Pride Tiger Wins! | Well, it’s more of a toss-up, but Pride Tiger seem to have the right idea. Soon Trooper will be opening for them.
Edfest
July 17-26 (8:30pm). Part of Capital Ex @ Northlands Park. Gate admission: $10.
Edfest, the cavalcade of classic and current popular musicians that coincides with Capital “Not Klondike Days Anymore” Ex, has done much to revitalize the event’s image and lure patrons young and older to the city’s premier festival of carny rides and corndogs.
Even better, organizers have seen fit to pair established acts with Canadian up-and-comers to give these aspirants bigger audiences than they’ve likely ever had. There’s no question some of them will go on to great things, but only the rare few have what it takes to make a triumphant return to Capital Ex as a headliner. But who among this year’s bevy of hopefuls will have that enigmatic and elusive je ne sais quoi—a quality we like to call Ex Appeal—that will bear them to greater glory?
Rides Again (w/ Hedley)
Date: Thursday, July 17
Hails from: Oshawa, ON
Credentials: The band has shared the stage with Alexisonfire, Three Days Grace, Sloan, and Default; their debut album, Into Existence, came out earlier this year.
Self-Description: “Their sound mixes Foo Fighter energy along with big arena-sounding choruses.”
Ex Appeal: Well you can’t go too far wrong cranking out crunchy, terse guitar-rock with hooky choruses. Plus, Rides Again has the carnival-friendly novelty factor of being fronted by hunky brothers Chad and Nathan Peyton, sure to be a hit with teenyboppers of all ages. As a three-piece, they may want to contemplate adding a retro keyboard or entirely anomalous musical effect—perhaps flute à la Jethro Tull?—to make their rock seem slightly classic-er.
The Midway State
(w/ Collective Soul)
Date: Friday, July 18
Hails from: Toronto, ON
Credentials: Have opened for Theory of a Deadman, Fall Out Boy, and Evanescence; toured with Chris Daughtry; had a song on Fox’s The O.C.; debut album, Holes, comes out July 22.
Self-Description: “New website coming soon.” According to Wikipedia, The Midway State is known for their “blend of rock, piano, and soulful vocals.”
Ex Appeal: Capital Ex patrons are hard-working, no-nonsense people. Yes, they want to go faster, yes they’ll have gravy with those fries, and no, they might not cotton to a band that seems in any way middling or otherwise in-between. You can also imagine them not cottoning to The Midway State’s “Never Again,” which sounds a bit like a 21st-century revamping of Bronski Beat’s “Small Town Boy.”
Kreesha Turner
(w/ Jully Black)
Date: Monday, July 21
Hails from: Edmonton
Credentials: First single “Bounce with Me” reached #53 on the Canadian Hot 100; follow-up single “Don’t Call Me Baby” cracked the Top 10 and made easy transition to popular cellphone ringtone.
Self-Description: A self-professed R&B and pop singer, Turner cites A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Foo Fighters, and Our Lady Peace as inspirations.
Ex Appeal: Her website, which looks like a Telepersonals ad, shows that Turner has quickly apprehended the fine balance between artistry and marketing prowess required to make a dent in the crowded soul-diva niche. She’ll need to match the barn-burning intensity of headliner Jully Black, whose rip-roaring finale to the Juno Awards ceremony this year was an evening highlight.
Pride Tiger
(w/ Joan Jett)
Date: Tuesday, July 22
Hails from: Vancouver, BC
Credentials: The band’s name is a combination of Pride Pops, a brand of cider, and a line about riding the tiger in Dio’s “Holy Diver.” Drummer/vocalist Matt Wood and guitarists Sunny Dhak and Bob Froese are former members of Three Inches of Blood, a band that would have made a great opening act if Capital Ex had been able to nail down ex-Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno. Alice Cooper is a fan.
Self-Description: Guitarist Sunny Dahk says, “We listen to a lot of Free, Steely Dan, and Humble Pie.”
Ex Appeal: Any band that alludes to Dio with its name, predicates its reputation on a single called “White Witch Woman Blues” and gets favourably compared to Thin Lizzy is a Capital Ex shoo-in.
Jason Blaine
(w/ Doc Walker)
Date: Thursday, July 24
Hails from: Nashville (by way of Pembroke, ON)
Credentials: Won CMT’s Project Discovery talent search in 2002; with two independent albums under his belt, Blaine moved to Nashville to work on his new album, Make My Move, which came out in May; named Best New Country Artist at the 2004 Canadian Radio Music Awards; regularly charts singles on CMT.
Self-Description: “[It’s] always a blast playing in Alberta... some serious country fans out there!”
Ex Appeal: Blond, tousled hair, blue eyes you could swim in, lantern jaw, cowboy shirt. Sings about boots and flirtin.’ That should work.
