Sloan Rocks Hopped and Confused Day 2

Sloan, Cleopatrick, Born Ruffians, and Taylor Knox capped the second day of Ottawa’s Mill Street Brewpubs’ Hopped and Confused Festival.

The evening started out a little slower than the first night. Friday’s crowd seemed a little more eager to get there early and start the party. None the less Taylor Knox got up and started on time thanking those who were in attendance for coming out early. If you were able to catch Knox’s set you were in for a treat. Knox’s drummer was unable to make the show. As you could imagine it’s not easy finding a drummer to fill in at a moments notice, luckily Andrew Scott of Sloan was available to fill in.

Coburg’s Cleopatrick was a big surprise of the day. This was the bands first time playing a show in  Ottawa that wasn’t in a basement. Opening with their current single “Sanjake”, the crowd was suddenly much larger and ready to party. For such a young band their stage presence is very professional.  Partway through their set frontman Luke Gruntz had a technical issue with his gear. Drummer Ian Fraser showed great poise. Instead of waiting for the issue to be figured out, Fraser kept a beat going on his drums keeping the energy level high while Gruntz solved the issue. Start to finish the bands set was killer.  A definite band to keep an eye on. If you have the chance to see them don’t miss out.

If you have never been to the festival, or Mill street brewpub you should go by one day and have a look. Its location is pretty sweet being so close to the river. While we were there mainly for the rock n roll, you can’t but want to divulge into the ample supply of beer and ciders available. As well try out the food. Specifically Tacos and Poutine. The two do go hand in hand.

Midland, Ontario’s Born Ruffians were the second last band of the evening. Veterans of the indy rock scene since 2004, the 3 piece put on quite the performance and had the audience dancing to their sweet sounds and melodies.

Whats a night of Canadian Indy music without Halifax’s Sloan, There’s not much you can say about these guys. Having been around since 1991, they have made a mark for themselves in the industry for close to 30 years. The band seemed pretty loose as they came out to “If it feels good do it”, off of their 2001 release ‘Pretty Together’.

Bass player/Frontman Chris Murphy got the crowd amped up by chanting “Sloan!” back and forth with the audience,  the atmosphere in the venue was all smiles and cheers as the audience complimented him by chanting back. The rest of the bands set was a smattering of hits from their 12 albums. All in all it was a successful weekend of Beer, food and  Rock n Roll.  Looking forward to what Mill Street and Dine Alone Records have in store next year.