sledisland

23Jun2024

CKXU at Sled Island 2024: Day 4

My Sled has reached the bottom of the hill, and with that the large majority of Sled Island activities are over. Before I do the usual blog post I want to thank a load of people on behalf of CKXU. Thank you to Sled Island’s staff and volunteers, thank you to all the venues and their staff for putting on another fantastic week(end) of shows, thank you to all the artists that performed and special thanks to the few that let me interview them. Extra special thank you to Kort AKA @flamesgrain on Instagram without him tagging along these blogs would have been a lot less interesting and I would not have any one to share Coke’s with between bands, and for that I am grateful. Our last day at Sled we wanted to do right so we caught a few more acts than we normally have been seeing in a night so some of these recaps might be more of a lightning round than usual.

7(ish)PM- Culled

My main goal of saturday was to have enough left in the tank to be able to properly enjoy Show Me the Body for their 12am headlining spot at the legion but that show didn’t start until 9 so I decided to visit my favourite venue in Calgary, Loophole Coffee Bar. I missed Closetalkers at 6:30 but made it for Culled at 7. Upon walking into the Loophole I was immediately drenched in sweat, I’m talking coated, it was so hot in there it felt like we were inside a coffee percolator while getting our ears blasted with some gnarly metal riffs.

Culled were incredibly tight which was all the more impressive given the state of Loophole’s Sahara-esque environment, everyone was feeling the heat though, people were fanning themselves with the merch they had just bought. A bit of heat though was honestly what my night needed, it made everything feel that much more real as it required each movement and note to have another level of intention behind it. This was not the place for flourishes and style. The Loophole brought out the real underbelly of the music, the pain, the effort, the extreme. And Culled matched all of that beat for beat.

Their music featured a healthy dose of hardcore punk stylings as opposed to a more traditional metal sound, most of this can be attributed to the vocalist as he was far more concerned with emoting than hitting any sort of melody. The riffs were chugging as well. Many of the songs seemed like they were built around a main beatdown lick and then adding many metal riffs around that to beef up their compositions. It was a great energy and way to start the night.

We also caught the first few minutes of Liminal Shroud but we had to leave to catch our breath and get to the Legion to find our bearings before the big one kicked off.

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

9PM- LOOK ALIVE

Look Alive are easily one of my favourite Alberta bands at the moment. Their most recent release “Mimic” was phenomenal, finding their branch of metalcore and running with it all the way to a nomination for Best Metal Album by the Western Canadian Music Awards. They kicked off at the Legion with some incredible energy, even while missing their lead guitarist. Yes, the band came together as a four piece beautifully and played many songs off of “Mimic”, including opening with their lead single “Scum”.

It was a perfect way to start the set as each member was able to showcase why their band was something to take notice of if you were not already aware. Obviously, teach individual in the group is very talented but their drummer was on another level last night. There is a different sound that comes off of a kit when a incredible talent sits behind it, with each hit they are able to have perfect flow and control and in Look Alive’s case, a massive amount of power. The drummer was so on top of each tune it was like he was orchestrating the whole set being able to manipulate every resonance and attack the band threw out.

Their set continued with more bangers, what else would you expect? Well maybe not the frontman’s attire. He was dressed in a Spice Girls shirt which kind of made me want to hear a cover of “Wannabe” or maybe be blessed enough to get “2 become 1”. For better or worse there were no covers, just many riffs and sick breakdowns which after sweating my body weight in the Loophole was just what I wanted.

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

9:30- OBROA-SKAI

Kort and I headed upstairs to see another one of my favourite bands, Obroa-Skai. Similar to Look Alive they just had an album release in fall and have been doing shows around the province to support that release. Something I remember being told about Obroa-Skai shows is that there is a large noise component to their live sound, in fact one of their guitarists brought an assortment of modular pedals that were making all sorts of sounds. The music accompanying the noise was just as moving, if not more.

For those unfamiliar with Obroa-Skai they play a deeply emotional and aggressive brand of screamo that reminds me of pioneering screamo bands like Pageninetynine more so than modern contemporaries. One of the X-factors in Obroa-Skai is that both guitar players are both assuming lead and rhythm duties, and due to this it gives both musicians a lot of freedom to start making other noise and add further textures to an already dense sound. Musical depth is something all great screamo acts have and that goes in all areas, whether it be lyrics or sonics, Obroa-Skai has found that depth in their music. They play their songs at such a proficeint level it’s like each snare hit and bit of guitar feedback is recoding your brain to only ever want to hear them play for eternity.

