We went to see Austra make their Haligonian debut at Reflection's Cabaret last night as part of the opening night of Halifax Pop Explosion. Here's what we saw.
1. The echo-y, dreamy synth-pop of Vogue Dots
If the purpose of festivals like HPX is to discover your new favourite bands, then Vogue Dots are our first big win of this year's fest. They describe themselves as an "experimental pop" band, who are originally from New Brunswick, but are now based out of Halifax. They combine haunting, breathy female vocals with production that ranges from chillwave-y lo-fi electro to pulsating industrial lite. We would like to see big things happen for this band.
2. An unexpected tribute to Jam Master Jay
Astral Swans are one of those acts that sound like they're a band, but are actually just one guy. In this case, the guy is Matthew Swann, a psych-influenced Calgarian singer-songwriter, who is probably the last guy you'd even expect to write a touching tribute to Run-D.M.C.'s late DJ Jam Master Jay. And yet, that's exactly what he did.
3. Hula hoops
We're not sure why, but there were hula hoops in the upstairs mezzanine at Reflections, which meant that there were several drunk people attempting to hula hoop. While that was pretty fun to watch, it also led to a couple hoops narrowly missing going over the railing and into the crowd below.
4. Petra Glynt's kazoo
For those of you who aren't familiar, Petra Glynt is a brilliant, 21st-century one-woman band. She had a table full of sequencers and loop pedals, a floor tom she hits with the intensity of a Mack truck, and a rich, resonant contralto voice. She has the ability to put the crowd in a sort of rhythmic trance. And once you're in that trance, she breaks out a kazoo.
5. The most excited audience ever
We can't remember the last time we saw a crowd dance with such abandon, so many smiling faces at a show or when we were hugged by so many strangers. We didn't think aggressively friendly was a thing until last night.
6. A dancier, funkier Austra
While Austra has always had a dance music element, it was pushed to the forefront last night. Songs like "Home," "Lose It" and "Forgive Me" took on an almost house-y tone, and it was amazing.
7. An up-close-and-personal experience with Austra
Austra is a band that plays a lot of festivals, so seeing them in a club with a capacity of a few hundred on a stage that was just a foot higher than everywhere else is a rare and brilliant experience. Katie Stelmanis's classically trained soprano voice, which is one of the best not only in Canada, but in popular music today, was simultaneously louder and more nuanced than we'd ever heard it. Tiny, subtle inflections were audible as the sound flooded the room. Stelmanis walked around the edge of the stage, inches from the unbelievably stoked crowd, and the band seemed to feed off that energy, with smiles onstage and instruments attacked with a pretty serious level of ferocity.
Want more Halifax Pop Explosion coverage? Read these:
12 must-see acts at this year's Halifax Pop Explosion
Halifax Pop Explosion: a (mini) oral history of the fest's best moments
