Local bands incite revolution

By Alan Cho

Calgary has been too quiet for too long. A corporate approved Celine Dion frequency numbs its victims with mediocrity. People shuffle to their classes and jobs, souls burden with the lead of lameness and a hollow echo in their hearts.

Enough already, there shall be a revolution. The people have spoken and they proclaim they will take no more. We, the people, shall light the streets with the flaming record sleeves of our parents’ Phil Collins collections. The bile of Beelzebub shall come forth to cleanse the city of its Avril Lavignes and Hilary Duffs in the flames of crunchy guitar riffs.

The time is nigh for the rawk.

Of course, any revolution of rawk needs its wrathful horsemen and horsewoman of the Apocalypse, those that will lead the charge of a new era of rawkhood. We have local bands Supernal and Starewell, and they’re ready to fuck some shit up. The musical kind.

Both bands, fronted by our very own University of Calgary students, have won accolades and praise for their time on the garage band circuit. Supernal had the privilege of beating out 19,000 other bands to chart number one in the All-Time Pop/Rock charts on Garageband.com, while Starewell reigned as the champions of the Calgary Band Warz competition. Both are of the perfect pedigree to rain rawk upon an unsuspecting populace.

You wouldn’t think this jovial woman and a menagerie of men, goofing off among the newspapers and magazines of the Gauntlet lounge, could usher in a new era of rawk, but maybe that’s because they’re not all here. No matter, Starewell’s Chris Rozell and Supernal’s Angela Saini, Brent Miller and Tony Garr go on like the good soldiers they are.

Leaning forward on the couch, Miller confides his choice for the first victim of the revolution.

“Britney Spears is good for showing her ass, Christina Aguilera has got a good voice and is good for showing her ass, Jessica Simpson is good for nothing,” he whispers. “She needs to be taken out.”

Not to be outdone, Supernal’s Rozell suggests Santana.

“I don’t care if he knows the Dorian Mode better than his own ass,” he says. “He’s got to go. It’s like ‘please insert tab A Santana lead here into tab B popular Artist.’”

Joking aside, both bands are ready and able to bring the rock when they play the Den Thu., Mar. 4, something they look forward to doing.

“We all just wanted to take a chance on this, see if we can get some good rock music going on at the U of C again,” says Miller.

Not that they’re strangers to the campus, most of the members attend classes here and also played at the Den last year. Coming back for round two, both bands see how the Den can help revive Calgary’s flagging music scene.

Saini elaborates.

“I’ve talked to a lot of musicians in Calgary and everyone points their fingers, ‘all the bands suck, so it’s all their fault. Nobody’s putting out any good music.’ And then I’ve talked to other people, who are like ‘no, there’s no place to play,’” she muses. “I think it’s both. Bands don’t have incentive to be good when there’s nowhere to play and no one wants bands to play if they’re all shitty. It’s a cycle. The whole can’t get a job, can’t get experience thing. It’s why we’re doing this show at the Den.”

“It’s a good venue,” Rozell adds. “Being right on campus instead of being this dive you can’t get to since it’s so far away.”

So wrangle up all your friends and relatives and drag them to the Den for a most decadent evening. The commandment hath been delivered. The time of reckoning hath arrived for thou must be shaken from thy stupor. Thou art ready to recieveth the rock. Hail Satan!

Supernal and Stairwell play the Den. Thu., Mar. 4 at 7 p.m.