Block off your schedule, the 23rd Halifax Pop Explosion is on. We can guide you to some can’t-miss shows here, and we’ll be with you online during the festival. You’re kinda on your own for the whole sleep-deprivation thing—but that’s a problem that can wait ’til Monday. Click here for more
Music Festivals
Posted inArts + Music
The Dillinger Escape Plan’s plan
Expect the unexpected from The Dillinger Escape Plan at HPX. Or don’t? “Audiences should expect nothing like all the YouTube videos of us out there,” says singer Greg Puciato. “Those are all fake live videos we disseminate ourselves to throw people off from the reality that it’s kinda like a boy’s choir.” Dillinger’s first visit […]
Posted inArts + Music
Dorothea Paas is out of this world
If Toronto art-rock outfit Dorothea Paas was a movie theatre treat, “we’d be a hot fresh popcorn with Reese’s Pieces in the bag, melting slightly with butter,” says arty Torontonian rocker Dorothea Paas. “Classic, comforting, with a hint of sweetness and something you might not totally expect but you’ll hopefully enjoy!” What started as a […]
Posted inArts + Music
Energy Slime is a yogurt-based band
“Energy Slime is myself and Jessica Delisle, and it began as an outlet for the songs that were too weird, short or drunk for our regular band,” says Vancouver’s Jay Arner. His label, Mint Records, is hosting an HPX showcase on Saturday afternoon with Monomyth, Tough Age and Fake Tears. For this special set, Energy […]
Posted inArts + Music
Halifax tried to kill Gavin Stephens
“The best way to describe my comedy?” asks Toronto comedy veteran Gavin Stephens. “I would say my style is personal and social philosophy, with a heavy nerd influence. And farts.” For 20 years, Stephens has been touring Canada and the world, with regular stops in Halifax. “I once choked on a donair here, so this […]
Posted inArts + Music
DJ/producer Ryan Hemsworth—the Q&A
Last May, Halifax-bred Ryan Hemsworth began releasing underground jams by new DJs to his fans as Secret Songs. On Wednesday he’s bringing his faves here for HPX’s Secret Songs Showcase, and it’s gonna be fire. Just 25, Hemsworth is a veritable DJ superstar. He’s played Pitchfork Music Festival and Coachella, remixed some of pop and […]
Posted inArts + Music
True rock, harsh and clean
“Rock music is pretty meat and potatoes. That’s all good, but we try to throw a lime wedge or some cilantro in there too,” says Charles Austin, one of the master chefs behind Halifax’s Psychic Fair. Since 2013, Psychic Fair—also with scene veterans Cliff Gibb, Andrew Glencross and Josh Salter—has been spicing up the band’s personal […]
Posted inArts + Music
Jump into Hopscotch Halifax
Hopscotch Halifax is quickly becoming one of the city’s best annual music festivals. From live street art demos to the country’s champion battle rappers to American DJs and local dancers, this year’s Hopscotch pulls out the big guns with Orlando’s DJ Dallask and festival headliners Indiana’s Freddie Gibbs and Long Island MC Rakim. This year, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Sharon Jones: The hardest working woman in show biz
Sharon Jones’ success has been a long time coming. At 58, the soul singer received her first Grammy nomination this year. But working so hard for so long, Jones doesn’t take her success for granted. While she’s been singing since childhood and recording for 20 years, Jones’ passionate soul tunes only started to receive wider […]
Posted inArts + Music
Brötzmann on fire
In the history of free jazz, a form of jazz from the mid-20th century that reacted to increasingly standardized jazz styles, few musicians are as renowned around the world as Peter Brötzmann. In his career spanning 50 years, Brötzmann has been at the forefront of the European jazz movement to radicalize the concept of prescribed […]
Posted inArts + Music
Moss Lime gathers no stones
Moss Lime, Bonnie Doon, Vulva Culture Saturday, May 23, 12pm The Bus Stop Theatre 2203 Gottingen Street $10 It’s been a whirlwind year for Montreal band Moss Lime. It recorded its first handful of songs last July and swiftly caught the attention of Fixture Records, who released the sharp, post-punk EP July First in November. “In […]
