HPX2014 Day 2: Into the Wee Hours Pt.2

After having kicked the night off at the Forum Multi-Purpose Centre with SonReal, Rush Midnight, and Lights, it was now time to move on to the next slate of acts we were poised to check out over at the Olympic Community Hall.  Glory Glory would be coming on soon, and then headliner Tokyo Police Club would be closing out Day 2 at Olympic Hall.

Oct 22 - HPXDay1n2 15684-1Going in, I had very little background knowledge on Glory Glory, other than seeing their name around town in regard to the plethora of shows they’ve played in Halifax. I was excited for this show, as I wasn’t sure what to expect.  When the band hit the stage with their brand of infectious electro-infused pop-rock, I was immediately hooked. Crowd assimilation was inevitable, as the vibe of the room was so upbeat and positive; the crowd was quite receptive and the band seemed to be having a blast on stage. Fans of bands such as Phoenix and Vampire Weekend would have been right at home here. It was a great way to keep the energy of the evening up, and moving along.

Oct 22 - HPXDay1n2 15722-1Then Tokyo Police Club  (TPC) came on stage to kick the evening’s energy into overdrive with their full-on pop-rock sound. Again TPC are a band who bear similarities to the aforementioned acts Phoenix and Vampire Weekend, with a splash of early Sloan.  They too seemed to be having a blast on stage; they played tracks “Argentina”, “Hot Tonight” and “Tunnel Vision” from their latest release Forcefield, and sounded fantastic. As they wound the set down with their more well-known singles, it was time to make tracks to Reflections.

Oct 23 - HPXDay1n2 15769-1The clock had struck midnight, but we pushed on as there were still two acts left on the agenda: Mike Boyd and the bookend act of the evening, SonReal.  When I arrived there the crowd wasn’t too packed as of yet, so I was able to secure a spot close to the stage to take in the set.  This was something of a redo for me, as I wasn’t able to catch Mike’s set earlier this year at Big Red Fest in PEI, so I wasn’t going to miss it this evening.   Hitting the stage with DJ Plaeboi on the turnables, Mike tore into material from his album …Note the Sarcasm, “Mr. Mike”, “Small World” and his latest single “One Hit Wonder”, which had the crowd bouncing along for the entire set. Boyd’s set clicked along quickly and before we knew it he was bounding off stage to allow the SonReal setup to take place. Needless to say Boyd did not disappoint and the crowd agreed.

2014-10-23 01.26.09At this point the clock continued to wind and when it struck one, SonReal returned to the stage (albeit a stage which was a great deal smaller) and proceeded to work through a somewhat similar set to the one Justin, Jeff and I had caught earlier in the evening.  This time there was no parental filter in place, and we got the full SonReal experience.  We got to hear the lion’s share of One Long Day and his most recent tracks “Live This” and the incredibly well received “Preach”.  While it was cool to see SonReal play the big stage earlier in the night, this was a much more intimate affair with a room full of his fans who were there for the emcee from Vernon, BC.  The energy was great for this set and once he launched into his closer, the breakthrough “Everywhere We Go”, the carriage started its transformation into a pumpkin so I headed for home so that I could survive work and another late night on Day 3 of the fest, which was going to feature Ghostface Killah and Raekwon (from the Wu-Tang Clan for the uninitiated) and Against Me!

Day 2 was a great night of music which included 3 separate venues and 7 artists.  Bring on Day 3!

About the author

Trev

A proud and over-caffeinated husband, father, runner and writer. I've written for the local weekly The Coast for over a decade and have since taken to creating and writing for HAFILAX for even longer. I hope you enjoy the musings of a guy who has loved music for the better part of 4 decades, and has an album of concert tickets to show for it.

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