With plenty of Canadian acts in town for SXSW, Panic Manual did our civic duty and showed some support for the home team, taking in some of the Wednesday and Thursday afternoon Canada House showcases at Swan Dive as well as Range Magazine‘s official showcase at Chess Club on the Thursday night.
Merv xx Gotti, March 13, Swan Dive
I thought that seeing the moderator for the Star Trek: Discovery panel geeking out over Trek minutiae would be the nerdiest thing I’d see all week at SXSW but then Merv xx Gotti became a contender during his Wednesday afternoon set at Canada House when he introduced a song by asking if anyone had seen Dune in the past couple of weeks before adding, “This song is called Dune. It’s about Dune.”
Yes, the Regina-based singer-songwriter does seem to take a fairly literal approach to songwriting, but what he may lack in metaphor, he makes up for in tone and atmosphere. Gotti mentioned he’d previously been at SXSW back in 2018 with his hip hop project. Based on the mellow, moody sounds on Gotti’s Guitar Songs EP, clearly this is a different beast.
Living Hour, March 14, Swan Dive
Winnipeg’s Living Hour has been on my list of bands to see for a couple of years now, and on Thursday afternoon at Canada House, I finally got the chance to see them. I was suitably impressed by what I saw and also a little surprised. I was expecting a bit more of a subdued, chilled out dream pop vibe and while there was certainly some of that, a lot of their set was also a bit more rocking. I look forward to seeing what’s next for Living Hour.
Indian Giver, March 14, Chess Club
Also playing Canada House on the Thursday was Toronto-based indigenous hardcore band Indian Giver, though I opted not to see them play that afternoon. Rather, I waited until later that night to catch their set at Chess Club as that seemed like a more suitable venue for a punk show than the stage at Swan Dive. What followed was one of the most intense and powerful performances I saw all week. It was so good I didn’t even mind that some dude spilled his beer all over my back during their set.