1. Pink Mountaintops
with Sex Church and The Ford Pier Vengeance Trio
Saturday, December 15 at the Waldorf Hotel
presented by Sealed With a Kiss
Stephen McBean brings his Pink Mountaintops to the Waldorf this weekend. Over the years, the group has included members of Black Mountain, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sleepy Sun and many other notables. Loud and fun indie/garage rock is the order of the day for the Mountaintops. McBean has a knack for crafting arm-swaying sing-along rock songs. The night opens up with none other than West Coast institution, the Ford Pier Vengeance Trio. Seventeen years after his debut
Meconium, Ford Pier is going as strong as ever, having recently released
Huzzah! this October. Noisy foursome Sex Church are also on the bill, looking to peel the paint off your nails and shake the wax out of your ears with their supercharged indie/post-whatever rock.
Doors at 9 p.m.
Tickets available at Red Cat and
online.
2. High On Fire
with Goatwhore and Lo-Pan
Sunday, December 16 at Venue Nightclub
presented by The Union and Perryscope
I’m out of town this weekend and I’m pretty ticked that I’ll be missing this. High On Fire fly into town, high off their latest success
De Vermis Mysteriis which is popping up on all kinds of Best Of lists this year. This is what grizzly bears listen to to chill out after a nice meal of hiker and denim. Equal parts stoner/doom/mystical/thrash/sludge/metal – and all parts wickedly awesome – High On Fire have carved out their own place in the metal world since their
Art of Self-Defense debut (2000); that place is a large underground cave decorated with the heads of mythical beasts that reeks of smoke and meat… and smoked meat. Mmm.
Doors at 8 p.m.
Tickets available at Scrape, Zulu and
online.
3. DiRTY RADiO
with The Proper Villains, Bystarlight and DJ Kenya
Thursday, December 13 at Fortune Sound Club
Since the release of their first LP
Debut in August 2010, Vancouver’s DiRTY RADiO have managed to stay on the tips of wagging musical tongues. Two singles off their debut charted on the Billboard Canadian Emerging Artists Chart, and Rusko sampled
“Pressure” (also off
Debut) in March of this year. Farshad Edalat’s silky smooth vocals are backed by sweet synths and bopping percussion. On their latest effort
Cassette (2012), the trio manage to elicit everything from disco-pop, to hot R&B, to more party-focused Jamiroquai-like jams. This one’s gonna get sexy.
Show at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets available at Beatstreet, DIPT, Highlife, Red Cat and
online.
4. Corrosion of Conformity
with Saviours, Black Wizard and Baptists
Tuesday, December 11 at the Biltmore Cabaret
presented by Timbre Concerts
North Carolina’s C.O.C. formed 30 years ago, the same year my now wretched human form came into this world. Needless to say, these guys have written a few books on how to rock and keep rockin’. Still fresh off releasing their latest slab of fuzzed-out stoner metal in February of this year (
Corrosion of Conformity), C.O.C. have been kind enough to come back ‘round these parts just in case you missed them or didn’t get enough of their
show at the Rickshaw last June. And just like the June show, the entire line-up is rock solid.
Doors at 8 p.m.
Tickets available at Highlife, Red Cat, Scrape, Zulu Records and
online.
5. Smalltown DJs
with Grandtheft
Friday, December 14 at Fortune Sound Club
If you didn’t get enough booty-shaking done on Thursday at Fortune, head back over on Friday and shake it right off. Calgary’s Smalltown DJs (Pete Emes and Mike Grimes) will surely kick off a sweaty conga line or seven with their open-armed approach to dance music. The pair don’t shy away from throwing anything into the mix, as long as it keeps people moving. Get a taste
right here. Smalltown DJs have shared the stage with the likes of Afrika Bambaataa, Diplo, A-Trak, Chromeo and throngs more. On Friday, they bring along Grandtheft, Montreal producer/songwriter/DJ/VJ extraordinaire and one half of DJ outfit Team Canada, who have played such high-profile gigs as Canada Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and been selected as the Official DJs of The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler.
Doors at 9 p.m.
Tickets available
online.
1. Pink Mountaintops
with Sex Church and The Ford Pier Vengeance Trio
Saturday, December 15 at the Waldorf Hotel
presented by Sealed With a Kiss
Stephen McBean brings his Pink Mountaintops to the Waldorf this weekend. Over the years, the group has included members of Black Mountain, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sleepy Sun and many other notables. Loud and fun indie/garage rock is the order of the day for the Mountaintops. McBean has a knack for crafting arm-swaying sing-along rock songs. The night opens up with none other than West Coast institution, the Ford Pier Vengeance Trio. Seventeen years after his debut Meconium, Ford Pier is going as strong as ever, having recently released Huzzah! this October. Noisy foursome Sex Church are also on the bill, looking to peel the paint off your nails and shake the wax out of your ears with their supercharged indie/post-whatever rock.
Doors at 9 p.m.
Tickets available at Red Cat and online.
2. High On Fire
with Goatwhore and Lo-Pan
Sunday, December 16 at Venue Nightclub
presented by The Union and Perryscope
I’m out of town this weekend and I’m pretty ticked that I’ll be missing this. High On Fire fly into town, high off their latest success De Vermis Mysteriis which is popping up on all kinds of Best Of lists this year. This is what grizzly bears listen to to chill out after a nice meal of hiker and denim. Equal parts stoner/doom/mystical/thrash/sludge/metal – and all parts wickedly awesome – High On Fire have carved out their own place in the metal world since their Art of Self-Defense debut (2000); that place is a large underground cave decorated with the heads of mythical beasts that reeks of smoke and meat… and smoked meat. Mmm.
Doors at 8 p.m.
Tickets available at Scrape, Zulu and online.
4. Corrosion of Conformity
with Saviours, Black Wizard and Baptists
Tuesday, December 11 at the Biltmore Cabaret
presented by Timbre Concerts
North Carolina’s C.O.C. formed 30 years ago, the same year my now wretched human form came into this world. Needless to say, these guys have written a few books on how to rock and keep rockin’. Still fresh off releasing their latest slab of fuzzed-out stoner metal in February of this year (Corrosion of Conformity), C.O.C. have been kind enough to come back ‘round these parts just in case you missed them or didn’t get enough of their show at the Rickshaw last June. And just like the June show, the entire line-up is rock solid.
Doors at 8 p.m.
Tickets available at Highlife, Red Cat, Scrape, Zulu Records and online.
5. Smalltown DJs
with Grandtheft
Friday, December 14 at Fortune Sound Club
If you didn’t get enough booty-shaking done on Thursday at Fortune, head back over on Friday and shake it right off. Calgary’s Smalltown DJs (Pete Emes and Mike Grimes) will surely kick off a sweaty conga line or seven with their open-armed approach to dance music. The pair don’t shy away from throwing anything into the mix, as long as it keeps people moving. Get a taste right here. Smalltown DJs have shared the stage with the likes of Afrika Bambaataa, Diplo, A-Trak, Chromeo and throngs more. On Friday, they bring along Grandtheft, Montreal producer/songwriter/DJ/VJ extraordinaire and one half of DJ outfit Team Canada, who have played such high-profile gigs as Canada Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and been selected as the Official DJs of The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler.
Doors at 9 p.m.
Tickets available online. 
