The second of three high energy Sled Island previews happened on a Sunday night, June 21 but still drew 30 some hard core fans, most of whom stuck it out and stayed late until the end of Winnipeg alt rock/ experimental punk duo Vampires.
But there was plenty of talented southern rock and punk on stage.
I caught the end of Internet Love’s set. They showed improvement with a vibrant set of experimental rock with effects and lots of strange sounds. Bassist Matthew Rederburg sang most of the lead vocals.
They had a more garage rock sound this time with a similarity to local garage rock veterans The Yeah Dads but as well with some classic noise rock along the lines of the Pixies and Sonic Youth. They added lots of feedback, effects and random noises.
The Ruby Plumes played a more straight ahead punk/ rock set of mostly new material. Most of it was more straight ahead rock and punk, though one of the newer songs had a touch of disco.
There wasn’t any bass smashing from Medicine Hat groove metal/ garage rock band Terra. This time they added a keyboard for a little vintage garage rock flair. They played a slower more groovy set compared to the last time I saw them. They also showed more blues in their set.
Vampires didn’t get on stage until after midnight but while a lot of the audience trickled away, most of the people stuck around for the set.
Their music had a whole lot of different riffs, longer more experimental jams between guitarist/ vocalist David Dobbs and drummer Matthew Powers had a lot of power together and played well off of each other with lots of melodies and a lot of energy.