Watch The New Bandwagon Episode With The Spades Performing "49 Tons"
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Peterborough Blogs
PtboCanada Review: The Bands At The Hootenanny On Hunter Put On A Show To Remember
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It was a sight to behold, the downtown streets of Peterborough filled with fans out for a great line-up of live music. Hootenanny took over Hunter Street West for the better part of Saturday. It was a free concert featuring a who's who of indie Canadian rock darlings. The patios of the Hunter Street restaurant district were filled to capacity with music fans and revelers.
The day began with sets from a number of locals including Bear Trees, Levon, Rikers and Union City. Others on the bill included Elvyn and Express & Co., with the show taking a strange turn thanks to the musical shenanigans of Hamilton, Ontario's B.A. Johnston. It's clear after hearing and seeing B.A. both in clubs and now on an outdoor stage, his banter and original music work under any circumstance. He was at his hilarious best accompanied by his own electronic samples and acoustic guitar work. I am sure B.A. likely found some new fans on this day.
Cuff The Duke, Oshawa's alt/country/pop darlings, played a warmly received set, which was matched by The
Wooden Sky performing Wooden Sky (see picture at right) who played right after—the later benefitting from a sun, sinking past the horizon, creating lovely light as a backdrop.
Next up were local darlings The Spades, who played a shortened set of favorites including an explosive cover of Fred Eaglesmith's "49 Tons Of Diesel Locomotive" as well as their rollicking track "The Revenge of Johnny Laundry".
As the night drew to a close, just past 10 p.m., the sounds of Hollerado belting out Neil Young's "Rockin' In the Free Word" seemed to epitomize the day. This was a show to remember. Thanks to the Peterborough Downtown Business Association and the organizing committee for creating a reason to brings throngs of folks to the downtown on a lovely summer Saturday.
There was a lot of love passed out by the performers throughout the day, but the best moment was when Gavin Gardiner of the Wooden Sky called out local scenester Mike Duguay, calling him the unofficial Mayor of Peterborough. Organizers Ryan Kemp and Jonathan Hall both deserve kudos for the inspired curatorial and organizational work that went behind this show. Looking forward to more of the same in coming years.
[Text and pics by PtboCanada's Jeffrey Macklin]
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Peterborough's Adam Kemp is a rock star of poster design
/Twenty-five-year-old Adam Kemp first got involved with graphic design in 2002 when he began making movie posters for fun. What started as a hobby has now become one of his jobs at his business World on Mute Designs, where he develops websites (for The Spades, for example), provides web maintenance, and does graphic design (from logos to invitations to his awesome posters). "I love the arts, from the clean to the wacky style," he says.
World on Mute is a curious name for a company—and here's where Kemp says it came from: "The name 'World on Mute' originated from a group of friends that was gathering to make a movie about me and my hearing impaired disability. I loved the name and it just stuck with me for quite a long time. When I was at Sir Sandford Fleming [he's a graduate of the Web Developer program there], I was asked by one of my teachers, 'What are you going to name your business?' And I knew right away. I remembered 'World on Mute' and wanted to use that."
Chances are you've seen some of his eye-popping posters at The Historic Red Dog and elsewhere in downtown Peterborough. "I'm glad that Ryan Kemp [his brother] of The Red Dog gave me a chance to express my creativity through these posters that I've designed for the Red Dog," says Kemp, who was born and raised in the Patch. "I've received so many compliments from the bands that just loved their posters that I did."
Kemp recently moved to Port Credit, Mississauga's Village on the Lake—"it reminds me of East City in Peterborough but without the good old Quaker Oats smell," he says—but gets back to Peterborough as much as he can.
Below are some of his favourite posters he's designed.
Peterborough's The Spades Rock. Just Sayin'
/And they're playing the Historic Red Dog this Saturday! Bring it.
[The Spades website; The Spades on twitter; The Historic Red Dog]
[Related: The Spades lucky to survive latest road tour]
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