Calgary Comic Expo 2017

Calgary Comic Expo: Calling All Space Cowboys… Saddle Up!

by Christine Leonard
29 April 2017

If the old adage is to be believed, you should “never meet your heroes.” But for fans of the fastest-growing comic convention in North America, that saying could not be further from the truth. Attracting over 100,000 people in 2016, Calgary’s annual Comic & Entertainment Expo (AKA Calgary Expo) engulfs Stampede Park and transmogrifies those hallowed stomping grounds into a multimedia playground that is truly a spectacle to behold. It’s not the first space rodeo for Calgary Expo’s spokeswoman and mascot, Emily Expo, but she promises that 2017’s four day run of fandom will offer up a star-studded affair that will be the highlight of your terrestrial orbit.

“The last couple of years have been huge for us and we keep trying to present an even better experience for our attendees,” says Emily Expo. “At the moment the focus isn’t so much on size as improving the quality of the event for all. Making sure that there is something for everyone and trying to make sure that everything is well organized and goes smoothly from an operational perspective.”

Engaging with a public that has so embraced all of its colourful components, Calgary Expo has swelled beyond the scope of a self-contained entity and has extended its tendrils into the very core of the City.

“I am quite proud of us as an organization for putting on the Parade of Wonders!, which happens on the Friday morning of each Expo,” she explains. “To have all these cosplayers, and the nerds, and the geeks, and the fans parading through downtown Calgary, and showing their pride in this show that started with 3,000 people in 2006, is really quite an accomplishment!  The route is a little bit different year. We start at 8th and 8th and we still wind-up at Olympic Plaza, but due to the growth of the event and how big it is it has become a little too disruptive and we don’t want to annoy people with what we’re doing. We want to create a community thing that everybody can come and enjoy, so we worked with the City to develop a new route.”

Back on the grounds, where the Calgary Expo occupies 450,000 square feet dedicated to the arts of gaming, shopping, and celebrity-worship, it’s all too easy to lose all sense of direction and monetary prudence. But thanks to the Expo’s handy phone app, Calgary cadets are less likely to miss their window of opportunity to land amongst the stars.

“We had an app last year and we revamp it every year, as things change and develop. So, we’ll have that again this year for people who want it. It is really useful for keeping track of your schedule, especially if you’re into panels and photo ops.”

Aside from a one-off concert appearance by James Marsters at the Expo’s official After Party, the lynchpin in this year’s special programming is an appearance by the comic book culture’s middle-aged poster boy, Kevin Smith. Known for his directorial triumphs (and flops) as well as his podcasting career, and television show “Comic Book Men,” Smith will be joined by his partner in rhyme, Jay Mewes (AKA Jay), for a separately-ticked event called “Jay & Silent Bob Get Old” on April 29 at the Stampede Corral.

“I’m also super excited for Kevin Smith, because I’ve seen every movie he’s ever done and I’m a huge Jay and Silent Bob fan. I’m looking forward to hearing his stories and seeing him on stage with Jason Mewes. I think that’ll be a fantastic event. Although, definitely for a more mature audience, and not recommended for the kids. I am sure most people are aware. If you’re at all familiar with Kevin’s brand of humour, you’ll know what to expect.”

Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo runs from April 27-30 at Stampede Park.

420 Music and Arts Festival

Puff, Puff, Passion Project : 

420 Music and Arts Festival

by Christine Leonard
20 April 2017

Proof that pipe dreams can come true, Calgary’s inaugural 420 Music & Arts Festival is more than a celebration of Mother Nature’s bounty, it’s a gathering of some of the finest stoner rock bands in the land. Branching off of a history of hosting their own internet show and presenting live bands under the auspices of the Metalheads United Network, Festival coordinators CC Getty and Celestia Scarlett, along with co-organizer Patrick Saulnier, had some inkling of what they were getting into when they set about orchestrating what has grown into a four-evening event.

“It was really hard to do,” admits Getty. “We started organizing and reaching out to bands to see if they were interested. This music doesn’t get a lot of played a lot a Distortion, so we’re kind of breaking the mould there. But, we ran through a bunch of names of bands we love like Wo Fat and reached out to them, thinking that they’d never message us back. Within minutes we had a reply from Wo Fat. They were in!”

Once the RSVPs from bands started flowing it quickly became apparent that there were bigger obstacles to be overcome in establishing a groundbreaking tradition from the grassroots level.

