Halifax Pop Explosion has been a staple in the Halifax music scene for generations, and for me even served as an introduction to live music. After celebrating the 25th Anniversary last year with Headliners including Bat Sabbath, Charlotte Day Wilson, Cloud Nothings and METZ, the expectations seemed pretty stacked.
I have to say that when I first saw the lineup for this year’s festival I was disappointed. I couldn’t pick out a single artist that I knew—aside from a few Halifax acts that I would happily see again. But does that make for a bad festival experience? Or is the prospect of discovering previously unheard talent the whole point of attending in the first place?
Not knowing what to expect, I entered the marquee Wednesday night to see Jeremy Dutcher. Having never heard this name I shamelessly perused Google while waiting for the stage to be set. I soon discovered that Dutcher is a classically-trained tenor from my hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick. Reading on I found that he uses a combination of classical, opera and indigenous music to tell the stories of his relatives and ancestors. I still had almost no idea what to expect, but I was excited.
When Dutcher arrived at his iPad-fitted keyboard and began playing I found myself getting lost in the ambient nature of his music. He was using a unique combination of classical instruments along with samples of indigenous music and operatic vocals sung entirely in the language of Wolastoq. Wax cylinder recordings from 1907 of indigenous songs and stories were combined at times to create a beautiful and educational soundscape.
Moving downstairs to the seahorse, I saw Halifax band Fossil Cliffs. Immediately they were a far cry from just about any part of what I had just witnessed with Jeremy Dutcher’s performance. Playing with a much heavier and distorted sound, the band produced songs that couldn’t be from anywhere but Halifax. Their combination of grungy guitars with the addition of keys brought me back to an earlier Wintersleep. I was even more pleased when two members of Rain Over St. Ambrose were invited on stage to perform on the last two songs. This band was much more in my comfort zone.
Later that night at the Marquee, Skye Wallace took the stage with her backing band. These guys were probably my second-favourite performance this year, combining the vocal stylings of Florence + The Nachine with a grungier sound, as well as some Western influence. The energy of the band was on display the whole time and it made for a hell of a show.
The next night at the Marquee, Witch Prophet took the stage along with her DJ and partner SunSun to perform her blend of R&B and Hip Hop. The Layered sounds of samples, ambience, and Witch Prophet‘s constant shift between singing and rapping filled the room. The importance of storytelling was not forgotten for this performance since most songs were given context before they were performed—something I’m not at all used to on this level but very grateful for.
The Sorority is a four piece rap group from Toronto, and they killed their performance. They brought the raw energy of 90’s Hip Hop while keeping the R&B grooves intact. With each artist bringing their own style to the group, these ladies brought the audience through a multitude of different stories surrounding femininity and the environment of their upbringing. They even went as far as to stage a rap battle between the group. This was the highlight of HPX this year in my eyes. Do yourself a favour and listen to them now.
Sean Leon is a rapper from Toronto. This is about as much as I had heard about him before going to his concert. That is aside from a friend of mine and fan telling me that I wouldn’t like him. Unfortunately she was right too. Sean’s performance was full of energy, as it should be when you only have one person filling the stage, aside from DJ Mel Boogie that is. Energy wasn’t the problem though, Leon’s voice just didn’t sound very good, and it seemed like the fans could tell. Of course, people still enjoyed themselves and the crowd got rowdy but I could feel the disappointment in the room.
By Friday night I was ready for a change of scenery; I went to the Pavilion to catch some all-ages fun. Local power-pop band Washing Machine started off the night. This was my first time seeing them play and it left me excited to see them again. But I wish more people had seen it. The room seemed to be empty for a Pop Explosion set. Playing an 80’s-new-wave inspired brand of punk, the band wowed me, even if there weren’t many others there to impress.
Crossed Wires was next. Being one of the best-known punk bands in town—as well as one of my favourites—they drew a crowd. Joking about how they had a 45 minute set to “play 20 minutes of songs,” the band is true to their straightforward brand of punk. Their songs are covered in fast drum beats, heavy and almost shoegazey guitar, and rushed, angst-filled vocals.
Toronto-based Goodbye Honolulu headlined that night. Playing pop punk that leaned heavily into garage rock, the band was full of energy. Within minutes, the number of people in the room doubled. Mixing tonnes of different styles, few of Goodbye Honolulu’s songs sounded similar. The crowd loved it and by the end of the show the whole thing seemed to have turned into a big sing a long.
My last HPX experience of the year was the one artist that I knew, though I had never heard his music. I went to high school with Edwin Yohance Hull, although he now performs by the name Yohan Black. It was a really cool experience for me to see an old friend at the Seahorse on stage—a stage that at the end of the set he said he had wanted to play on for so long. Yohan Black plays a very R&B-heavy style of hip hop, with very little rapping involved.
This year’s Pop Explosion was not what I expected, and almost everybody I talked to said the same. Even if I can’t say that I had the satisfaction of seeing one of my favourite artists this year, I did discover a lot of artists that I hadn’t heard before. I can’t say that I would wish next year’s lineup have nobody that I’m immediately sold on again, but maybe I’ve learned to appreciate the aspect of discovery a little more.
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