LIONESS, OPOPO, CHILDBITE and others. Sun, June 28 AlternaQueer Stage @ Pride, Alexander Square Parkette. Rating: NNN
Tucked next to Buddies In Bad Times, the Alexander Square Parkette makes a great little outdoor rock venue during Pride.
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Detroit-based post-punks Child Bite favoured spine-crushing volume and stage moves over any workable hooks. Their set was energetic, but it failed to connect with the beer-swilling, pot smoking crowd, who seemed desperate to dance to anything. Next up, local hard-rockers Crackpuppy took the stage. They sounded like a boozy, metal-informed riffers from the 80s, and from the looks of their lead singer, they probably had been in bands just like this back then.
Things got better when OPOPO hit the stage.
Finally, a large group of rock revelers started grooving to their kinetic basslines and feral vocal hooks. But the highlight came at sunset when the three members of Lioness launched into their ferocious set.
Vanessa Fischer’s massive soul-laced vocals, and Jeff Scheven’s larger-than-life drum work finally whipped up a frenzy. Good timing too, because it started to pour just as they wrapped their final song.