They reached an emotional peak early and never brought it down to earth again. The band was able to conjure so much emotion through their instruments, when vocals came into the fold it was almost too much. Obviously in a good way, but the highs Obroa-Skai reached through their onslaught of screamo was stunning. I hope they keep playing forever because I really believe the sky is the limit for them in screamo. There is just too many amazing songs and performances to deny them of bigger opportunities. They played (probably) my favourite set of the weekend and absolutely floored both Kort and I. We needed our Coke’s badly after that one.

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

12PM- Show Me the Body

After imbibing our sparkling syrup beverages we took a few moments in the corner of the venue. I felt the past days run through me with pride but also deep levels of exhaustion, so we sat for a bit. Until the time came. Banjo time. SMTB took to the stage and with the lead singer wearing a long sleeve fleeced jacket belted out the words to Out of Place, before breaking into the most intense set I may have ever seen.

The crowd I think was the real star of SMTB’s set, that’s not to put down the band, honestly it speaks to the energy and momentum SMTB have if people are sending themselves head first off stage before they even really play a note. They had such an aura around them while playing like the three of them were some kind of monster that needed to be fed with moshpits and stagedives. And they were fed but also were put to work, the venue was packed and hot by when them went on so they were feeling it nearly as much as we all were in the audience.

They played all their bangers, including an electric version of Camp Orchestra where I saw one dude get absolutely rocked with an errant fist and that’s what the night was full of, combined with a killer live mix by the engineer at The Legion. The night went on and on, the bass grew thicker and the screams got more desperate by the very end of the set the pit was noticeably thinner, I think the weekend was getting to everyone but SMTB still showed everyone love and that love was returned to them. It was a gorgeous and extreme end to a very packed weekend, a weekend I will need a few days to recover from. So if you will excuse me I am going to rest.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading these blogs, Kort and I have been trying our best to give you all cool coverage of Sled Island 2024 and we’re thankful to have been given the opportunity to do so by CKXU. Until next time Sled Island!

Photos by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram
Words by Jeremy Collier, CKXU’s Music Director

22Jun2024

CKXU at Sled Island 2024: Day 3

My penultimate day of Sled Island has finished and now it’s time to run through it. Friday’s performances were exquisite, and in particular places palatial, in other places radioactive. A bunch of amazing acts played last night in particular, Sergeant X Comrade, Mouraine, Radioactive Vampire Teeth, and Mick Jenkins, who will be having a special feature written on him later in the article featuring some breathtaking pictures. Other acts that played Friday night include, Kee Avil, Everythingyoueverloved, Kue Varo & The Only Hopes, and Bad Waitress.

I had to make an appearance this year at The Palace Theatre during Sled. When I first came to the festival in 2022 I did not go because I was too busy going to all my weird noise and heavy gigs but this year Kort AKA @flamesgrain on Instagram AKA The Dopest Photographer in Overalls, was bursting to take pictures inside The Palace and for good reason, I am sure you can see why.

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

8PM- Sergeant X Comrade (and what came before)

We arrived to The Palace Theatre early, like first 10 people in the building early. Kort was tipped off to get there early to ensure he could get a spot to take pictures and so he could scope out the venue to find the best the best angles, I just wanted to find a spot to watch the hockey game. Earlier in the day I had visited the Sled Island Poster Show hosted at the cozy underground I Love You Coffee Shop to interview a few artists including Moraine, who was just finishing his soundcheck when we arrived. Maybe it’s because I’m a nerd but I will never not have a little curiosity when an artist is soundchecking, it’s cool to hear them figure out their monitor mix and also know what song in their set they feel the most confident to soundcheck with. In Mouraine’s case they played “Championship” a handful of times and then called it good.

Because Sled Island does it right, at 8PM sharp Sergeant X Comrade took to the stage and immediately found their stride. They were projecting this slow moving image of an astronaut on a turntable floating through the stars in space, which may have been my favourite visuals of the weekend. The amazing lights and stage at The Palace combined with the sounds, backdrop, and talent emanating off the stage made for an incredible start to the night.

A highlight for myself was certainly their performance of the track Nosy Neighbour, off of their album The Elephant in the Room. The way the drummer and DJ were able to bounce off of each other and create tension through trading off who had the downbeat was such a treat to watch. There is a feeling when watching a really tight soul band, and I don’t think I can articulate it like I did in the Day 1 blog, but to try, it’s like there such a level of trust and understanding on stage. As if every band member is 10 steps ahead of each other, there was no panic, no eye contact indicating “hey let’s nail this bridge”, just pure performance. It was stunning. Also major props to The Palace’s sound team for how good Sergeant X Comrade sounded, no bleed between textures, all giving the vocalist a perfect foundation to find new heights.

