved itself following this with all sorts of treats including Battle of ’77, O’Captain, and John Had a Bell and a Whistle. Their now infamous version of Thunderstruck didn’t harm matters either. It was the superb new single Green Thumb that capped off the set and led to a raucous ovation that brought the trio back out. They ripped out Dyin’ Today and Red Blood Red of Home and a third in encore, yet these still did not satiate us. We stomped and cheered, for it had been a special performance, and were rewarded with Hymns for the Happy closer, Talk It To Death, that was the final gem from this wonderful group. Seeing a band known for their live performance exceed the lofty expectations they set for themselves by bringing it to a new level is extraordinary indeed.

Harlan Pepper have been growing up quick and putting on mature performances beyond their years. On this night they opened with Reefer, swapped guitars all over the place, and played Wine - making reference to how they’d just recently all come of legal drinking age. A solid rendition of No was performed as well before they wrapped it all up with a classic rock medley. Everyone thought it was be Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama but much to our delight it was the Werewolves of London which then melded through a series of other throwbacks. The mature influences shone through in these young fellas.

The Strumbellas were just finishing up, and finishing strong, as I rolled into the Great Hall. There was a whole lot of strumming, banjos and exuberance going on as the seven-piece brought it down in the finale. If the entire set was as strong as what I caught then I totally missed out.

Hollerado - Hillside Saturday 2011

Unlike the massively awkward 'we don't do acoustic' sun stage set earlier where they told jokes and played one song  (hilarious for me, a fan, but probably terrible for most everyone else who'd been watching $100) Hollerado were in their element as the closing Island stage band of Hillside Saturday night. This slot is now notorious for bringing the party year after year and there's nothing Hollerado like more than partying.

It began with fifty glowing beach balls hopping all around the already riled up tent from The Sheepdogs previous. As people danced all over those picnic benches they threw down all they had, getting a great reception especially on Juliette. A go-to in their bag of tricks is Petty's Rockin' in the Free World which they pulled out midset, inviting Harlan Pepper to join them for it. Who wasn't invited but felt inclined to go join, and was certainly welcomed, was Dan Mangan. In fact I had to prop him up in his hurry to the stage (Hillside moment!) to help out on vocals.

The band claimed that this was perhaps their favourite show ever and I believe it as it seemed right up their alley with confetti exploding throughout. The only odd moment was a perhaps misguided tribute to Amy Winehouse who had passed that day which came in the form of a call and response with the crowd of the chorus to Rehab. It didn't ruin the mood though. We poured it on in encouragement of an encore which was a silly choice but by this point nobody really cared and rocked along to The Bird is the Word. Hollerado may not be great at serious but they know how to create an incredible time.

Harlan Pepper - Hillside Friday 2011

Like the down-to-earth Hamiltonians that they are, Harlan Pepper introduced themselves as guys who like the Toronto Maple Leafs and the summertime. The young lads, having all just turned nineteen recently, play a relatively mature brand of folk-infused indie. That lead singer has sure got some grown-up vocals, as displayed on Reefer, and alongside his bandmates on the 'never, never, never' chorus of No.  He's also got a face to match Dylan's - as they pointed out before launching into a cover of one of his tunes. (This happened both during their workshop with The Midway State and their solo set a couple hours later.) Rounding out the folk feel in addition to the standard acoustic and electric guitars were the harmonica and banjo. On Little Miss Sunshine the drummer sang back-up but to my disappointment I didn't get to hear them tour The Great Lakes. I feel we'll be seeing more of them in the future so I'll save that one for next time.