Nothing goes better with a stubborn determination not to keep wearing your winter coat like the ambient surf-pop of Lake Names’ new EP Folly. “We actually like the idea of releasing that summery music in the winter,” says Marcus Fiddes. “Kind of like ‘Summer’s coming.’” Groundhog Day is hogwash, here’s the real measure of the […]
Gus’ Pub & Grill
Posted inArts + Music
Heaven’s sake
“This year will involve a trip, possibly not relaxing,” says Mark Grundy, guitar and vocals in Heaven For Real. “Definitely not relaxing. Probably grueling, involving playing in front of people, or maybe in front of no people but playing anyway. Cutting our teeth.” Immediately, the band—made up of Scott Grundy, Mark’s twin, who also plays […]
Posted inArts + Music
Birthday BA
B.A. Johnston is ageless. Ask the Hamilton-raised singer-songwriter how old he’ll be turning the week before his birthday and he’ll likely tell you he’s 38. But the Internet tells a different story. On Twitter, he’s 42. On Facebook, it’s 50. No matter his age, Johnston (real name Christian Johnston) has grown over years of performing […]
Posted inArts + Music
You go, Earle
With half its members heading for the hills—one keyboardist in Canterbury, England and the other in Alberta—fans of Windom Earle were hard-pressed for awhile there to see anything at all, let alone something new. “There’s only two of us really left in Halifax,” says band leader Stephen MacLeod. “For this show we’re doing, it’s more […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Don’t hate, appreciate!
If you ignore the crowded malls and empty bank accounts, there’s always something magical about the season that makes you want to give a little something special to the people you love. For Gus’ Pub & Grill, those loved ones are its customers—the varied bunch you always see congregating outside late at night while the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Year of rad
You know how cool Ice Cube sounds when he says he had a good day? Imagine if he’d had a good year. For a collective of musicians from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec, 2012 has been a super productive 365 days. They reunite on Friday for a real pal party at Gus’ Pub. As […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Top 3 restauants of 2012: Ace Burger Company
There’s an almost elegant simplicity to what father and son team Leo and George Christakos, are doing with Ace Burger—the bar burger joint feels retro, but is also very forward-thinking. While the other new burger shops in town have all taken on the hip fast food models of chains like Five Guys and Shake Shack, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Heart of metal
Why should you go to Mettalfest? For Rob Nickerson of Black Moor, the answer is pretty obvious: “Two nights of great heavy metal music for one price.” The brand new heavy metal festival, celebrating the first anniversary of promotional firm Mettalworx Music Group (hence the name) hits Gus’ Pub this weekend. Eight of the gnarliest […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Take the Shop Talk Guided Tour: The north end
The meat of the issue We love it when something old is unearthed for us to experience for the first time. One year ago, Frédéric Tandy opened Charcuterie Ratinaud (2082 Gottingen Street, 446-8222), bringing home the European practice of curing meats and making pâtés and sausages. “It’s something that people have been doing for hundreds […]
Posted inArts + Music
You can’t look away from this Graboids promo
Those irrepressible Graboids are playing this Friday (March 9 at Gus’ Pub with No Flyers Please, The Holy Snappers and The Green Reflectors), and to drum up your enthusiasm, they’ve made this charming WWE-style promo video. The first Graboids EP is now free on Bandcamp, and still available on red and purple vinyl for those […]
Posted inArts + Music
HPX 2011: Tuesday
yeah The desire for familiarity and comfort can sometimes derail the most ambitious of plans. That’s more or less what happened last night at the Seahorse. After the Deadly Hearts wrapped up their set with the usual dry aplomb, there was a unanimous consensus of “fuck it, let’s go to Gus’.” Sometimes you just wanna […]
Posted inArts + Music
Sayonara, The Sweet Deals
The Sweet Deals are saying so long. Or maybe, until next time. With the departure of bassist Billy Habib-Taylor, who’ll soon be on his way to Toronto, the Halifax-based band has decided that after three years of making music together they’re disbanding. “I think the lineup we have is really great, and would like to […]