Saturday, October 22, 2011
Saturday, the final day of HPX, was a little crazy. I started off the afternoon at the big free showcase that was moved from Grand Parade Square (the location of Occupy Nova Scotia) to Olympic Community Hall.
After catching some of Carmen Townsend, Plants and Animals were on stage next. While the band is based out of Montreal, this big showcase acted as a homecoming to two of the members that are from Halifax. Playing a rockin’ set, Plants and Animals brought the energy in the completely packed Hall to a whole new level.
Next up were Stars. After years as part of the Canadian music scene, it is evident that the band still has chemistry, with Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell sounding as lovely as ever, and that the fans still love them. While last year’s The Five Ghosts was still prominently featured in their set, the band still played those fan favourites that made the fans fall in love with the band in the first place. And for those that were unable to get into the packed venue, the band was actually kind enough to play some acoustic songs outside, showing why they’re one of Canada’s finest.
The evening started off at Tribeca to see some of Jon McKiel. While the venue was not completely packed, the hometown favourite had the crowd gathered right up front. Perhaps some of that can be attributed to the secret guest. Though I know who it was, I passed on the set in favour of seeing him later on that night.
I then headed over to Olympic Community Hall for their evening showcase. First up wasToronto favourites The Meligrove Band. While the band played to a fairly sparse crowd considering the size of the venue, their pop rock put the crowd in a great mood, setting the tone for the night.
Hailing from Montreal, Suuns completely blew me away with their synth-heavy punishing rock combined with an incredible light show. Out of all the bands I hadn’t seen before the Festival, Suuns was by far the most captivating of them all and is a band I recommend everyone to put on their radar.
While I missed Miracle Fortress’ set in favour of getting some food and air, I made it back in time to see Chad VanGaalen. As a fan of the album, even with seeing him again, I’m still not completely sold on him as a live performer. He’s so creative, but sometimes several minutes of noise is just too much. It’s a shame that a disappointment with VanGaalen is how I ended off my Halifax Pop Explosion, but overall the whole experience was a good one.
buying shots for bands 
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