The hits continued, the vibes continued. There were many highs hit as the set glided along, including some SLAP BASS and charming melodies. It was by the end of their set that I noticed I somehow ended up on the cool side of The Palace. I looked around to see myself surrounded by Calgary’s hip hop scene, K-Riz, Tea Fannie, KtheChosen and many other I’m sure I missed crowded stage right making for a great pocket of the concert to exist in. Only at Sled would there be a band that could be headlining a show be the first on the bill to put the audience in their place as a sort of sign of things to come.

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

9PM- Mouraine

Now at Sled Island 2024 I have not seen a bad show, a bad act, a band song. It’s been a fantastic time, and I feel it’s important to mention this because I am a huge Mouraine fan and that goes double since I had the opportunity to interview him yesterday. Anyway, so Mouraine killed it! Like wherever the bar was set after Sergeant X Comrade Mouraine blew right through it. He has such an energy to pair with a marvellous set of songs, and even to take it the next step further, he wasn’t even supposed to be on the gig last night. An artist had to drop out so Mouriane filled in at the final hour.

Due to the circumstances of his booking on the gig the crowd wasn’t totally with him through the first few songs which seemed to make something click for him on stage because within a few more songs he had the whole place singing lyrics back to him. Through nothing but his endless qualities as a performer he was able to turn the whole audience in his favour for the rest of his set, The Palace was so loud when he left I thought Mick Jenkins would never come out.

One last moment I want to highlight was somewhere during the latter half of Mouraine’s set when he got the whole place to start chanting the name of his latest album “In Search of Gold”. He got the whole place rocking then started throwing out copies of his CD into the audience like it was the mid 2000s or something. I loved it. Such a cool moment and it also got people fighting over CDs which is just such a cool thing to have happen in the age of streaming and immediacy in art. Big shout out to Mouraine for filling in on the gig and for putting on a set for the ages.

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

10PM- Mick Jenkins

Now I did not quite do my homework for this set at The Palace, I had been acutely aware of Sergeant X Comrade and Mouriane since starting my job at CKXU but Mick Jenkins eluded me. Kort AKA @flamesgrain- ok I’m not doing it again, is a huge fan and was hyped about the Mick Jenkins gig before we even knew we were going to Sled Island. Before his set I thought there would be a large change over between his set and Mouraine’s, considering Mick Jenkins is a large act at Sled Island this year. To my surprise, they actually ended up keeping the stage about the same, even keeping the drum kit around which really got me hyped up for his set.

After Mouraine the suspense for Mick Jenkins could not be higher, and when he took the stage the place blew up and pulsed with each bar Jenkins delivered. But I wasn’t able to fully experience the magic of the whole set as I had to jump around the block to the Palomino for the Radioactive Vampire Teeth set. So please enjoy what Kort has to say about how the night finished up.

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Mick Jenkin’s debut album “The Water (S).” I’ve been a fan of his work since 2018, and it was a dream come true to attend his show in my hometown and flex my photography muscles, shooting an artist I’ve adored since high school. His first song that resonated with me is off of the debut album and is titled “Jazz.” Jenkins finished his set at the Palace Theatre with this undeniably catchy tune. I felt everyone in the room had a similar experience of being captivated by this song as I did in 2018.

One of the notable moments of the set is when he does a bit where he references his debut album by directing the crowd to shout “Drink More Water,” among various other water references throughout the set; I don’t think he is aware of the current water situation in Calgary, but I found that rather comical. Jenkins captivated the crowd with great energy and not once stumbled over the complex poetry he crafts within his writing. It was a true honour to have such a talented MC in Cowtown, and this entire Palace show demonstrates the desire for more rap/hip-hop shows and how the musical landscape in Calgary is experiencing a shift in what the people want; I am here for it.

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

10:30PM- Radioactive Vampire Teeth

After leaving The Palace, I headed over to the home of smoked meats and sweet sounds, The Palomino Smokehouse for Radioactive Vampire Teeth’s second set of the night. Yes, they had already performed earlier at Pin Bar and now they were running it back at The Pal with zero signs of fatigue in fact they looked as ready and as rested as possible. They were playing the upstairs stage which is the best kind of awkward in my opinion and kind of perfect for the type of show RVT play. Awkward because the stage is small, very small just big enough for a drum kit and two amplifiers with no one else standing which pushed the extensive noise set up of the band onto the floor.

This “noise set up” I don’t really know what to call it due to how many pieces make are a part of it. On the floor there was a hard shell guitar case and inside was an assortment of effect pedals that I could not tell apart. Outside of the guitar case is where things got really weird, I saw a hockey helmet, children’s Casio keyboards, a ukulele held together with invisible tape and a Nintendo DS. Now all of those instruments would be used at some point in the set, and honestly the DS was super valuable to them as I think it was used for a few songs. I can’t be too sure because there was sound flying around all over the place throughout the set.

