WEIRD AND WIRED
WE CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S OVER! HERE'S THE FINAL DISPATCH FOR LAWNYA VAWNYA 15 NEWSLETTER RECAPPING SATURDAY JUNE 7TH.
WE MADE IT THROUGH ANOTHER RLY FUN AND CUTE FEST! LOVE U AND SEE U NEXT YEAR! Comics by Elijah Janka!
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SNITFIT/CELL DETH/DUREX/LIFE CRISIS AT BAIRD BUILDING GARAGE
This was a very cool wholesome show in a bunch of ways. The sun streamed in as Life Crisis, a band hailing from Corner Brook full of sweet buds with tight and lung-shaking hardcore songs, fired it up. Some weird guy brought a dog in and everyone rallied together to make sure the dog would leave safely to protect his lil ears. Kids in the front shouted their own hardcore feelings into the mic at the lead singer James’ prompting, and the set ended with crunchy guitar leads and a drum solo that revved everyone up. Next was Durex, whose immaculate vibe was like the best racetrack crunchy spirit with psychedelic cosmic feedback that made the mosh pit lean in and dance it out. Cell Deth, a PEI fastcore band, was really cool to see, as the front person commanded an amazing energy in all red and created an wildly frenetic crowd energy with a song about Palestine and other political necessities and total jams that had the audience begging for an encore. Snitfit ended the show as a crew of young stars who clearly had a huge audience from the get go, delivering a performance that everyone was waiting for and making the whole garage vibrate with energy. All in all this was possibly the most hyped show of the fest whose powerful vibes will surely carry into the future. As glorious and rad host Renee said: “it just keeps giving.”
OVERLAND/FRANKIE TEARDROP/NANCY MUSIC AT OICHE
Oiche rests toward the end of my path across George Street, and as I make my way through the sea of 20-something-year-old strangers parading around outside, I reach my final destination of the festival this year. It was only a month ago that I was here for a queer rave thrown by local drag superstar Tara Nova, and tonight is invoking the same diverse crowd and musical spirit of that night for sure. Opening the set for dancefloor judgement is Nancy Music, local DJ/dance music production duo with numerous years of experience in both providing and organizing queer nightlife entertainment. Ben and Dan deliver banger after banger, providing non stop beats for all floorgoers and bar patrons to bop along to. A complex and smooth blend of pop, dance, trance, and underground EDM is what they are serving and all of us are more than happy to be here living for it. Nancy’s set culminates in a final outro of Whitney Houston meets melodic vocal house—the perfect representation of them as artists—before Frankie Teardrop takes the turntables Dan hands off to them. Frankie seamlessly loads and performs their mix interwoven within what Ben and Dan have created, and the party doesn’t stop all night long. There is no shortage of party guests, with the faces of the crowd rotating throughout the night to include drag queens, queers of all kinds, their allies, festival employees, and just about anyone who knew they needed to just be themselves and dance the night away. Rave extraordinaire Overland ends the night, commanding the room and immediately drawing more and more folks into the doors of Oiche for our final festival send off. Overland’s eclectic and contrasting sounds throughout her mix proves why she sets herself apart from other DJs within the scene, from basement warehouses to Boiler Room it's no surprise why Lawnya Vawnya chose her to ring the night in one last time before our artful weekend ends. As the night progresses the club fills more and more, and it is Overland’s incredible set that is the soundtrack for all of us here to celebrate in unison. I can’t imagine a better place to be together as a community than here at the LV15 rave!
- VIOLET DRAKE
MANTOURAGE/STEEL TOE/BUS PEOPLE
The last night of Lawnya Vawnya opened with Steel Toe at the Ship. This St. John’s duo of punky-pop boys—avid fingerboarder Nick Hunt on drums and cleaner of blood on guitars in the Ship bathroom Owen Finn on guitar—created impressive and upbeat tunes that powered the crowd up for the evening. Next up was Mantourage, with frontwoman Ana-Maria Espino Trudel backed by a trio of dumb, pretty boys. This folk-rock outfit spun the room into a trance and led us floating into the night “just like magic.”
Corner Brook band Bus People closed the Ship show with vocalist and LV15 newsletter editor extraordinaire Aley Waterman securing her notes to her AHA dumpster keyboard with a piece of freshly chewed gum. Their dreamy electro pop/punk/new wave sounds fashioned another kind of magic in the room, as though they were casting a spell on the audience. Stay tuned for their new album, Blue Star, currently in the works! With every inch of my body in pain from having way too much fun and so full of gratitude for the past four days of existing outside of space and time during this dreamlike festival, I did not want this show to end. -NICOLE HALDOUPIS
