MUSIC PREVIEW: Half Moon Run, full speed
If there’s a bigger Canadian buzz band than Half Moon Run this fall then it would be a shock to most music writers. The Montreal band has released two singles this year, Trust and Turn Your Love, the latter of which hit No. 11 on the Canadian alternative charts.
Formed in 2009, multi-instrumentalists Devon Portielje, Conner Molander and Dylan Phillips continue to forge a deep and extremely enjoyable catalog of music that now includes October’s Sun Leads Me On. With enough buzz north and south of the border to ensure it lands on a bevy of top 10 year-end lists, Half Moon Run’s continued evolution continues to make the band tighter and tighter, and ever more intense, but continues to wrap itself around signature modern indie feel heavily influenced by throwback rock and folk artists.
The band plays a show at the Starlite Room Friday night with Folly and the Hunter as the opening act. Tickets are $20 in advance, BUY.
Friday 11
Molly Johnson – This award-winning Canadian pop and jazz songstress is riding high on the success of her newest album, Because Of Billie, released in 2014. The name may also be familiar because she was the host of CBC Radio 2’s Radio 2 Morning from 2008-2013. Aside from the 1990s Juno-winning rock act The Infidels, one of Johnson’s other gigs was in a group of backing musicians who eventually spread their own wings and became Big Sugar. Arden Theatre in St. Albert, 7:30 pm, SOLD OUT
K-os – After releasing a pair of singles in the early 1990s, this Toronto rapper-singer withdrew from the music industry, citing significant dissatisfaction with his own material. He returned in the 2000s and is now one of the country’s most renowned hip hop artists who also managed a crossover to alternative rock radio. With six full-lengths to his credit, including this year’s Can’t Fly Without Gravity, K-OS has had innumerable songs chart here in Canada, such as Man I Used To Be, Sunday Morning, and Nyce 2 Know Ya. Union Hall, 8 pm, $25. BUY
Saturday 12
Motley Crue – This is being billed as a farewell tour, but we all know how these things go – it’s only a farewell tour until they need to do another farewell tour. Of course, with such legendary hits as Kickstart My Heart, Girls, Girls, Girls, and Home Sweet Home, they’re going to sell a boatload of tickets every time they do a tour. The band last released original material in 2008, with the album Saints Of Los Angeles. Alice Cooper also performs. Rexall Place, 7 pm, $25 and up. BUY
Bombproof the Horses – This could be a very interesting gig, as this local uber-catchy indie band performs an acoustic set on the tiny stage at Cask & Barrel (10041 104 Street) for an afternoon show. They’ve promised a holiday singalong as well, so it would be pretty hard to go wrong. 3 pm, NO COVER
Current Swell – This indie folk-rock act out of Victoria has quietly built up a healthy catalog of five full-length albums, including last year’s Ulysses. With each successive release the band experiments with their sound a little bit, evolving as they continue their journey, making Ulysses likely the band’s best album to date. The newest album’s title song received significant airplay on alternative stations across the nation. Union Hall, 8 pm, $24. BUY
Sunday 13
Wil – Sometimes it seems like Edmonton is this Calgary folkster’s second home. Wil Mimnaugh is a sensational musician with an incredible voice and an amazing guitarist as well, and always puts on a great, great show. So he’s welcome here anytime, anywhere, with anyone. Brixx, 7 pm, $15. BUY
