Music Saturday
I’M LIKING THE LATE afternoon main stage lineup, starting at 2:45 p.m. with the Acorn, an Ottawabased folk-rock band that has released 10 records since 2003 but never quite gained the attention it deserved. Its 2007 album “Glory Hope Mountain” is a classic. (The Acorn will also play a late-night Paper Bag Records showcase at Mills Hardware with Aron D’Alesio, guitarist for Hamilton rock band Young Rival.) Following the Acorn is Julie and the Wrong Guys (4:30 p.m.), a Canadian indie-rock supergroup featuring Julie Doiron (of Eric’s Trip), Eamon McGrath (ex-July Talk) and members of hardcore band Cancer Bats.
Expect a huge crowd for Sam Roberts when he takes the main stage at 11:30 p.m. Roberts, like the Sheepdogs, attracts a multi-generational crowd. Supercrawl is running an hour later this year, so it’s going to be a long haul for Roberts’ fans jockeying for position near the stage. Best get there early for Sheepdogs’ spinoff BROS (9:45 p.m.) and hold your ground.
The evening lineup at City of Music/Exclaim stage is more roots oriented, with the outrageous antics of White Cowbell Oklahoma featured at 6:15 p.m. Part-spoof and part-serious, WCO is a Toronto-based band that mixes power tools with southern-fried rock. Be careful if the chainsaw comes out.
Juno-winning Hamilton blues guitarist Steve Strongman follows at 8 p.m., with the brilliant Ontario singer-songwriter Donovan Woods at 9:45 p.m. Fans of wry Winnipeg band the Weakerthans need to take in John K. Samson at 11:30 p.m.
For local musical tastes, take in the Mohawk College Stage where an ensemble from the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra collaborates with Hamilton rock band Black Collar Union (6:15 p.m.), or the oldtimey retro stylings of the Vaudevillian (9:45 p.m.) or the garage folk rock of former Harlan Pepper Dan Edmonds (11:30 p.m.).
Music Sunday
WITH THE TRIPLE-FISTED singing and songwriting punch of Tom Wilson, Stephen Fearing and Colin Linden, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings remain one of the most talented bands in the country. Hamilton is the closest thing the veteran band has got to a hometown so expect them to pull out all the stops when the band closes the festival at 5:45 p.m.
The problem with the Sunday lineup is that you can’t be in two places at once. While Blackie is on the main stage, Polaris Prize-winning throat singer Tanya Tagaq is on the City of Music/Exclaim stage. And as indie-folk favourite Basia Bulat performs at 4 p.m. on the main stage, uber-talented popster Andy Shauf is on the City of Music Stage. Roots fans may also get a pleasant surprise from Harrow Fair, the new collaboration between Miranda Mulholland (Great Lake Swimmers) and Andrew Penner (Sunparlour Players) who perform at 2 p.m.
Luckily, there’s no conflict with Hamilton singer-songwriter Thompson Wilson at 5 p.m. on the Mohawk Stage. Wilson’s songs and stagecraft started out strong and continue to grow.
Art
AT SUPERCRAWL, EVERY some odd piece of art stuck in the middle of James Street seems to leave an indelible imprint on our brains. Remember that giant shipping container spewing out plastic lawn furniture? Or how about that incredible flaming skee-ball machine?
Sorry, no flaming skee-ball this year.
But it will be difficult not to notice the giant “Abnormally Aboriginal” mural on the side of the 118 James St. N. It’s by Six Nations artist Shelley Niro, who is known for her stereotype-challenging photos of Indigenous women (Niro also has an upcoming exhibition at the Art Gallery of Hamilton).
Between Cannon and Robert streets, you’ll also come across an aluminum light pole transformed into a tree, a giant theatrical backdrop called “Paradise Mirage,” a walk-in “Camera Obscura” that will give viewers an inverted view of the outside world,” 30 kites entangled in a tree, and a pop-up studio which allows you to interact with local artist Kyle Stewart while he works.
There are also many exhibitions in the galleries that line the Supercrawl streets, including You Me Gallery’s (330 James St. N.) annual whirligig show of artist-made windblown sculpture. You may also consider turning to the corner at Barton Street and taking in the OPTICKS light/ projection art presentation at HAVN. The show, conceptualized by John Smith (best known as bass player for the band Young Rival) and Andrew O’Connor, will see the group create an abstract representation of Hamilton’s east Mountain using light, audio and experimental techniques.
Theatre: Spoken and written word
SUPERCRAWL DIRECTOR Tim Potocic has pledged to make the street more animated than ever, and he’s doing this by introducing Fringe-like theatre troupes to the festival.
Six different short productions will be running at various times in the afternoons and early evenings in the Toyota Art Zone (Cannon to Robert). They’ll be peppered throughout the block, sporadic and spontaneous. Titles include Tottering Biped Theatre’s production of “Shakespeare in a Studebaker” and Red Betty Theatre’s production of “Cockroach.”
The art zone will also feature the “Authors Tent,” sponsored by the Hamilton Arts Council Literary Advisory Committee and gritLIT. Acclaimed Hamilton writer Gary Barwin will read from his “No TV for Woodpeckers” on Friday at 7 p.m. There will also be gritLIT readings Saturday at 2 p.m. and performances by Hamilton Youth Poets Sunday at 2 p.m. The tent will also feature ongoing virtual readings from Jamie Tennant, Sally Cooper, David Baillie, Pasha Malla and Anna Chatterton.
Fashion
THE FASHION TENT will be located at the corner of James North and Murray Street, one block north of Barton, with runway shows on Friday from 6:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; on Saturday from 12:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ; and on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. This year, about 20 designers, mostly from the Hamilton area, will present their original lines. Designers include Blackbird Studios, True Hamiltonian, The Thrifty Designer, Lissa Hill Leather, Designs by Mallory, Aggy Power, Girls With Gunz, Cha Nimke Nagwagin Kwe, Foreign Waves, Gray Gal, The Eye of the Faith, Kitster Creations and Rosalie Wynne Intimates.
Film
THE ART GALLERY of Hamilton World Film Festival becomes a part of Supercrawl this year with free screenings of 10 Canadian short films at the AGH Annex, 118 James St. N., on Saturday, 7 to 10 p.m. AGH film curator Ryan Ferguson is promising everything from “stunning 3D animation to thought-provoking documentary.”
Locke Street Festival
THE ANNUAL Locke Street Festival again coincides with Supercrawl on Saturday, but a trolley shuttle will make it fairly easy to make it part of your crawl. A free HSR Shuttle (the vintage cream-and-red trolley) will run on an express loop between Locke Street and Supercrawl from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The shuttle will depart every 15 minutes on the hour at King/Summers Lane, stopping at Main and Locke.
The Locke Street Festival will feature music on three stages as well as the usual array of merchant and vendor booths. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with live music to 11 p.m.
Among the performers working Locke Street are Tomi Swick, Chris Chambers, McCurlie/Wiles & Doidge, Dave Ptolemy, James Ferris, Randall Hill, Matt Paxton, Riddim Riders, Marcus Starr, Bryan Sorensen, and Mike Vallely & Matt Coleman.
At every Supercrawl, some odd piece of art in the middle of James Street seems to leave an indelible imprint on our brains.