The day after I saw eight bands in under four hours at Rotaryfest, I headed back downtown for one more free outdoor(-ish) concert yesterday, namely the annual Loud & Proud family fun day that kicks off Sault Pridefest every year, pandemic willing! I can't compare first-hand to how Loud & Proud was at the Bushplane Museum, but yesterday's entertainment was under the big tent of the Roberta Bondar Pavilion, and while it was another warm July afternoon, the shade and provided tables/chairs helped along with drinks and refreshments from vendors! Despite an advertised run-time of 1:00-4:00 PM, musicians didn't begin their formal sets until 2:00 PM, giving attendees lots of time to check out the vendors, crafters, and businesses supporting Pridefest, and of course, I'm fully supportive of the local LGBTQ+ community and the causes they're fighting for, so I was glad to be there! I wish it wasn't so muggy, but that's out of their hands.
After introductions from Sault Pride chair Amanda Zuke, the first band up yesterday was local hard rock quintet HeadFirst, fresh off of their Rotaryfest Stage 2 debut the previous day. I was unable to see them at Clergue Park, but this was a fair make-up date! Their eight song set included six covers, including Joan Jett and Weezer songs with bassist Claire Jeffrey on lead vocals (trading roles with singer Red Jettison), as well as covers of Green Day, The Pixies, and The Flobots. They ended with two originals from their debut EP "Head Trauma", which was indeed on sale in limited physical copies at Pridefest! We'll have more on the EP in the coming days, but they played "Don't Care, Don't Mind" and "Take You Down", the latter seeing guitarist Liam Dinsmore and drummer Anthony Boudreau trading roles. Everyone put in a good and energetic showing for the all-ages audience, and Red was more animated when playing bass here!
Raine Rancourt had some strong lead guitar work, and while I'll hold comment on the originals pending next month's review of "Head Trauma", the guys had a tight set with strong musicianship and some good crowd banter! Of course, if you want to hear a lot more from HeadFirst, including more originals, come see them at Shooters Downstairs Lounge for their EP's proper launch party this Saturday night! In between the musical acts at Loud & Proud, two local drag perfomers came to lip sync and dance throughout the pavilion while interacting with attendees. The two performers were Lana Von Archer (who lip synced to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and Robyn's "Dancing On Your Own" and Luke McAnally-Gore-Shadow (who lip synced to Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse's "Valerie" and Busted & Hanson's "MMMBop 2.0"), with each doing a song after the first two acts.
I'm very new when it comes to drag, so I apologize if I sound ill informed, but Lana definitely showed off some impressive moves when making her way through the pavilion (those splits and tumbles got a strong fan reaction!), while Luke's dancing was much more casual and jauntier, but still fun all the same, and a perfect fit for a Sault Pride event! The middle performer yesterday was local folk singer/ukeleleist Giimiwan Ikwe, who I have seen perform in less formal settings than this, but never at an advertised & scheduled concert. Giimiwan (who uses they/them pronouns) mostly played acoustic covers of songs by the likes of The Four Tops, Jason Mraz, Tom Petty, and Otis Redding, with their cover of The Animals' "The House Of The Rising Sun" being greatly altered with new & longer lyrics. Only a couple of originals here, including the set closer featuring drumming from their sister and shaker percussion from their daughter.
Giimiwan (whose father is a family friend on my dad's side) sounded good on these minimalistic but authentic performances, with a good singing voice and quality messages to convey, and they added some strong variety and culture to the proceedings! After the last drag performances, Loud & Proud ended with a short five song set by local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, who don't play live all that often, so it was good to see them back out there! Famous for featuring no guitar at all, they covered songs by Say Anything, Millencolin, and Metric, though I wasn't 100% certain if their set opener was an original or not. Frontman Paul Stanghetta (of Smeltzer and The Fury renown) added some edgy zest to these heavier and more abrasive songs, and now featuring prolific local punk guitarist Mikhal Muto (Vanity First, Hails, et al.) on second bass, the distorted and locally unique sound won over some new fans!
Paul's wife Amanda kept the beat well on drums, and their more aggressive takes on some unexpected covers ended things on a cool note for this reviewer, but I can see why their guitar-devoid sound will be an acquired taste for some. Strong finish, and hopefully we see The A.A. back at it (and with better social media advertising) soon! Overall, this was an entertaining community event that the LGBTQ+ community, allies, and/or music fans in general could find something to like at! I just wish that Sault Pride did a better and more consistent job with advertising the scheduled musicians by name, as they are a pull for attendees to come out, but I only heard about the lineup from the performers themselves. You can see our photos from Loud & Proud at this link or via our Facebook page, and I also shot videos of the three musical acts! I didn't film Lana & Luke because Facebook's copyright bots won't play ball with their backing tracks.
In order, here's HeadFirst covering Judas Priest's "Breaking The Law", Giimiwan Ikwe covering The Steve Miller Band's "The Joker", and The Apocalypse Afterparty covering Foster The People's "Pumped Up Kicks"!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert fallout by other people/sites on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!
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