“We were working with Distortion’s booker when we started getting push-back on the name of the Festival,” he recalls. “There are many stereotypes associated with stoner rock and stoner metal, but just because you listen to it doesn’t mean you’re into marijuana. We really wanted to take away the stereotypes.”

Incorporating an “expo” of artistic and educational displays for attendees to explore, the Festival aims to complement the fun elements common to 420 celebrations held across the planet with timely socio-political considerations.

“We’ve found about 30 or 40 vendors, so far,” confirms Scarlett.

“It’s great because Calgary has a tonne of talented craftspersons and designers. We wanted to create a showcase for people and put that together with some of your medical marijuana activists and other interesting vendors from Calgary.”

Medicine for the soul will be in abundance throughout the event as Getty and company have harvested an epic line-up of bands that will have audiences returning to Distortion’s doorstep night after night. Thank the Goddess for onsite food trucks!

“Within the stoner rock canon, there are so many different styles that we wanted to represent,” Scarlett explains.

“We started looking around at bands in Western Canada that were in the genre and there were so many possibilities for line-ups. Enough to keep us going well into the future, in fact. So, we tried to pick a lot of bands that don’t usually play here and layered them in with Calgary’s favourite bands. It’s an interesting and diverse mix that offers a unique experience every night for people who are doing three shows back to back.”

Call it stoner, desert, sludge, doom or swamp rock, those rolling organic grooves with a hardcore concrete center are a custom fit for the city’s heavy hitters.

“One of the bands we have playing, Hypnopilot, are probably Calgary’s original stoner rock band. They played the Distortion anniversary party and were so fired up for this festival they switched up their setlist,” Getty reports.

“We have over 20 bands playing the festival, but we’re actually putting together more to play a free show on the 19th. We’re inviting people to come down and pick up their wristbands and tickets a day early and to get first shot at some of the merchandise. We figured we might as well have some bands play while we get everything set up!”

The 420 Music & Arts Festival features live music, art, food trucks, vendors, beard contests and more. Head to the festival website or Facebook for more information.

Wo Fat: “Texas Sized” Grooves

Wo Fat: Delivers
the Swampadelic Sounds

by Christine Leonard

15 April 2017

There are few things more enjoyable than digging into some salty, smoky barbeque and that’s exactly the kind of pure chewing satisfaction that meaty Dallas-based swamp rockers Wo Fat have on their proverbial grill. Turning raw blues rhythms and uncluttered doom grooves into sweet psych-rock sustenance for over a decade, this well-seasoned trio has hung in together through thick and thin. 

From the formative rumblings of their 2006 debut The Gathering Dark, to the fulsome darkness of last year’s full-length release Midnight Cometh, Wo Fat’s lead guitarist/vocalist Kurt Stump, bassist Tim Wilson and drummer Michael Walter have consistently brought home the bacon.

“The good thing about Texas is that it’s got a strong scene for our kind of music,” says jam-master Stump.

“There’s a bunch of good bands here and a number of excellent venues to play close by, so you can do a short weekend jaunt and hit a few places.”

Of course, the group who brought forth molten LPs Psychedelonaut (2009) and Noche del Chupacabra (2011) had little choice but to catch fire around the globe.

As welcome as the sound of fat sizzling on mesquite embers, Wo Fat’s heavy fuzz-laden emanations attracted riff worshiping legions to any stage that was willing to “Book ‘em, Danno!”

“We’ve built a fairly good following worldwide within that genre with fans of that type of music. We’ve played Desertfest in Berlin and London, and we’ve done Hellfest in France. Those are really amazing genre-specific festivals that feature a bunch of bands we know, so there’s always a reunion kind of vibe. It’s always fun to hang-out and we find a lot of comradery playing with bands that are similar to us stylistically.”

The perfect opportunity to do just that, while enjoying some Albertan hospitality, April’s 420 Music & Arts Festival will surprisingly mark the well-traveled Wo Fat’s first trip to up to The Great White North.

“It’s our first time to play in Canada, so I’m excited about that! We try to be strategic about the out-of-town gigs we play – like coming to Calgary. We’re just flying up there and coming back home, but that’s what we want to be able to do. To pick and choose cool gigs and do those. Cuz were not making our living off the band – we’re making our living off the recording studio.”

A Wo Fat run studio you say? We should have known that the proverbial enemy of the Hawaii Five-O task force was the one pushing the buttons all along.

“The drummer, Michael, and I run a recording studio together,” he elaborates.

“It’s called Crystal Clear Sound and it’s actually one of the oldest studios in Dallas. I’ve been working there for about 20 years. About four years ago, we bought the place from the previous owners. Yup, we bought the company. Now we run it ourselves!”

