A guide to Nova Scotia Music Week

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

So you have your tickets for Nova Scotia Music Week. You’ve booked your time off work so you can make as many shows as possible. Now you have to figure out where to be and when.

Have no fear; The Vanguard is here to help. Follow our guide to figure out exactly where you should be in order to maximize your show-going pleasure.

Thursday and Sunday are easy. The show at Th’YARC on Thursday, put on by the local organizing committee, is the only show happening that night and promises to offer something for everyone. As for Sunday, unless you’re out of town or hate music, there’s not really an excuse for missing the gala show at Mariners Centre, which will feature Joel Plaskett, Classified, In-Flight Safety, hometown hero Brian Borcherdt and a host of other great acts.

But what about Friday and Saturday, the showcase nights?

For those not old enough to check out the bar shows, you’ll want to hit up the Battle for Warped Tour finals on Friday at Th’YARC. The show will feature five bands looking to rock their way into a slot on the Vans Warped Tour. Heavy music fans are guaranteed to go away happy when they see Last Call Chernobyl in action.

Early action on Saturday starts with the songwriters circle at Th’YARC. With local favourites Ryan Cook and Julian Babin on the bill as well as Erin Costelo and host Matt Minglewood, it promises to be a solid show. The price of the ticket is worth it just to get to see Jenn Grant, a Halifax-based artist with the voice of an angel if that angel wrote and played killer pop songs.

As for the bar shows, it’s all about your taste in music.

On Friday the stage at the Grand Hotel is can’t miss basically from start to finish. If it’s more on an indie scene you’re looking for, the Red Knight’s rock stage has a solid lineup, highlighted by performances by Sleepless Nights (a band well known to area music fans) and Share, perhaps one of the most exciting acts playing the showcases.

It will be a night of tough choices as the stage at Haley’s also features some solid indie action from Halifax including the locally connected The Superfantastics and Jon McKiel. You can’t really go wrong with either showcase, but miss Share and you’ll be sorry.

Hip hop fans will be able to get their fix at the second stage at the Red Night. The bill, anchored by Halifax legends Universal Soul, also features Hellafactz, Ghettosocks and Three Sheet. Yarmouth doesn’t get very many chances to see live hip hop and this will be a chance to see some of the best in the province.

As for a slightly mellower scene, Rudder’s will be bustling with some of the best Celtic and traditional music you could ask for from 5 p.m. onwards. Special mention has to go to Colin Grant, scheduled to play at 7:15 p.m., who is an absolute magician with his fiddle.

As for Saturday, certainly the stage of choice for a lot of Yarmouth music fans is going to be the loud stage at the Red Knight, which will feature some of the top heavy bands in the province. Broken Ohms, playing at 9 p.m., and Black Moor, playing at 11 p.m., are not to be missed.

The stage at the Grand Hotel will feature a wide variety of great acts, including blues maestro Garrett Mason at 11 p.m. and singer/songwriters Christina Martin (10:15 p.m.) and Carmen Townsend (9:30 p.m.).

As for the real late night fun, make your way over to the rock stage at the Red Night by midnight in time to catch Matt Mays and then stick around after that for local favourite Dwight D’Eon (scheduled to go on at 1 a.m.), who will be debuting material from his new album. That room is bound to fill to capacity, so get there early if you're set of seeing Mays and D'Eon.

Added to all of this action, of course, is the Acadian stage in Tusket and three days worth of No Cases happening at the golf club. It’s a common complaint that there’s nothing to do in Yarmouth, but there shouldn’t be too much complaining this weekend.