The body of Radioactive Vampire Teeth is their drummer, the constant, you can only get so far without a good drummer and they are no exception. The drummer, Matthew, was able to control the madness just barely as he skipped between blast beats and sideways linear drum grooves. Even then though, he had this modulated tremolo effect on his voice that just added to the insanity, I had not heard music fully until I had a mostly naked person play a Nintendo DS into a countless number of effect pedals while a drummer blew a harmonica held in his mouth while playing a never ending thumping groove. It was a pretty mind-altering experience that I may not think about for ever but whenever I do remember it I’ll be able to tell you every thing, smell, and sound I heard that night at The Palomino.

That’s all I have from night 3 at Sled Island 2024. As always thanks to the performers at the venues and all of the volunteers and staff needed to put on such amazing shows. It’s such a privilege to be able to go to Calgary and in the same night hear some phenomenal rappers and in the same festival hear some of the weirdest noise music I have ever witnessed. It’s beautiful. It’s Sled Island.

Photos and some words by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram
More words by Jeremy Collier, CKXU Music (Jazz) Director

20Jun2024

CKXU at Sled Island 2024 Blog: Day 1

Sled Island 2024 has officially begun! Okay, really Sled Island kicked off Tuesday night at Commonwealth with the Sled Island kickoff party, featuring performances from DJ Dine and Dash, Malaika Hailey, Völur, Lost Decade, and Beta Boys. But I was not in town for that fabulous kick off show so I my Sled started at Dickens Pub Wednesday night at 8pm.

Walking into Dickens for another Sled was like returning home, if home was filled with 808 breakdown drops and an occasional spin kick. The spin kicks were only occasional, which was slightly disappointing but I assume people were saving their energy for the rest of the weekend. Yes, there were no bloody noses or bruised knees, the most damage I saw was from a spilt beer can that someone very slowly slipped on. However quickly into the show all eyes were drawn to the artists and away from fellow audience members.

Dickens Pub on 19/06/24

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

9PM- SQUELCH

Squelch unceremoniously took the stage, as all opening acts must do. Squelch quickly showed us why they should have had a ceremony though. Immediately a count in is heard and the band rips into an intense chopped up rhythm played beyond breakneck speed which would continue for the next 20 minutes. The line defining where a song began and ended was purposefully unclear as is the case in many grindcore sets creating a very claustrophobic feeling to the music, where the only way out was back up through the Dickens staircase into the mild evening.

After a few minutes, the band seemed to all collectively take a drink of water then go right back at it again. Their endurance was nearly as menacing as their music. Somewhere along the way in the second half of their set one of their two front people announced that this would be their last set. The audience continued to listen with disappointed ears, but right as the band kicked into their next song one of the front people jumped off stage and grabbed two people by their shirt collars and threw them which caused the largest circle pit of the night so far.

Then came their last song and with it many hugs and looks shared, obviously the band meant a lot to the members of Squelch and this moment at Sled Island was the convergence of a lot of personal emotion. You can still listen to Squelch on their Bandcamp or follow them on instagram, who knows maybe their reunion gig will come sooner than we think, but I don’t think it will come sooner than we need it to.
Instagram @squelch.grind
Bandcamp squelchgrind.bandcamp.com

Squelch at Dickens Pub for Sled Island 2024

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

10PM- FALSE BODY

After Squelch I needed a glass of water and wanted to debrief with Kort AKA @flamesgrain AKA CKXU’s photographer at Sled Island about the set, during our debrief I couldn’t help but hear a rhythm being frantically tapped/slapped on wa pracrtise pad. I looked behind the curtain for a second to see Justin, the drummer of False Body, just pounding out patterns while gently tapping his feet on the ground all together in harmony. It was then I realized I was not ready for the level of musicianship I was about to witness.

The band got on stage with a jet turbine decibel level of feedback, some seriously ear piercing stuff. They all took a quick glance at each other and without even taking a second to breathe they exploded into their first song, in that flurry of the first note the guitarist’s hat flew off beside his stacked Orange amplifier. He never even bothered to pick it up again probably because he knew better. False Body left me speechless. Moshing or moving at all really didn’t even cross my mind as my eyes danced between watching the drummer, guitarist, and bassist make such technical and emotional music.

