I had no idea Lethbridge had so many Ween fans, but the Slice was full to the brim for a tribute to the alt country/ weirdos Ween, June 20. Most of them were
people I’d never seen at the Slice.

The two bands performing were an interesting cross section of Lethbridge bands.

The band I caught included Ethan Ganske from Ruby Plumes playing bass and singing with Chris Lipinski on drums and Quint Viskup on guitar and another guitarist hidden in the shadows who I didn’t recognize.

They were having a lot of fun playing sometimes  complicated Ween weirdness, though stayed away from bigger songs like “Piss Up A Rope.”

Happy Canada Day everyone. Most of the entertainment this week takes place in conjunction with Canada Day.  Just before that, though Canadian classic rock icons Kenny Shields and Streetheart, who have numerous ’80s hits including “Hollywood,” “ Action” and popular covers of “Here Comes the Night,”  the Small Faces’ “Tin Soldier”  and “Under My Thumb” return to Average Joes, June 30 with Band of Brothers. Tickets cost $25.

 There are two big city Canada Day parties.

 There is an electronica/ dance party in Galt Gardens beginning at noon as from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Bassworks presents DJ Rabbyt, Marty Funkhauser, Steve Samurai, Phunky Le Freq and Verboze performing in the afternoon. There is no cover to attend.

The big party is at Henderson Lake where a lot of familiar faces in music and dance will be performing.

 The Lethbridge Taiko Association gets things started  at 10 a.m. by the Japanese Gardens. The Lethbridge Community band Society perform at noon.

She will be followed by the Troyanda Dancers (1:20-1:50 p.m.); classic rock band Fast Times (1:50-2:30 p.m); Dance Images (2:30-3 p.m.); folk singer Stan Ashbee (3-3:30 p.m.); Urban Beat (3:30-4 p.m.). Opening ceremonies begin at  4 p.m. with  O Canada, dignitaries and a piper. The entertainment begins again at 4:30 p.m with mentalist Jeff Newman. He will be followed by Exisdance at 5-5:30 p.m., local rock band Dory and the Weatherman (5:30-6:10 p.m.); the Lethbridge Highland Dancers (6:10-6:40 p.m.); rockabilly band Bent 8 (6:40-7:20 pm); The Canadian Rocky Mountain Cloggers (7:20-7:50 p.m.); local country band the Oldman River Band (7:50-8:30 p.m.); Ammena Dance (8:30-8:50 p.m.); Calgary blues/ country/ rock singer Eric Braun (8:50-9:30 p.m.); Japanese drum group Hibikaya (9:30-10 p.m.) and local hard rock/ metal band Unzipped who play at 10 p.m. until the fireworks at 11 p.m.

 For a something a little less mainstream, there is a Canada Day punk show at Inferno with Vancouver punk band the Spree Killers, and Calgary’s Copsickle and the Motherfuckers plus local punks the Scallywags. So come out and celebrate Lethbridge punk promoter Alex Currie’s birthday. There is a $10 cover for the show.

SC Mira never intended to be a band.
 Instead the Winnipeg collective started out as a songwriting outlet for bored lead singer Sadye Cage while she was recovering from a serious illness.

 They come to the Owl Acoustic Lounge, July 4.
“ It started exactly as you said. I was recovering from health issues and started writing,” Cage said from the band’s tour stop at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

 Guitarist / keyboardist Ty Vega decided to help her record the songs.

Through friends and friends of friends they added bassist Mario Lagasse and drummer Jed Desilet and more recently Caro La Flamme to the line up.

 But because they weren't actually a band and because they were recording in an old bank vault turned studio of another friend, they had the luxury of time to record their debut EP “ Waiting Room Baby,” which was released June 9.

It’s not often you get to see a true innovator in Lethbridge, so I made a point of getting down to the Slice, Thursday, June 18 to see  Berlin musician En Esch, a founding member of Slick Idiot and KMFDM, who are widely considered to be the godfathers of industrial music.

Industrial shows are few and far between in Lethbridge, so it made the event especially special, though only 20 people were there to hear it.

 He played with a little help from his friends, vocalist/ guitarist Erica  “ Lady E” Dilanjian, drummer Ethan Moseley playing massive beats and opening act Ghostfeeder’s guitarist Luke Dangler and a computer, which was often drowned out by the band. They took an intimate and enthusiastic audience through a set of music including newer materiel, KMFDM material and a whole lot more.

 En Esch’s Germanic growls were a very cool counterpoint to Erica  “Lady E” Dilanjian’s haunting melodies, while Moseley and Luke Dangler and the computer blended metal music with techno dance music played at bone shaking, ear drum shattering volumes.

 Highlights included “This Town is Dying”, Slick Idiot’s “Kiss My Fear Away’
Luke Dangler played jagged, guitar riffs which sounded like a  bolt riveter or jackhammer mixed with a lot of intense distortion which sounded like the  soundtrack to either the apocalypse or a Phillip K Dyck dystopia.

En Esch sounded menacing, he seemed to be having technical issues with the computer, but didn’t let that faze him much. He stalked around the stage and wandered into the audience with his  cordless mic.
Lady E got to sing a few of her own songs as well.

 She and En Esch plus Luke Dangler began the set with a wall of sound, though they put down their guitars to focus on singing and performing while Luke Danger thrashed away in the shadows on the side of the stage.

 Another highlight was “12345” a new song from En Esch’s new CD Spank

 Opening act, Ghostfeeder played a solid set of guitar and lots of pre programmed drums and synthesizers with some really cool tenor vocals making the duo sound like Queens of the Stone Age playing industrial music.