There were many pandemic casualties in early 2022 and that’s one of the reasons the Halifax Urban Folk Festival is happy to be able to make up this bill’s – Loviet and The Backstays – cancelled show from January at The Carleton. This new date, Thursday, September 1st, is definitely going ahead with a 8:00 PM show time. Tickets are $25 + HST.
***Please note: we will be selling all seats in the room for this show. We will try our best to seat everyone with friends but this is not a table bubble event***
If 2020 was a rollercoaster, 2021/22 was the theme park. It’s the only way rock-pop singer-songwriter, Loviet, can explain it. The quick ride of last year’s three-song EP “Everyone Knows the Thrill When it’s Over” turned out to be just a taste of the expansive set her upcoming fall album has to offer. With this second release, she boldly introduces sound versatility to the speakers, lyrical variety to the ears, and a burgeoning songwriter to the crowds.
Loviet’s kept her signature, shimmery hooks and tell-all emotions rooted in party sweat, but mastered a cathartic flavour in all seven songs she wrote, sang and produced during 2020’s planet-wide period of self-reflection. Led by the lead single, “Dullshine”, the album’s romanticized teen memories, inner battles won and lost, and existential sparring with the future easily duet with classic 90’s grunge and 80’s synth on the side. The whole album’s nostalgic thread pulls together a generational gist wrapped in poetic power that anyone can relate to.
As her body of work grows, it’s clear that Loviet’s here to take up some serious space on the edge of pop’s dancehall mold. A good measure of fuck-it undertones live in her exhales to help counterattack the industry’s plastic and emphasize her see-through approach to real stories and guttural songs. It’s a deliberate move by an artist who wants to see where things can go before they close the gates. This is a tour of her theme park after all.
The Backstays formed in Saint John, New Brunswick in 2018. Since releasing their debut EP (self-titled) in August 2018, the band has toured the East Coast also supporting musicians like Joel Plaskett Emergency, Hannah Georgas, The Great Lake Swimmers and Adam Baldwin. With pointed lyrics as social as they are musical, the band brings together roots and heartland rock into a more expansive sound that equally evokes new wave and post-punk. The band consists of Pete Johnston on guitar/vocals and keyboards, Serenna Chapman on violin/vocals and keyboards, Derek Hichie on keyboards/guitar, Keith Whipple on bass, and Lorne Kirkpatrick on drums. Together they take the wall of sound ethos from the studio to the stage. The Backstays released their first LP Tributaries in spring 2021.