The marriage between their technical abilities and emotions is what sets False Body apart, at every shows of theirs I have seen. Their vocalist is able to control a crowd so easily through her actions and commands, it is like a pitcher throwing a perfect game; simply beautiful to watch. However the engine of the band is their drummer, what a dummer. If I was floored by his warm up his performance was unlike anything I had ever seen. Maybe it is because I am in Calgary so the comparison comes easy but last night Justin from False Body was Bret Hart, the absolute excellence of execution behind the kit, wrapping the audience up in his patterns then making them submit with every breakdown.

The last moment I want to capture from their show was somewhere in the last few songs. In typical False Body fashion everyone was sweating out a complex grind-influenced riff where out of nowhere the bassist’s strap slipped off of his bass and nearly sent his gorgeous red burst Rickenbacker to the floor but in an instant he snatched the red body under his elbow. He held his heavy bass against himself as he put the song to bed, it just reinforced all of the supernatural ideas I have about False Body’s talents. Not even a gear malfunction could slow their energy down.

False Body came out with an EP a few months ago and it is amazing. Please check it out and if you’re in their hometown of Edmonton check out one of their gigs! They also play around the province so keep an eye on their socials for when you can catch them next.
Instagram @falsebodyhc
Bandcamp falsebody.bandcamp.com

False Body at Dickens Pub for Sled Island 2024

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

11PM- Abrupt Decay

I should preface this portion of the blog by saying that this Abrupt Decay set was one of my most anticipated in the entire weekend of Sled Island. For those unaware Abrupt Decay has been a dominant force in Wild Rose Hardcore for over a year now, and with two EPs released and countless stages played (most recently joining Cel Damage on their Canadian Tour leg) it only makes sense for them to be prominently featured at Sled Island.

The hardest part about covering Abrupt Decay in a blog style post is describing their presence. There is such an aura of energy surrounding the band at any moment that it feels like the ceiling could come off of the venue at any point. As if their emotional expressions through their instruments is not enough of an outlet so all that remains is to send a conscious shock straight through the nervous system of each audience member to signal the upcoming Abrupt Decay set.

The set started and Calgary obviously wasn’t ready. Honestly I don’t even think I was ready and I have seen Abrupt Decay play numerous times now. There was a serious buzz in the audience that I could feel, people speculating about the pedals and turntable used by Gill to accompany the onslaught of analogue gear used by everyone, others wondering about what songs they will hear, I even heard someone ask if they should take their glasses off in fear of losing an eye in some mosh related disaster. Thankfully no disasters occurred, instead what people assumed to be a concert turned into an education in what Wild Rose Hardcore has become and what everyone has been missing out on if they have not attended any Abrupt Decay shows over the last two years.

The band played lots of new material which fully utilized their most recent member Gill’s 808s and effect pedals, Gill spent the entire set stressing the Dickens sound system to its breaking point. After each bass drop I fully expected the power to go out. The sheer sound produced on that stage was something to behold because fully understanding what notes were being played or lyrics were said would be futile. There just is not enough capacity in the human mind to fully digest an Abrupt Decay set in the moment. This goes double for when False Body joined Abrupt Decay to do their feature in the song Febrile Seizures, I am not one to pick highlights as the whole night is a highlight really, but that moment was incredibly special. Seeing the two bands join forces on stage to become a two headed monster, an absolute force to be reckoned with. If there was ever a split tape that needed to be made, it would have to be with Abrupt Decay and False Body.

However through the onslaught of an Abrupt Decay set I noticed how tight their drummer and bassist are with each other, it’s like they have been playing these songs for a decade together. I’m sure their recent run of shows has made everyone that much tighter in the band as a whole but for their rhythm section to be so cohesive, it just gives the band that much more of a platform to jump off of musically speaking.

The rest of my notes are just about how killer their new songs are, I am unsure of their song names but they announced a few of them throughout the set as “new ones”. They are so beyond what I expected from the band it was like they wrote the songs while visiting far away galaxies, they are not reinventing the wheel of math/metal/hardcore but rather pushing all of their genre tags to new creative heights. Heights I am not sure Wild Rose Hardcore and Alberta at large are ready for but getting this little taste of what is to come from Abrupt Decay is an amazing treat.

As quickly as it started it ended, such is the beauty of hardcore. What a first night and what a gig. A truly unique and fantastic show as is Sled Island’s trademark. Stay tuned to Abrupt Decay’s instagram as there is too much going in their favour at the moment for big things to not be on the horizon.

Instagram: @abruptdecayab
Bandcamp: abruptdecayab.bandcamp.com/

Abrupt Decay at Dickens Pub for Sled Island 2024

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain on Instagram

Thank you to all the bands, event volunteers, and staff for putting on an amazing night! There is still more to come from Sled Island and you can read all about it here on CKXU.com!