With sharp riffs and speakers pumping enough decibels that to raise the dead for one massive zombie mosh pit, Fucked Up blew their way into the Legion #1 and brought the noise to Calgary Saturday, April 11. The show, a fundraiser for Calgary-based music festival Sled Island, was the perfect example of the festival’s mission statement: bring some of the most exciting, musically mature bands to the city—then break some hipster’s ears.

Lead singer Damian Abraham a.k.a. Pink Eyes, is the hurricane in Fucked Up. His massive, obese frame belies his humour and his on-stage energy. Like the best kinds of hardcore singers, he’s up there swinging the microphone, dancing around stage and trying to ensure that the kids are having a good time.

Surprisingly, Abraham was relatively sedate on stage. Regaling the audience with a tale from his last appearance in Calgary—where he smashed a mug of beer over his head, which required stitches. That didn’t stop him from, in the middle of the opening song, beating an open beer can across his forehead like some angry, leftist fratboy.

The crowd was into it; though some of them didn’t know the words, they knew what to do when guitarists Ben Cook (Lil’ Bitey), Josh Zucker (Gulag) and Mike Haliechuk (10,000 Marbles) brought their picks to their guitar’s strings. The crowd thrashed around, surprising for a group of hipsters that looked more accustomed to sitting around coolly smoking clove cigarettes than to mixing it up in the depths of the pit. It was a night for both the indie kids in the crowd to get their inner demons out through the noble art of the slamdance and for the punk kids to get treated to a little bit of Fucked Up’s brand of mature, more intellectual hardcore. It was a successful night—which is a testament to the acts that festival director Zak Pashak and crew are bringing to Sled Island.

Fucked Up is the kind of band that Sled Island is famous for hosting—some of the greatest acts in all the world that haven’t been discovered yet. This year, they’re bringing a double dose of awesome independent (and some more popular) acts from across the world. Fans of punk rock and music that you can actually dance to are well-represented this year, with groups like King Khan and the BBQ Show repping for the surf rockers, The Coathangers bringing their riot grrl screech-punk and the always insane Israel outfit Monotonix.

Noise rock and psychidelia are well represented, with Los Angeles noise band HEALTH blasting through the town. Last time they played was to a packed crowd in February of 2008, where they stunned people with their awesome—and eardrum-breaking—set in support of Crystal Castles. The Liars, that New York post-punk “what the fuck?!” are playing a set at Olympic Plaza, the newly-crowned main site.

One of the things that Pashak has really delivered is bringing up some non-traditional venues for Calgarians. Confirmed venues include the always delicious Tubby Dogg where Monotonix will play (which further proves that this show is going to be one of the top concerts to see). Other venues include the Hop In Brew—to be more specific, the Hop In Brew’s parking lot—the Bamboo Tiki Room and the Uptown Theatre, among others.

So get those bikes ready, kids, as this year's Sled Island festival promises to be one of the downtown core's premier festivals. Where else but one of western Canada's finest festivals can you eat a hot dog covered in peanut butter and jelly while listening to some hot jams?

       

Written by :

David Reis