Halifax Pop Explosion Days One And Two: Tegan And Sara Mania

ChartAttack sent Shannon Webb-Campbell to hunt down music at the Halifax Pop Explosion. Here's her first report:

Halifax has exploded once again, as the port city is crawling with local, national and international musicians. With the arrival of the season of the witch, the annual Halifax Pop Explosion frenzy began with a seemingly religious bang.

Our country's prized queer twins, Tegan And Sara, rolled up Barrington Street in their massive tour bus for a two-night stay at St. Mathew's Church. The former Calgarians — now living separately in Montreal and Vancouver — were the talk of the town. Baby dykes, indie elite and teen queens flocked from the suburbs to the heart of downtown to catch a glimpse of the motor-mouthed duo.

The shows were sold-out months in advance, but the lineup of ticket holders outside the church was surprisingly thin at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Apparently it's unfashionable to arrive late to all-ages gigs. Since it's been nearly seven years since I've been a teenager, I was overwhelmed by the scent of youth: strawberry-perfumed deodorant, sugary lip gloss, the air of ammonia from freshly dyed hair and pubescent pheromones. This house of worship had never seen a population of this size of angst-ridden adolescents beneath its high ceilings, let alone two nights in a row.

New York City's Northern State were the opening act both nights. Their recently released Can I Keep This Pen? was produced by Chuck Brody, with Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz (a.k.a. Adrock) receiving production credits on "Sucka Mofo" and "Ooh Girl."

Whether the girls were dancing in sequence like Le Tigre or ripping into society's beauty standard, they were a force of rhythmic nature — New York style. Each girl had their own take on things, as Spero got the crowd hyped for Tegan And Sara's later performance, Hesta Prynn wanted to know tourist attractions (other than the Titanic graveyard) and Sprout showed the congregation a thing or two about busting a groove. Dynamic doesn't begin to describe these saucy, sensational pen thieves.

Over the course of their 10-year career, Tegan And Sara have developed a cult following that keeps snowballing. The majority of the audience showed up both nights, and were more enthusiastic the second time around.

Tegan And Sara played an opening chunk of current album The Con, broke midway through with older material, and then returned with a solid closing chapter of their latest, moody, heavier and more mature material. Wednesday night's performance closed the Canadian portion of their North American tour.

Visual artist Emy Storey (Sara's partner) designed a tree stump-sketched backdrop to hide the church's staircase. But the stained glass portraits of Jesus, organ pipes and red bibles were left in plain sight. The lights came on shortly before 11 p.m. and the audience poured out of the cathedral. Some people followed us up the street to The Attic on Tuesday to catch Pigeon Row's showcase.

With heavy eyelids, I soaked in the scrappy pensivity of Husband And Knife, a local project created by Dog Day's Casey Spidle. Great local duo The Superfantastics brought a child-like wonder to my heart and widened my sleepy eyes. Their latest full-length, Pop-Up Book, was just released on vinyl, adding a retro perspective to their already unique merch table. Last year, they were awarded the "Best Merch" title by a weekly Halifax publication for their fluorescent pink Superfantastic slap bracelets. No one should be shocked if they win the best video prize this year, as their visual representation for "Tonight Tonite" was inspired by Sesame Street's "Teeny Little Super Guy" short and created by artist Mike Holmes.

Julie Doiron and Dick Morello (both formerly of Shotgun And Jaybird) kicked up their heels with their so-called "science experiment" under the alias Blue Heeler. Unfortunately, exhaustion got the better of me and I called it a night just as the duo took the stage.

Wednesday's post-Tegan And Sara events occurred merely a hop, skip and a jump away, two blocks up Barrington Street at Ginger's Tavern. A cozy gathering of Halifax folksters huddled above street level, including my beloved neighbours Tanya Davis and Don Brownrigg. The crowd nursed dark, dense ales while Fredericton's Olympic Symphonium filled the room with sound. While the rounds kept coming, local sonic experiment Share attempted to entertain the tavern with so-called banter. He failed. His conversational skills came across as patronizing commentary on the subdued collective gathered before him, like telling listeners they had to stop moshing or he would have to get security, when no one was hardly breathing, let alone moving.

The evening wasn't lost, however, as Fredericton's The Fussy Part kicked it up a notch. But it was the tail-end of the showcase which served as the evening's stiff nightcap. Omnipresent Halifax collective The Sleepless Nights stole the show with a most impressive rendition of "Goodspeed You Deathwolf," the opening track from their Hang Up EP.