Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet played a packed Legion #1 on Wednesday, June 20 for Calgary, AB’s Sled Island festival. Thanks to @acepinball on twitter for capturing their performance. So nostalgic. Iconic. LOVE.

Thursday, June 21, 2012 12:19:47 PM
Sled Island (Day 1)
by Mason Pitzel from Prairie dog Magazine
Prairie dog’s somewhat-official Sled Island contingent—myself, actual prairie dog writers James Brotheridge and John Cameron, and James’s wonderful Rhiannon friend—set off for the Calgary festival Wednesday morning. None of us had been before, but judging from the line-ups we were guaranteed a terrific time. Plus, the festival’s diffuse network of shows, as opposed to having one or two outdoor stages, meant there’d be less time and frustration spent waiting, having heat strokes, etc.

*snip*

But, as anyone might expect, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet further raised the bar so high it’s no longer visible. We headed to the Legion following Barlow’s set, to catch the remainder of the Mammoth Cave showcase there. Regrettably, we were too late to catch Fist City, but we were right on time for the most historic set of Sled Island (and the one I was personally most excited for): the first Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet performance since 1996.

With Dallas Good of the Sadies filling in for the late Reid Diamond, who was honoured with a mid-set glass-raising, the men of Shadowy Men ripped into their set without a word of introduction. Pausing maybe twice to tune and chat, they played nigh on two hours of classic material, from “Bennett Cerf” to “They Don’t Call Them Chihuahuas Anymore” to “You Spin Me Round”, the latter replete with delightfully cheesy organ. They of course played “Having an Average Weekend”—you know it; it’s the Kids in the Hall theme song—at which point the crowd, already shoulder-to-shoulder, started a bona-fide pit. Honestly, I’ve seen less movement at an SNFU show. The band seemed overjoyed at it, though they insisted they’d basically been dragged to the festival. They couldn’t have played more tightly, their tone couldn’t have been more impeccable, and the set couldn’t have been more delightful. Two hours wasn’t enough.

Related posts: