As the clock struck 8:15 p.m. in Sudbury on a beautiful Friday (August 14), Miesha and the Spanks took to the purple-light drenched stage of Knox Hall for the first day of Up Here Festival. The Calgary-based duo, made up of lead vocalist and guitarist Miesha Louie and drummer and backing vocalist Sean Hamilton, took up their instruments and immediately launched into "Lost Boy" from their 2018 album Girls Girls Girls, filling the venue with their high-voltage garage punk goodness.
Their kinetic energy was matched by the lights, which pulsed and flashed in time to Hamilton's drum beats. "Dig Me Out" hit extremely hard, and was followed by the absolute bomb of energy that is "I Can't Wait." Louie's voice was strong and clear, showcasing not only her range, but the sheer power of her vocals.
Before they launched into "So Mad," another banger from their 2023 album Unconditional Love in Hi-Fi, Louie mentioned that they were supposed to play the festival last year, but the Air Canada strike got in the way. Hamilton brought this back later in the set, getting cheers from the crowd when he voiced support for workers going on strike for a living wage — something Sudbury is well-known for, with the city's first recorded strike dating back to 1896.
The crowd more than made up for the missed year, giving the band's energy back to them and then some. The dancing got more intense and the room started heating up, the sign of all great rock shows. Louie told the story about how she wrote the defiantly anthemic "It's My Year" for her niece when she was having a hard time making friends, and the audience proved that everyone in the room related to the line, "I got this feeling and it makes me wanna move."
Then, the band started up a fantastic cover of the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog," capturing the attitude of the song perfectly while putting their unique stamp on it, rivalling the original for use of dynamics and the emotion with which Louie delivered the lyrics.
From their upcoming EP Visions, "Fight My Body" was another standout, showcasing how well Louie and Hamilton's voices work together as they built upon what the other was doing with the ease of two people who can read each other's minds. Like the majority of people in the venue, the band were dripping with sweat at this point, with Louie wiping her hands on her shirt before going back to shredding and Hamilton wiping sweat from his eyes before diving back into the drums.
Throughout the show, Hamilton never sat still behind the kit, standing at multiple points during the songs to hit the drum that much harder. Near the end of the set, he joked that this has been the most expensive show the band has played, noting how many sticks he'd blown through.
The band absolutely blew the roof off of the place with "Heart Is On Fire," pulling out all the stops and going at the song full tilt. Without missing a beat, Hamilton headed out into the crowd, crashing the cymbals with the sticks before handing the latter out to members of the audience and hitting the cymbal with both hands. Those with the sticks took turns hitting the cymbal when he returned to finish out the set from behind the kit.
Miesha and the Spanks left the stage to cheers, leaving everybody basking in the hard-rocking, joyfully cathartic atmosphere they created.
After a brief turnaround, which gave the audience time to check out Shannon Flynn's Liminal Signals art installation near the back of the room, Toronto's Weird Nightmare took the stage.
With cool flower-like light patterns projecting onto the ceiling, the band — made up of lead vocalist and guitarist Alex Edkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Jesse Laderoute, drummer and backing vocalist Loel Campbell, and bassist Roddy Keuster — launched into the melodic pop-infused rock of "Headful of Rain" from their recently released album Hoopla.
Shortly into their second song, "Nibs" (from 2022's Weird Nightmare), a sheen of sweat started forming on the band members and the audience, something that would only increase as the set went on and the energy exchange got stronger. When Edkins announced the next song, "Lusitania," the crowd went wild and everyone sang along.
The band returned to Hoopla with the driving "Pay No Mind," the solo of which Laderoute executed flawlessly while wearing flip-flops, something that Edkins mentioned with awe after the song had finished. After a great exchange, which included Laderoute saying, "I grew my moustache for this," the band launched into "Sunday Driver."
The harmonies between Edkins, Laderoute, and Campbell were out of this world all night, but "Sunday Driver" hit the sweetest spot, their voices mixing in an indescribably satisfying way, like scratching an itch deep within the brain.
Shortly after this song, Laderoute stated the undeniable truth: "I think it's safe to say guitar music is back." After pointing out the fact that Zoomers are embracing the six-string more and more, Weird Nightmare's performance of "I Think You Know" only further solidified this statement, with people continuing to dance and sing along.
