Saint John is about to become the most musical city on the East coast. East Coast Music Week is going to mean a lot more than just the East Coast Music Association. While the main event will be bringing a lot of attention to the city, there will plenty of limelight spilling over, and lots of musicians eager to soak it up. Quality Block Party have already announced a more indie rock flavoured festival happening along side. Now the folks at FeelsGood are making sure the funk/reggae/electronica scene doesn’t go unrepresented with their Underground No Case Show.
“That’s the crazy in depth nature of the music scene in New Brunswick!” says Mike ‘Mumble’ Humble of FeelsGood. “We are so underappreciated, but also very DIY and supportive of each other.”
“ECMAs do a great job of promoting what sells from the Maritimes: more traditional and folksy type music, which is great, but it also leaves a lot of the bands in the area out in the cold.”
Humble admits that very few, if any, of their acts are card carrying EMCAs members, but says the event is meant to support and celebrate, rather than to compete. As per traditional ‘no’ case shows, the event is also intended to shed some light on newer artists.
“We really want our event to be a compliment to the hard work that ECMA does for our region, not a detraction from it. It costs a lot of money to bring in the delegates from around the world to see our homegrown talent, but the costs associated with being involved in the association is definitely a road block to lots of the emerging artists in the region.”
Humble says that overall they’re looking to showcase the sort of musical diversity that is available in the province, and really highlight the city’s music scene. FeelsGood also hope that their efforts will attract crossover audiences from the two other festivals, and even ECMA delegates.
“I think that bringing more people into the city for the weekend is a great thing,” says Humble. “Some of the delegates that might be tired of the more sterile showcase environment might get out and see what the music scene is really like around here. I think it will create a buzz in the city and the spinoffs for all the local businesses will be a great thing for the economy.”
The show will feature performances from Alex Green, Womb to Tomb, The Montgomery St Band, Salt Licks, Jedi of Funk, The Nice Guys, Weak Size Fish, Jinx the Cat, Josh McKinley & Sam Astorino, Hum and Hollow, The Barrowdowns, Salmon Jazz, The Torinos, Joyful Noise, The Brood. Sunday April 30th with also feature a special “Afternoon Funk Surprise”.
The FeelsGood Underground No Case takes places at Pub Down Under from April 27th-30th. Tickets are available at the door for $10, but afternoon matinees are free!
FeelsGood: WEB | FACEBOOK | EVENT
(Cover photo : Kelsey Cassidy/The East)