Luke Simcoe aeditor@ gmail.com rocks Calgary June 25-29 I, 2007, Calgarian Zak Pashak—who made national headlines four years ago when his stepfather, Allan Markin, part-owner of the Calgary Flames, sued him for custody of the family dog—decided to engage in a little bit of indie rock philanthropy and created the inaugural Sled Island Festival, a four-day concert that boasted acts like The Boredoms, Cat Power and Spoon alongside a slough of local talent. This year, the indie promoter tried to one-up himself, adding an extra day to the festival and enlisting Scott Kannberg (formerly of Pavement!!) to help curate the lineup. Why? Because, in his own words, Pashak thought, “Calgarians are searching” for an alternative to “pathetic interpretations of New York” and that they “want something vibrant, meaningful, and home grown that holds up to anything in the world.” Curiously, my own motivations for embarking on a journey to Cow Town were surprisingly similar. Frustrated by the bland commerciality surrounding this year’s upcoming Pemberton Festival, I decided to opt out of the LiveNation sponsored booze-a-thon, and instead invest my time and money into Sled Island, an event which seemed a tad more genuine. Although the festival suffered from some poor scheduling—many of the best acts played at the same time in small venues strewn across the city’s core—I think I made the right choice. After an 11-hour drive, I got to Calgary just in time to scam my way to the front of the line for an acoustic Q&A with Hoboken’s finest, Yo La ‘Tengo. Husband and wife . duo Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, along with the various other musicians that have tagged along, have been a staple of the indie scene since their formation in 1984. Seeing a band with that kind of staying power is one thing, but attending an intimate and interactive performance with them in an artsy theatre is another. The band fielded a lot of stupid questions from the audience (What’s your favourite colour? How did 9-11 affect your music?), but they almost always managed to turn them into amusing anecdotes. In between questions the band drew a mix of popular and obscure arrows from their musical quiver, and treated the crowd to an Angry Samoans cover and a precious version of Neil Young’s “For the Turnstiles.” From there it was, off to catch rising Calgary stars Women. The band—all of whom are boys—sounded like a mix of two other prominent bands at the festival: No Age and The Dodos. The foursome’s intricate forays into both shiny, nostalgic pop and avant-garde ambience appear to have garnered them a sizable local following, as they had the medium-sized venue fairly full. Local percussion-driven noise act Basketball was up next, and in an exciting twist, they had recruited local fixture Cameron Reed, the organizer of Music Waste and a former member of short-lived local sensation Hot Loins—to dance around, interact with the crowd and occasionally bang some cymbals together. The festival boasted a number of surprise guests, all of whom closed out the nights at the Legion Hall. On Thursday, Okkervil River had the honour. Fresh off an earlier show in the day, singer Will Sheff arrived onstage sporting a get-up similar to the one Napoleon Dynamite wore to the prom, and he led his band through “Calgarians are searching for an alternative to pathetic interpretations of New York” number of solid folksy indie-rock jams. Sadly, I left before they inevitably closed with the epic “For Real,” from 2005’s The Black Sheep Boy. Yo La Tengo’s Friday set on the mainstage, marred as it was by terrible, bass- heavy sound, couldn’t hold a candle to their earlier show, so the festival didn’t really get going until hometown songstresses Tegan & Sara showed up. I got the feeling the twins were engaged in a bit of a sisterly spat, as their trademark back and forth banter didn’t really make an appearance. I suppose Tegan made up for it though when she quipped that she didn’t have crabs in front of an audience that consisted of almost all her extended family. Despite their hometown _ status, longstanding pop-punks Chixdiggit couldn’t attract many people to the side stage, as most of the crowd was hunkering down for the imminent arrival of Broken Social Scene. Singer KJ Jansen responded by playfully mocking those waiting instead of watching, and then tore through a quick set of the three- chord, boy meets girl anthems the band has been penning — since 1991. Love it or hate it, you have to give the band credit for sticking with the formula for so long. It’s kind of cute that their songwriting hasn’t changed since they were a bunch of teenagers banging out tunes in their parent’s garage. Broken Social Scene got a late start, and as such, they had to cut their set short. Kevin Drew even apologized, saying it was more like a tease than actually going to bed together. They pretty much rolled out the hits, including “KC Accidental” and “Cause=Time,” before treating the audience to a few tracks from Brendan Canning’s upcoming solo record. They closed with an absolutely thundering version of “Ibi Dreams of Pavement.” Friday’s special guest was Wire. For those of you don’t know, Wire is one of the most influential post-punk bands ever to emerge from the UK. While the band may not be as spry as they were in their heyday back in the late 70s, the continuing quality of their output more than makes up for it. Much of their set was comprised of the newer songs from their Read & Burn series, but they did reach way back for “The Lowdown,” and they played “12XU” during their second encore! Much of the final day at the mainstage progressed on serve: Jonathan Richman, formerly of The Modern Lovers, warbled his way through idiosyncratic love songs, the spectacle of Of Montreal’s live show, which included a few costume changes and a man wearing a big tiger head, sadly overshadowed their songs, and Mogwai’s evocative, chest-rattling instrumentals were a perfect closer. I suppose the highlight was catching a glimpse of Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes changing backstage and discovering—via the giant “Italia” emblazoned on his underwear—that he was an Italian soccer fan. Once the mainstage ended, I took a gamble on Qui, a formerly instrumental and experimental hardcore band, who recently recruited David Yow, the aging former frontman of The Jesus Lizard, on vocals. Although he looked like he’d been living the rock n’ roll lifestyle for a bit too long, Yow lived up to his reputation as a gonzo frontman; he grabbed people from the crowd and sang right into their faces and stalked the small stage like a sweat-drenched man possessed. His performance was made all the more impressive by the fact that he only recently recovered from a punctured lung he received while performing in Pittsburgh. Human Milk, collaboration between some Broken Social Scenesters and Scott Kannberg, were the final special guests at the Legion. Although earmest, the songs were kind of ramshackle and, with the exception of a rousing version of “It’s All Gonna Break,” they ended the festival on a somewhat anticlimactic note. Cool. Well it’s time to put those sleds back in the garage until next summer. See you then.