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Sled Island Friday Photos

Tricky Woo, originally uploaded by Gunn ♪.

Tricky Woo rocking out! A few more photos here.

Sled Island Thursday Photos

Monotonix, originally uploaded by Gunn ♪.

Wow!

Sled Island Wednesday Photos

Andrew WK, originally uploaded by Gunn ♪.

Gong show! Dig photos from the CJSW showcase at Central United Church, Factory Party #6 and Broken City.

Sled Island back for third year!

With a continuous stream of exciting musicians and artists arriving to town each hour, Sled Island is officially underway in the city of Calgary. Book off the next four days from work, friends, because this is going to be an outrageously action-packed 96-hour party starring the likes of The Breeders, Obits, The Bronx, HEALTH, Liars, Anvil, Holy F*ck, Mount Eerie, Knots, Andrew WK, Monotonix, Michael Rault, BRAIDS, The Pack AD, Biz Markie, Whitey Houston, Factory Party #6, the blazing return of Tricky Woo and many, many more. This year, the music and arts festival is being curated by the talented Colin Newman (see image below), who will debut brand new material alongside his lovely wife, Malka Spigel, in Githead. They're amazing! Grab a festival guide, buy a wristband, discover a slew of new favourite bands and make sure you meet some new best friends. Remember your nightly rejuvenating shots of espresso and see you at the latenight Legion afterparties!

Part of Team Sled Island 2009 at CJSW recording a Sled Island podcast (hear it at SledIsland.com)
L-R Zak Pashak, Shawn Petsche, Malka Spigel and Colin Newman and their juice boxes.

PHOTOS: Flemish Eye Ball (May 16, 2009)

Calgary’s premier indie label, Flemish Eye, put on a highly anticipated (and highly sold out) shindig at the Royal Canadian Legion #1 in the downtown core. It was a veritable who’s who of local musicians with a few very special guests from coast to coast added to the mix.

Two synched stages (upstairs and downstairs) offered back to back bands all night long. First off, I caught The Pale Air Singers. The supergroup Singers feature both members of Victoria's Run Chico Run and Calgary's The Cape May. To top it off, their self-titled debut album was released TODAY!

Next up was Ghostkeeper with special guests Jay Crocker and Scott Munro (Günther, etc.). The crowd was packed in very tightly, but I managed to get close enough to catch a few great shots.

Local road warriors WOMEN tore it up afterwards. Their sound crystallized by over 200 shows in the past year. Matt Flagel held it all down on bass, not the least bit tired from his earlier performance with the Pale Air Singers.

Trivia Moment: Mr. Matt Flagel, not to be confused with his brother Pat (WOMEN vocalist), is also in The Cape May AND plays with Chad Vangaalen from time to time.

(Yes, that is a small picture of Oprah on his pick guard)

Unfortunately, the crowd upstairs wasn’t as easily navigable this time around, so my shots of Azeda Booth were taken from a precarious perch atop a railing

The evening culminated with a fantastic double shot of Julie Doiron and Chad Vangaalen. First, we heard Julie doing a few solo songs. I was glad to hear “Spill Yer Lungs” among others from her great new album. Chad backed her up on drums.

Then, the musicians changed roles. Chad picked up his guitar and threw down lots of material from Soft Airplane. Here he is playing banjo while maintaining a steady Vrksasana (tree pose) throughout the song “Willow Tree”:

Two big thumbs up to Ian Russell (AKA Mr. Flemish Eye, AKA The Hardest Working Man in Calgary Music) and everyone at/on Flemish Eye for regaling us with such a rare event!

Check out more photos here.

CJSW News covers School of Public Policy Opening

CJSW, originally uploaded by CJSW News.

The University of Calgary launched the new School of Public Policy on Wednesday, May 13th. Inside a downtown hotel, the gala included speeches from Premier Ed Stelmach, U of C president Harvey Weingarten and former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Outside, a small group of protesters including U of C students demonstrated against the event. Tune into CJSW News at 11 am on Monday, May 18th for coverage of the event, including a half-hour interview with Dr. Jack Mintz, executive director of the new school.

Sled Island 2009 Line-up Announced!

Final Fantasy, originally uploaded by Gunn ♪.

Liars, Women, Woodhands, Tricky Woo, The Breeders, Obits, Anvil, The Coathangers, HEALTH, The King Khan & BBQ Show, The Evaporators, Mount Eerie, Hot Little Rocket, The Pack A.D., Sub-linguals, Githead, Final Fantasy, The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Whitsundays, The Dead Science, Andrew W.K., Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, Novillero, The Bronx, Nardwuar’s Video Vault, The United Steel Workers of Montreal, Slim Twig, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, O’Death, Monotonix, Jonathan Toubin, Malajube, Ladyhawk, Library Voices, Hollerado, Japandroids, The Dudes, Flash Lightnin’, The Cripple Creek Fairies, Holy Fuck, Battle Snakes.

Full list expected on June 1! More info on Sled Island...