For those of you who are just emerging from a 9-year food coma, Sled Island is a huge event held in Calgary each year that hosts more than 200 up-and-coming bands. But music isn’t the festival’s only attraction; I counted almost 40 different all-ages events on its schedule, which runs from June 24th to 28th and encompasses everything from concerts to art shows, films, comedy, and special events like yoga and punk rock bingo.
In my opinion, Sled Island is the best thing to come along for us under-18s since the virgin mojito, and my fellow bloggers Anayat Sidhu and Nikki Negre and I plan to take full advantage; minors can purchase wristbands that give them full access to the all-ages events for only $50, whereas the least expensive passes for adults are $200. (Check out http://shop.sledisland.com.) It’s such a difference in price, one of Sled’s co-ordinators told us, that many adults try to pose as minors just to get the all-ages tickets! Talk about a reversal of roles!
As I’ve mentioned, Sled Island is about more than music. But since I’m that person who can’t go into an Italian restaurant and order anything but pizza (gluten-free, of course), this article will primarily focus on what the festival is most famous for: its many concerts and bands.
Sled Island does not claim to favour a specific music genre, and instead includes indie, funk, art-rock, disco, doom, drone, new wave, surf, sludge, shoegaze, grunge, garage-punk, hardcore, and folk style bands in its lineup. This works well for us, since Nikki, Anayat, and I have vastly different tastes in music- punk rock, indie pop, and jazz/funk, respectively- that will make our festival adventure together reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz in how all three of us are looking for different things from the same supreme music festival.
Nikki and Anayat are most excited to see Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a band that takes its name from a documentary about the Black Emperors, a Japanese biker gang. This is surely the most popular band on Sled’s lineup this year, and I’m sure all who see and hear will testify that their post-rock sound shook the seats of Central United Church, where they’ll play on Thursday and Friday at 8 pm. http://www.sledisland.com/2015/godspeed-you-black-emperor
I am most looking forward to the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, playing on July 27th at the Olympic Plaza. Perhaps it’s that I dig their incredibly entertaining and multifaceted performance style, or just that their description on the Sled Island site is a little more explanatory than “passive-aggressive” (Indie band Milk) “punctually insane” (Art-rock band Other Jesus) or “dedicated to putting a bandana on your golden retriever” (garage-punk band Dried Out). Either way, I am excited to see them in action! http://www.sledisland.com/2015/hypnotic-brass-ensemble
And, of course, there are a few more bands that we would like to see: Son Lux, Blonde Elvis, Beat Cops, Teengirl Fantasy, Turnstile, Television, Viet Cong, King Tuff, and Body/Head.
The three of us will be vlogging the event, and we hope to see you there! Check out Sled’s website to buy tickets and to listen to songs from this year’s lineup. Let us know which band is your favourite!
Source(s): http://www.sledisland.com
Interview in The Wire, September 1998, by David Keenan