Date of Show: January 29, 2014 Written by: Chiara DiAngelo Niagara’s Kaptur is the project of multi-instrumentalist Riley Jensen. Formerly a solo endeavour, he recently expanded to a full four-piece band to include Andrew Grierson (guitar), KC Floyd (bass), and Justin Jennings (drums). Their set began with a looping sampler recording introduction, “Hello, we’re Kaptur […]

Date of show: November 30, 2013 Written by: Chiara DiAngelo On a cold November night, Montreal’s Half Moon Run took the stage in front of a sold-out crowd and instantly the chill in our bones was melted away by their spectacularly atmospheric synth-pop. From the simple yet heavy harmonica-laden ballad “Unofferable” to the swelling entire […]

Date of show: November 29, 2013 Written by: Chiara DiAngelo Led by swaggering frontman Matthew Angus, Toronto-based Fast Romantics had a redesigned lineup since last we saw them, welcoming two former Australians, Shane O’Keeffe (guitar) and Lauren Heron (keys), who threw some lovely accents into the mix of spirited backing vocals. The band’s new album […]

Date of show: November 24, 2013 Written by: Chiara DiAngelo Opening the night was Vancouver’s Jordan Klassen. Where there was nervous awkwardness when we saw him at the Dakota earlier in 2013, this was now replaced with confidence. Still just as quirky, Klassen owned his eccentricity and thus, commanded the stage with a newfound presence. […]

Friday, October 25, 2013 KASHKA (11:00PM) Catherine and I met up at Burrito Jax to thaw our fingers and gain sustenance in the form of a burrito before heading over to The Seahorse Tavern for the remainder of the night. The new project of Toronto’s Kat Burns, KASHKA represents a departure from the folkcentric Forest […]

Friday, October 25, 2013 As part of Halifax Pop Explosion, Joel Plaskett performed with Symphony Nova Scotia (conducted by Martin MacDonald) at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium on two nights. These special sold out performances featured Mo Kenney and some special guests and friends (David Christensen, Erin Costelo and Bill Plaskett). As you could probably imagine, […]

Friday, October 25, 2013 The Zolas (5:00PM) We started our Friday outdoors at the Grand Parade Square for some free festivities. In the heart of downtown, just a short walk from the waterfront, there was a nip in the air as The Zolas took the stage. The Zolas may not be the most outwardly dynamic […]

Thursday, October 24, 2013 After filling up on burgers at Ace Burger and ice cream at Dee Dee’s, we spent Thursday night at The Marquee Ballroom for some Toronto and East Coast favourites. Earlier in the evening we also had the chance to see some of Louise Burns’ stripped down solo set in the CKDU […]

Wednesday, October 23, 2013 Outtacontroller (Olympic Community Hall, 8:00PM) We arrived to the Olympic Community Centre in time to catch the last little bit of Halifax band Outtacontroller. The frantic edge to their blazing power pop-punk tunes proved to be a fun start to our night. If your ears haven’t yet come across these East […]

Tuesday, October 22, 2013 With Catherine wanting to return to Halifax after a great experience at Halifax Pop Explosion in 2011 and me having never been to the East Coast, we decided to make the festival happen this year. While we weren’t stuffing our faces with seafood and taking in the beautiful sights of the […]