New Brunswick is a bastion of artistic and musical talent. Maybe it’s something in the water, maybe it’s part of the culture, but the quality and quantity of artists that get turned out of the province is staggering. There’s been no better time to show off that fact than during this year’s National Community and Campus Radio Conference.
Held in Fredericton, New Brunswick the conference was hosted, naturally enough, by Fredericton’s campus radio station CHSR. On top of hosting several delegates from stations across Canada for workshops, panels and mixers, the station also took it upon themselves to simultaneously host a four day long music festival called Hometown Heroes.
The festival gave locals a chance to immerse themselves in some of their favourite New Brunswick bands, and the delegates a chance to sample what the province has to offer. The four days of music at the Charlotte Street Art Centre, the University of New Brunswick’s Cafeteria and the Capital Bar were packed with amazing talent and receptive audiences.
Though the sets at the festival were short, they sure were sweet.
During the Wednesday night sets, both SHRIMP Ring and Young Satan in Love brought copious amounts of energy and put a lot of effort into involving the crowd. SHRIMP Ring chose to further engage the audience by performing much of their set on the floor of the bar instead of on the stage and brought a box of costumes and props for attendees to join in on the silliness.
Aside from the music, the whole evening had a certain air to it… In particular the room smelled unmistakably of hotdogs. Wafting over to us from the back corner of the stage was the smell of hotdogs that Young Satan in Love had been preparing in their fancy hotdog rotisserie. Because what festival isn’t complete without a mid-set hotdog eating contest? (Which we won, by the way, and generously shared our winnings of the rest of the hotdogs with those unfortunate souls in the crowd who did not have hotdogs of their own.) But above all of this, Young Satan in Love’s music was both hilarious and provided a satisfyingly heavy groove.
A few sets that were easily memorable for the sheer musical skill of the musicians were Tampa, Janowskii, Spoutnique and Kill Chicago. While Tampa and Kill Chicago are already favourites of ours for their tight, energy-driven performances and catchy tunes, Janowskii and Spoutnique are fast making themselves spaces on our list of favourites as well.
The festival hit hard and fast as they blurred through the genres that weekend. their sounds differ quite a bit from each other. Janowskii’s deep, slow and heavy sound is mesmerizing and captivates the whole crowd while Spoutnique’s fun and groovy dynamic keeps the whole room dancing their hearts out.
Hometown Heroes naturally leaned into New Brunswick’s niche market, filling some of the weirder gaps that Shifty Bits Circus has left absent while also filling into the corners by drawing from a diverse pool. More than being a quick and well-curated festival it’s amazing that CHSR managed to get New Brunswick’s hottest bands all together on the same weekend.
CHSR: WEB | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM
And remember, kids, supporters of The East’s Patreon get to see a ton of bonus photos that just didn’t fit in the article (despite the infinite nature of the internet).