KAZOO! FEST 2019: SATURDAY PREVIEW
We hope that Friday didn’t drain you, because we have a lot (Read: A LOT!) in store for you today. Remember, tomorrow is Sunday and there’s a relaxed pancake breakfast and a chill time, so do whatever you can today – there is really so much to see and do, and we’d hate for you to miss a minute of it.
To start, we have the always popular and always impressive Kazoo! Print Expo, happening at Mitchell Hall from 11AM-4PM. Beautify your living space and expand your mind with the art prints, books, comics, and so much more. Next door to Mitchell Hall in Palmer Hall, there’s the Pizza Party Punk show (four of our favourite words) with amazing locals Bellyrub up at noon, and Newfoundland’s Spanish language pop punk trio Lo Siento at 1PM. This show is PWYC, so go over, grab some ‘za and check out two top quality bands that will set the scene for the rest of your day.
At 1PM, happening at Kazoo! HQ, we’ve got the always entertaining and always insightful Vish Khanna doing the Kreative Kontrol Live Podcast. Then, if you’re ready to learn some more, check out the Publication Studio Summit and Keynote Series back at Palmer Hall, running from 2-4. This event is free and features Rich Marsella discussing DIY Instruments & Musical Anarchy at 2PM, and Drawn & Quarterly’s Peggy Burns on Comics & Publishing at 3PM.
But you have to make some choices at Kazoo! Fest. Running at the same time as the Studio Summit is one of our favourite staples of the festival – the Red Brick afternoon show! This year we have the experimental psy jazz of Standpartners at 2PM, followed by Toronto songwriting legend Alex Lukashevsky at 3PM. Come and relax, bliss out, and get your mind right for the coming evening.
From 4-6 back at Kazoo! HQ, we have the Chip Tunes’ Party! This family-friendly event will see chip tunes DJs spinning 8-bit dance party bangers, while a 30 (!) chip buffet is there to help you achieve your daily calorie intake. As well, we’ll have a special Jolly Jumper structure set up and some Jolly Jumpers available if your little one wants to dance, but doesn’t quite possess the balance to do it on their own. Over at Outpost Vintage, we’ll have the amazing Savannah Taylor challenging and soothing us with her activist-inspired R&B anthems, and stick around for our very special guest, Cots (Guelph’s own Steph Yates’ new project).
Now, go grab something to eat and sit down for an hour, and rest up for what is a jam-packed night of beautiful music. At the Royal City Church at 7:30 we have something truly special: Queer Songbook Orchestra – a 12-piece chamber pop ensemble, dedicated to exploring and uplifting LGBTQ2S narrative through the lens of popular music, blending story and song while reimagining the traditional concert experience. This show is co-presented by Guelph Pride, and it’s going to be something like you’ve never experienced. Tickets are still available here, if you wanna save $5 off the door price.
At the Cornerstone, we’re presenting the long-overdue Kazoo! debut of Gianna Lauren, the Haligonian psych-folk musician that wows and astounds. She’ll be packing a hot band and we can’t wait. Opening the night is Guelph’s very own Anna Wiebe, a folk song stylist that’ll soothe your soul. Just up Carden Street from Cornerstone, we have a supremely stacked bill at 10C Shared Space. Opening the night is the colossal experimental sounds of Fake Humans (featuring Kazoo! Fave Colin Fisher), followed by the new wave mastery of Ian Daniel Kehoe, with experimental R&B phenom Yves Jarvis (FKA un Blonde) closing out the night with challenging, beautiful songs.
Feeling a little more charged up? Need something a little more rock n roll? Check out the ANAF with Ottawa’s pizza post-punks Bonnie Doon headlining an amazing night of punk rock, Newfoundland’s Lo Siento pulling double duty, Montreal’s Bleu Nuit, and Guelph’s newest sophisti-rockers Drunk at the Library starting everything off right.
To close out the night, we have a truly momentous event for you to dance it. Warming up the crowd with mind expanding body movers is techno deconstructionist, Toronto’s Edna King. Closing out the night is the dancefloor packing sounds of Chicago house legend, Hieroglyphic Being. Dance until you can’t (and then keep dancing — but make sure to get at least some sleep, because Sunday morning is going to be a feeling good, soul soothing, warm hug full of pancakes, coffee, beautiful music, and meaningful friendly interactions.
