Recap | HPX 2014 Day 1

With great press passes comes great responsibility. And we let that classic Spiderman catchphrase down and made our first rookie mistake. We thought that arriving to The Carleton for Mo Kenney and Kim Churchill’s performance half an hour early would be plenty of time – but we were sorely wrong. A 20-person line had already formed outside the Carleton at 8pm for the show and the venue had quickly reached its capacity. Leaving the Carleton disheartened and cold, we quickly made our way next door to the Seahorse Tavern. As we descended the stairs into the dank (but welcoming) basement tavern, we were bombarded with heavy distortion, head-bangers, and an electric energy. Outtacontrollers were on the stage, the bassist’s long scraggely hair draped in front of his face, head bobbing along. We felt immediately transported back to our younger, punkish selves. The bassist (who found it necessary to sporadically jump) was the cliché image of the music The Outtacontrollers exuded. Needless to say, their set ended when they all fell to the floor.

Next up were Teenage Kicks from Toronto; pop-punk rockers galore. We were pleasantly surprised as their energy filled the venue. Everyone had a smile on their face as we all grooved along. Distortion was overlayed with melodic guitars and Blink 182-esque vocals - we felt like pop-punk princesses and were reminded once again of that distant time when we would sit in our rooms dressed like Avril. It's dangerous being in that state of mind for too long, so we decided we needed a little change of pace... Our rookie mistake could, after all, be seen as a blessing in disguise as we ended up taking in the tunes of some very badass b****es. So, to Reflections we went! We’d never been to a concert at this venue before so we were stoked just to begin with, and rest assured we were not disappointed. Let me paint the picture for you: black and white checked floors, multi-coloured flashing lights, a full on strobe light, a couple more lights and an eccentric crowd.

On stage comes Petra Glynt, a pint-sized blonde in a black-sequinned bomber jacket over top an iguana t-shirt paired with (bike shorts?) and leotards on the bottom. Glynt has no shortage of musical ability or personality - putting on an energy filled set ft. killer beats and mad vocal skills. Just a girl and her oscillator, she really showed off some incredible looping ability and looked like a celeb doing it. Seeing a one-woman show is always nice too.

After making us wait for what felt like an eternity, Austra – a four person band from TO - took the stage and played another great set for the majorly excited audience. At this point in the night the majority of concert goers had enjoyed a couple of beverages and were really taking in the music, grooving to the heavy base and electro keyboard. Katie Stelmais, their singer, seriously carried the show with her lightly distorted vocals and captivating stage presence. We can’t lie – we didn’t stay for the entire set. Our camera died and our ears had too…Nonetheless, overall great day 1 at HPX. Lessons learned, great music heard, and stoked for what’s to come tonight!