Review: Holy Smokes Party! @ St. Alban's Church

Friday night, I went to church. That's right. Julie went to church.

As part of the Ottawa Explosion Weekend, Arboretum Festival, Wavelength Toronto and Herd Mag presented the Holy Smokes Party! The event took place at St. Alban's Church on King Edward Avenue.

The lineup of bands included Most People (Toronto), Del Bel (Guelph/Toronto), the Yips (Ottawa) and Fresh Snow (Toronto).

By the time we got there, Del Bel was playing. I really enjoyed their performance and the venue really complimented their sound and style.

After seeing the Yips perform at Ravenswing last month, I was looking forward to seeing them again. They are super energetic and gave a great performance. Their set even included sacrificing stuffed animals, which I found hilarious seeing as 1) we were in a church, and 2) there were probably lots of vegetarians/vegans at the party.

Unfortunately, I left before Fresh Snow played so I didn't have the chance to check them out.

There was no stage; the bands were playing in front of the altar. I loved that the shows were intimate and that the audience was close to the bands.

The backdrop was an art installation by Alexandra MacKenzie. There was also a huge screen hanging from the ceiling that featured trippy visuals and live shots of the bands and of the crowd.

The evening also ended with an after party with DJ Matty McGovern and DJ Pat Johnson. Although I left before then, I can imagine it was a fun time.

I absolutely loved the venue, and I am hoping more events will be held at St. Alban's Church. The acoustics were great, and the ambiance was cool. I really enjoyed the party! Kudos to everyone involved in organizing this event.

***

Check out my piece on Ottawa Explosion for Couch Assassin here.