Sled Island 2009. Come hell or high water I was planning to go to this year's festival in Calgary right after last year's successful event that featured the likes of Yo La Tengo, Wire, Of Montreal, Broken Social Scene, Mogwai, The Dodos, Deerhunter and No Age to name a few. The festival which is in it's third year didn't get booked with big names this time around but there was still a good sampling of acts both from abroad and locally that would keep the most discerning festival goer their festival pass money's worth.

Another reason I was looking forward to Sled Island was the fact that a strong contingent of artists and bands from Vancouver were going to be performing and I wanted to document their creative talents at the festival.

I caught the first show on Tuesday at Tubby Dog with the SSRIs and Calgary's badass punk upstarts the Sub-linguals. This was probably my favourite venue of the festival. I mean what can be more rad than having a show in a decorated restaurant with hot dogs and beer. They have veggie dogs so I ate that. Or if you're adventurous you can have the hot dog with peanut butter and jelly topped with cap'n crunch. The SSRI's set followed the boisterous turnout for the Sub-linguals so they did benefit with a decent crowd and it was the most fun I've experienced seeing them live.

After Tubby Dog, I moved onto another show at Canto's Music Foundation and caught the last act which was Morgan Greenwood who is the guitarist for Azeda Booth. It was a super chill show with folks lying down on blankets and pillows. Musically, it was what I would imagine if Azeda Booth did a solo show and Morgan would be the main guy to lead the performance - soothing ambient pop.

Day 2

With shows spread out across the downtown core at various venues it was going to tricky to try to catch everything. The good thing though is that most venues are in walking distance - nothing more than a 15-20 minute walk apart. It also helps with the FREE C-train rides on 7th Avenue.

The early show of the day was at Central United Church with Fond of Tigers, Slim Twig and Final Fantasy. I stood at the back of the church for a brief moment and nodded in wonder. A great venue to showcase Final Fantasy. Fond of Tigers and their freestyle jazz numbers reverberated beautifully inside. Zak Pashak walked up on stage after and officially welcomed everyone to the festival. Slim Twig from Toronto followed and it was just him with his keyboard freak-singing. I thought to myself that it resembled GR8-2000 and Tom Whalen can do a better job up on stage. Final Fantasy was something to behold. Just Owen Pallett and his violin. Definitely a treat to see him play in a church setting.

Next stop was at Broken City to see Space Rabies, Ahna, Stamina Mantis, Zebra Pulse and Shearing Pinx. The show was presented by Fake Jazz Wednesdays which is a regular weekly experimental peformance night held at the Cobalt. Calgary's Space Rabies garnered some looks from the crowd as members were dressed as teenage mutant turtles and other off-kiltered garb. It is what it sounded - space infected noise with vocals reminiscent of Deerhoof. Zebra Pulse (from Edmonton) impressed me the most with their booming big beat noise set. certainly on the top surprises for me at the festival. Shearing Pinx ended just before 2AM on a Wednesday with a decent crowd on hand. Lot of mix in tempo with the songs they played so the crowd wasn't in it as furious but still worthy of them to play late.

Another show happening at the same time at Broken City was The Superfantastics (from Halifax), Colourbook and Thighs at Verns. I was going back and forth between the two shows as it's only a 5 minute walk apart.

I'd like to thank fellow Vancouverite Ali Poulin for helping me with photos and write-ups throughout the festival. This is her take on the Superfantastics and the band Thighs:

I showed up late to the show at Vern's in downtown Calgary - a basement tavern with wood panelling and classic pub tables, dozens of cymbals donated by bands and a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey adorning the wall in this Flames-loving city. Surprisingly, floral cushions are tied on the barstools and a big fish tank sits behind the bar (serving cheap beer.) In short, Vern's is an awesome small venue, and good reviews from people in the audience made me quickly sorry to have missed Yes Nice, That's The Spirit and Colourbook.

The Superfantastics from Halifax played second-last. An indie pop-rock band with an east coast sound, they have catchy and clever upbeat songs, with totally satisfying guitars and heavy drums, and a sense of humour. "Vantastic" is a theme song for many a dogdy road trip, and opens with the lyrics, "Are we all going to die in this van? Will we ever reach Ontario?" This band has played alongside the likes of Julie Doiron and The Weakerthans, and also impressed my inner 90s-nostalgic 8 year old by having slap bracelets as part of their merch - now all I need is for a band to bring back Pogs. They play Vancouver at The Railway Club June 30th and 1306 Garden Carnival on Canada Day, before heading to Tofino and Victoria.

Lastly, if you thought the 2AM shows on a Wednesday night was enough guess again as Ali went to the Uptown Factory Party at the Marquee.

Uptown Factory Party #6
Even though it was pushing Wednesday at 2am in Calgary, lots was going on, including a party with DJs spinning in the theatre, lobby space and Marquee Room at Uptown Stage and Screen, an independent movie theatre screening Che and Limits of Control by day.

More photos of Sled Island on flickr.

Written by Steve Louie and Ali Poulin
Photos by Steve Louie. Uptown Factory Party #6 photo by Ali Poulin.