Sled Island: Day Three

06/30/08 4:30pm

by Trevor Morelli (CHARTattack)

CALGARY — Mewata Field hosted the final two days of the Sled Island music festival. Two stages covered the lush, green grass, making it easy for curious fans to wander back and forth.

I got there in time to catch Elliott Brood's show, which I'd skipped out on the night before, on the side stage. The weather was still gorgeous at 7 p.m., and these guys provided an upbeat summer soundtrack.

"Chuckwagon" and "Cadillac Dust" were two banjo-pickin' songs that immediately caught my ear. Singer/guitarist Mark Sasso's raspy vocals cut like a knife through warm butter. The Toronto band's animated 30-minute set sounded more like a punk offshoot than a Nashville hoedown, which was definitely good in my mind.

Calgary's Tegan And Sara were next on the main stage. The Quin twins came out alone and started off with an acoustic version of "Dark Come Soon" from their latest album, The Con. The rest of the band joined in for fan favourites "Walking With A Ghost" and "The Con," a one-two punch that got people off their lawn chairs and moving around.

Tegan And Sara played cuts from their three latest LPs, mixing older songs like If It Was You's "Living Room" and So Jealous cut "Speak Slow" with newer ones like "Nineteen" and "Back In Your Head." Tegan And Sara's voices sounded incredible echoing across the field and they seemed genuinely excited to be back in the city during their tight, energetic hour-long set.

Broken Social Scene were also scheduled to play for an hour, but everything was running late and they had to cut their set to 40 minutes because of Calgary's noise bylaw.

The band came out to insane hoots and hollers and kicked it off with "KC Accidental" from 2002's You Forgot It In People. This version of the group consisted of Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Andrew Whiteman, Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Sam Goldberg and Evan Cranley. Sporting a black baseball cap and leather jacket, Drew led the band through vigorous renditions of "Farewell To The Pressure Kids" and "Fucked Up Kid" from his Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew Spirit If… record. The band also played "Churches Under The Stairs" from the new Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning Something For All Of Us… disc.

The set was done after only eight songs, but I actually liked this version of the band. The brevity forced them to connect with the audience quickly, giving songs like "Cause = Time" and "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)" a stronger sense of honesty, urgency and relevancy. Although they had to be short and sweet, Broken Social Scene delivered one of the best rock shows I've seen in the last few years.

I scurried over to the sold-out The Grand Theatre to catch most of RZA's set. The Wu-Tang Clan producer/MC performed as his Bobby Digital alter-ego and controlled the crowd with "Long Time Coming" and "Booby Trap" from the just-released Digi Snacks LP. The set was dominated by material from that album, and RZA turned the gig into a kick-ass block party.

Near the end, he broke out older classics "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit," "Reunited" and "Shame On A Nigga" near the end. They all made the crowd of mostly college kids go absolutely ape-shit, and it was a perfect way to close out my coverage of the fest.

I had a fantastic time at this year's Sled Island festival. It's a testament to just how good festivals can be if they're done properly. I can't wait to see next year's lineup. If you're anywhere near Calgary next June, you should definitely try to take it in.