He continues, “That’s where all of the Wo Fat albums have been recorded. I’ve been recording professionally for a long time, so experience has taught me the dangers of becoming myopic and going down the rabbit hole too far.”

It’s not only anchored the band, but given them confidence in their jams: after all, when you’re making all the decisions, you’ve got to know when to pull the proverbial plug on a song, album, or jam session. It’s made Wo Fat the groovy juggernaut they are today.

“Having spent a lot of time in the studio, I know that you just have to make decisions and stick to them at some point. I would rather do that commit and go on than leave something open-ended and never finish it. I think we’re different from some people in having that attitude.”

Wo Fat are headlining the 420 Music and Arts Festival, which goes down on April 20th until April 22nd at Distortion. They are headlining day three of the festival on April 22nd alongside Wo Fat, Chron Goblin, Cowpuncher, Mammoth Grove, and more. Line-up and ticket information are available at www.420musicandartsfestival.com

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D.R.I. But Wait - There's More

D.R.I. Beneath the Wheel
and Under the Sun

by Christine Leonard

15 April 2017

“I’m at the airport getting ready to get on a plane to Puerto Rico to do a show. I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. and I’m a little sleepy,” confesses D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles) vocalist Kurt Brecht.

“I’m excited because we only have one show, but we’re there for four days. I’ve been there once before in 2012, but didn’t get to go to the beach, we just got abandoned in some suburb. This time I want to go snorkeling or something; I’m all over that.”

And, yes, to answer your question, D.R.I. are those guys dressed in black T-shirts on the beach.

“All pasty and sickly looking. That’s us.”

Soaking up a little R ‘n’ R has taken on new significance for the legendary hardcore thrash punk outfit, who emerged from Houston, TX in 1982. First introduced to the world via the Dirty Rotten LP a year later, D.R.I.’s fanbase swelled thanks to a string of blistering releases including Dealing with It! (1985), Crossover (1987), 4 of a Kind (1988) and Thrash Zone (1989), with Definition and Full Speed Ahead following in the ’90s. A D.I.Y. punk pioneer, Brecht and founding guitarist Spike Cassidy scraped together a following of likeminded hardcore and metal lovers and, in the process, went on to become a genre-defining band.

“As kids growing up we didn’t know if there was an underground music scene. There wasn’t that type of music then. Only hard rock. We just went to rock concerts and stadium shows and stuff. And, I was into the harder, heavier bands. Then, once we discovered punk rock, it was all over. We were like ‘Yeah, this is way better. Way more aggressive!’ and we just kind of mixed the two together. Hardcore. Hardcore punk rock. That’s what we wanted.”

Akin to speed metal crossover acts such as Corrosion of Conformity and Suicidal Tendencies, D.R.I. is accustomed to being at the eye of a human hurricane that feeds off acerbic wails, high-velocity guitar work and breakneck percussion. The self-made quartet, including bassist Harald Oimoen and recent addition Walter “Monsta” Ryan on drums, harnesses the energy of the crowd to generate an frenetic energy that must been witness to be believed.

“I think it’s the music that’s full-throttle,” says Brecht. “Our performance is just us playing the songs, we don’t have a big stage show or anything. The audience is usually the show. I’ve seen some brutal stuff. I think if you’re at a thrash show you’d just better expect that you might get walked on or dove on to.  You can always try and stand in the back, or whatever, but good luck there too. Sometimes I just see it go wall to wall. No safe places to stand. Ah, well. Nothing you can do about something like that; can’t start writing rules. Then it’s just going to be lame.”

Still packing those venues and generating new material like 2016’s surprise EP But Wait…There’s More!, D.R.I. is enthusiastic about their Western and Eastern Canadian tours. According to Brecht, dividing the nation into two runs of performance dates in 2017 is the ideal scenario, as it allows him the flexibility to pursue his non-musical passions.

“It does give you more time for sure. I’m heavily into gardening. And, I travel a lot, too,” he says. “We’re super excited about Canada, because we never get to play there, and a now we get to do two tours of Canada! We’re getting special shirts made up! I’m usually out there selling the merchandise all the time, so I’m talking to everybody.”

D.R.I. are performing April 21 at the Park Theatre (Winnipeg), April 22 at the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon), April 23 at Union Hall (Edmonton), April 24 at the Marquee Beer Market & Stage (Calgary), and April 26 at the Rickshaw Theatre (Vancouver).