Triple Play!

With a trip to LOLA scheduled for Saturday (Benn Gunning! Minotaurs! Land of Talk! Caribou!), plus the Pack A.D. and Young Rival at Windsor's Phog Lounge on Sept. 23 followed by Holy Fuck at the Magic Stick in Detroit three days later, we tried to talk ourselves out of Bend Sinister with Will Currie and The Country French at Phog this Thurs., Sept. 16. Heck, we're still working on getting a post up about last Saturday's Hot Hot Heat/Hey Rosetta! show.

Until we saw that The Zolas had been added. So much for resisting the allure of Canadian indie music. See you there.

Meet us in the middle

Hey Rosetta! hails from St. John's, Newfoundland, the most easterly point of Canada. Hot Hot Heat are based in Vancouver, British Columbia-- the opposite end of the country. Beyond geography, there is a lot that separates these two bands, but this Saturday they meet in the middle of North America to play the Pike Room of the Crofoot in Pontiac.

The scene is somewhat reminiscent of the Dan Mangan/The Wooden Birds bill last month: darlings of the Canadian indie scene gaining exposure in the U.S. thanks to vets with an established American audience. Formed in 2005, Hey Rosetta! released their first album, Plan Your Escape, in 2007 to much acclaim, followed by the stunningly beautiful, award-winning and 2009 Polaris Music Prize short-listed Into Your Lungs. Like Mangan, they deserve to be discovered here.

Hot Hot Heat has paid their dues and won a few awards themselves over 11 years of recording and touring. Hits from 2002's Make Up the Breakdown ("Bandages"), 2005's Elevator ("Middle of Nowhere," "Goodnight Goodnight") and Happiness Ltd.-- which will have been released exactly two years from Saturday's concert date-- have received regular airplay on Detroit/Windsor radio stations like 89X and 93.9 The River. Lead singer Steve Bays might describe the inspiration for their latest album, Future Breeds, as “Basically, if it sounded like something we’d done before, then it was like we were cheating," but their brash sound is as popular as ever. (Photo by Darren Ankeman)

Venue Spotlight: the Crofoot

Where: 1 South Saginaw, Pontiac, Mich.

What: four different venues for shows--the Crofoot Ballroom and Balcony, (capacity 1100); the Eagle Theater (capacity 600); the second floor Pike Room (capacity 250); and the Vernors Room (capacity 75).

We've seen: You Say Party! We Say Die! (now known as You Say Party!) in the Pike Room (two weeks before the untimely death of drummer Devon Clifford); the New Pornographers (Crofoot Ballroom); Dan Mangan (Pike Room).

The Crofoot's talent buyer Greg Baise was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule for a short Q&A with N2DS2W. We wanted to know:

N2DS2W: How long has the Crofoot been bringing independent Canadian bands to Pontiac?

Baise: Since we opened almost three years ago.

N2DS2W: List some of the bands you first brought in. How were they received?

Baise: Some highlights have been our two New Pornographers shows, Neko Case solo, Destroyer, AC Newman, and Stars. Stars was one of our biggest shows when we first opened up. I think this show was huge for a variety of reasons. First of all, right away we earned the reputation for being the best club in the area, for both bands and fans. Our sound system is unmatchable, and the amenities that bands get here are comparable to what one would find in the top European clubs. Another factor is definitely proximity to Canada and Windsor in particular, as well as the commercial alternative stations that originate in Windsor and actually play most of these artists.

N2DS2W: Who are some of your favorite Canadian indie artists?

Baise: I'm a huge fan of the Sadies, Toronto's cosmic country kings, which played here the other night.

N2DS2W: Do you have a “dream” Canadian indie band/performer you’d like to book?

Baise: A surprise Leonard Cohen show would be pretty cool.

Many thanks to the Crofoot for supporting Canadian indie artists. Our next show at the Crofoot is Hey Rosetta!/Hot Hot Heat on Sat., Sept. 11 in the Pike Room.