Time: 9 p.m.

Cover; $12 in advance from Blueprint Music or Henotic, $15 at the Door

The Pack A.D http://thepackafterdeath.com/ or www.myspace.com/thepackad   are agarge blues duo based out of Vancouver.

 It’s past midnight at the club. It’s the Sunday after Valentine’s Day. It’s a freakin’ benefit show that started 8 hours ago and last call was 15 minutes ago. So why are all these people without so much as a drink in their hands staying put?

Because the last act of the evening is the Pack AD. Some shit in life is always worth the wait.

The only band on MINT Records to blow the roof off of the Crossroads. In their dreams. A no-holds barred garage-rock-blues cage match played out between two dynamic young women from East Van. — the East side of Vancouver, B.C., Canada, where the likelihood of graduating into a criminal record is more likely than the honour roll — is where all the good bands in town come from or live in. There are a lot of gas stations there.

Lead growler/guitarist Becky Black used to sling high octane and smokes in one when she wasn’t at home trying to find new ways to wring pure hellfire and riff-stone from her six-string. She met drummer Maya Miller in one such nameless self-serve. They got to rapping and realized they liked each other’s styles better than slinging gas and whatever Maya’s job was (she won’t tell; but sources suggest it involved a phone centre and cruises). So, they sloughed on their leather jackets and gear and got down to making the music they wanted.

The debut CD, Tintype, got lips smacking about the group grinding out the sort of noise that made boys cry and girls hot and, well, sold freakin’ beers. The follow-up, Funeral Mixtape, got the group reviews in every major music press that there is. Aside from a few critics who long ago decided that there could only be one loud, awesome killer duo allowed to make it at one time, the rest admitted the new disc kicks ass. And it does it with blues, punk, grind, thrash and that deep swagger baby.

“We are not a blues band, even though people keep putting us there,” says Maya. “We both love the blues, but we are a garage rock blues group.”

“We don’t play “Wang Dang Doodle.”

OK, there was that one time in Bogota at a blues festival where they actually did play that tune in one of those endless guitar jams that blues fans get jollies from. What both players recall about that was leaving the stage and going for a cold one and having a few before it was over. The Colombian gig was memorable for one thing.

“The ground on the mic wasn’t working and I tend to hit it with my lips when I’m singing,” says Becky. “And I got electrocuted three times trying to do my part in “Don’t Have To Like You,” I believe.”

They didn’t stop. There is no stopping songs. When these two let rip, they let rip. The sudden acceleration from 0 to 100 faster than one, two, three, four chords has left many a South By Southwest barbecue and nightclub collecting their jaws from the floor. It just doesn’t seem like such dark and stormy grooves could come from two such unassuming everywomen. Guess again.

From the Far North to South America and some really excellent benders through the EU, they pack ‘em to the front of the stage when they kick into a groove. Don’t miss this band when they roar into your town. Hint: Keep this music-making machine in steady brew and it will bring you much sonic love.

— Stuart Derdeyn, 02/09

SmokeStack Jacks   www.myspace.com/smokestackjacks   are a Lethbridge blues rock duo  consisting of David Bullied on Guitar and Vocals - Geoff McDonald on Drums and vocals.

SmokeStack Jacks are Dave Bullied and Geoff Mcdonald. The band started in October 2008 and debuted live in March 2009. Self descirbed as grizzly basement blues punk, SmokeStack Jacks make one hell of a noise for a guitar and drum duo. Heavy slide guitar riffs over driving rock beats will make you stomp your feet and say yeah!

Amelia Earhart  www.myspace.com/ameliaearhartband   Amelia Earhart is a drum/bass duo from Lethbridge, Alberta. Forming in the summer of 2008 while James was house sitting, a living room was converted into a practice space and they began writing. Since that summer Amelia Earhart has gone on to record a five song EP entitled Sketelon. They have toured across Canada and in 2009 the band's music was featured in the independent film Hoodoo Voodoo. Known for their driving sonic assault with penetrating drums and fuzzed out bass riffs they are a live show not to be missed. Amelia's Future plans include recording another EP, and ample amounts of touring.

 Austria are a localfolk trio who sometime play as a duo