Live, In Review: Winterruption YEG

Live, In Review: Winterruption YEG

Words By:

Sean Newton & Jeff MacCallum

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Before beginning to discuss our wonderful time at Winterruption YEG, a tip of the cap must go out to Brent Oliver and the entire team at Winterruption YEG. The festival was originally slated to take place at the end of January, unfortunately, the Omicron variant had taken substantial hold of the province of Alberta, forcing yet another disappointing announcement of postponement.

Deciding it was time to give Covid a big middle finger, Oliver and his team set out to reschedule the entire event, an almost impossible task. During the wrap-up event I briefly chatted with Oliver about the feat and he was quick to say that the kudos must be shared with the other Winterruption festivals in the prairies and also Big Winter Classic in Calgary as they all shared lineups and worked together to reschedule the various festivals. He said there was no way they would have pulled it off if they weren’t all working together.

Because of their efforts and dedication to delivering us live music in a post-pandemic world, Sean Newton and myself were able to attend Winterruption YEG in all its glory. Today we are excited to share our experiences. (JM)

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My festival experience was a little smaller than Sean’s but I was able to take in the kick off show with Ghost Woman. This Alberta desert-psych band has been wowing audiences for years but this was the first time I’d seen them incorporate visuals to their, already fantastic, live show. Although the band always enthrals, the videos chosen and looped really took their live show to another level. A true showmanship level of detail was obtained from Ghost Woman with the highlight being when the final drum beat of their performance was timed perfectly to a rocket exploding as it attempted to get to space. Shivers. (JM)

My first show of the festival was Thursday, March 31st, with hometown heroes Eamon McGrath and Altameda at the Starlight Room, joined by Julian Taylor and Jillian Lake. Both headliners are Albertan transplants living in Toronto, and notably enjoyed a raucous reception in their hometown. These are some of the hardest working bands in Canada right now; Eamon tours his ass off, to the point that performing seems like second nature, like he doesn’t even have to think about how to put on a great show anymore. Altameda, meanwhile, showed off plenty of new material from what was then their upcoming album, and is now their excellent new record Born Losers. This was my first experience with their new tunes, and they did not disappoint; the album has been a way for me to revisit some of my favourite moments from the show in the weeks since then. I left late, wishing more than anything that I did not work mornings at a retail job. (SN)

My first night of the main weekend included a trip to SOHO to see Art d’Ecco who Sean had interviewed for “Inside the Artist’s Studio” merely days before his performance. I believe this was his third trip to Edmonton and I was excited to finally catch him live. Arriving on stage dressed to the nines, Art d’Ecco then proceeded to remind us all what rock n’ roll can be. He tore through his catalogue in energetic fashion and had the audience shaking their asses. We were blessed with some new tracks but it was the bangers from his previous two albums that got the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. (JM)

After a full day of work on Saturday, I was excited to to bounce around to as many shows as I could in the evening to celebrate the coming of my weekend. I caught good pal Aladean Kheroufi playing a free show at the Backyard, an outdoor venue in Edmonton’s Ice District, followed by Karimah. I ran over to Rocky Mountain Icehouse to catch Saskatoon indie-punk legends Slow Down Molasses, and after a high energy bonanza of a performance, went to see my one non-Winterruption show of the weekend. Just throwing this out there to the festival bookers reading this: get Laundry Week at your festival. I went home exhausted and maybe a little bit too inebriated for my own good, ready to wake up in time for some afternoon shows at the Backyard the next day… or at least I thought I would be ready; though I made it in time to catch the Denim Daddies and King of Foxes at the Backyard (under the watchful eye of Epcor tower), I was nursing what could only be described as a nuclear hangover. Turns out, the Denim Daddies are arguably the perfect band to see in this scenario; it seems that some of them may also have been nursing an equally catastrophic hangover, but their great sense of humour, classic country groove, and relentless Calgary-bashing nursed me back to health. King of Foxes’ set was notable for the extremely tight performance (even with a substitute bass player) and the refined arrangements; each song is just so plainly pleasant and enjoyable to listen to, it’s impossible not to feel better as soon as they start playing. Not to mention front woman and songwriter Olivia Street; she’s one of the best front people I’ve seen, and is so completely magnetic in how she draws the crowd into her songs. I ran home once again to prepare for an interview that evening with TEKE::TEKE.

That evening’s show at Rocky Mountain Icehouse was ostensibly the ‘Wrap-Up’ party, and was far and away the best show of the weekend (I second Sean’s statement - JM). Bitters opened things up, and Emily Bachynski (the creative dynamo behind Edmonton’s Bad Buddy) demonstrated, once again, why she’s probably my favourite songwriter in Edmonton right now. Her songs feel personal and personable, like you’re getting a chance to run around in the brain of one of your coolest and most insightful friends. The night ended with the best live set I’ve seen in recent memory from Montreal’s TEKE::TEKE. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before, with instrumentation and arrangements that made it impossible to walk away from. If there was ever an argument for maximalist arrangements and highly choreographed performances, this band is it. (SN)

I also wanted to take some time to gush over the TEKE::TEKE performance. But before they took the stage, we got an impromptu appearance from festival producer Brent Oliver who spoke to the audience about the band that was originally supposed to have the headlining spot for this show, The Sadies. Doing his best to choke back tears, Oliver spoke of the passing of Dallas Good, a friend to Oliver and the audience shared a moment of silence to acknowledge the passing of a Canadian legend. It was a very touching moment, something that couldn’t have been easy to do but was an important gesture. Then, to soften the moment, Oliver brought out Montreal’s TEKE::TEKE.

Merging Japanese Eleki (a frenetic surf-type genre created by Japanese bands of the 60s) with elements of psych, garage, noise, and rock, TEKE::TEKE took to the stage and set the festival aflame. This seven headed monster employed a myriad of instruments including drums, bass trombone, Shinobue (a type of Japanese flute), synths, keys, and two guitars (one of which was continually played in the most uncommon ways). The pedals were aplenty and the sounds they created were awe inspiring. Everyone at the show was collectively “jaw-dropped” by this performance. What a live act!!! (JM)

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Fast forward one week to the Winterruption encore on April 9th, where I caught The Hearts, Daysormay, Charlotte Cornfield, and Rich Aucoin. Aucoin and Daysormay had some of the highest energy crowds of the entire festival (the lead singer of Daysormay was notably singing from atop the bar at Starlite Room on their first song), while Charlotte Cornfield was without a doubt the most sincere and affecting act of the entire festival. (SN)

On the final night of the festival I took in The Bobby Tenderloin Universe who’s laid back, and often comical take on classic country was a fantastic lead up to the headliner, Boy Golden. The place was packed shoulder to shoulder as Boy Golden charged into a fantastic set of songs that have quickly become Canadian favourites from his 2021 album, Church Of Better Daze. The band was tight, playing off the energy of the packed house. And I stress packed. Although masked, I’m still pretty darn sure that this was the event that gave me COVID for the very first time. With my lack of symptoms while sick, I can confidently say (in hindsight) that it was worth it. (JM)

The entire two-week stretch of the festival left me with the overwhelming desire to see more live music in the months to come, and by and large I’ve followed through on that feeling. Every performance I saw reminded me of just how much I had missed going to see the incredible performers and songwriters that we have in Edmonton and across Canada. Winterruption YEG was just about the best re-awakening to this fact that I could have asked for. Can’t wait to do it all again next year. (SN)

- Words By: Sean Newton & Jeff MacCallum