Some say pineapple on pizza isn’t natural, but what about punk on pizza?
It was a loud night for those in the Yellowknife music scene, as musicians, politicians, and more crowded into the Raven Pub in downtown to celebrate the release of Brenden MacIntosh’s long-awaited album “Pizza Time.”.
The vibes were felt early on when hip-hop artists Narlz B and DJ North were the opening acts for the show. The smooth blend of beats and rap came together to get the crowd buzzing. Narlz B felt honored to be requested to help with Brenden’s album release.
“I was honoured and felt really blessed that he even reached out and asked me to perform. I’ve been a fan of his music for a while, and I was really excited that he invited me. Obviously, I couldn’t say no. I’m down. Let’s make a nice show out of it.”
After Narlz B finished his set, the next act stepped on stage to prepare and kick off the punk rock tones. Yellowknife progressive punk band Parts took the stage and got the crowd skanking (It’s a dance move, I checked) and moving even more.
Bradley Choquette, guitarist for Parts, has been a longtime supporter of Brenden MacIntosh and Friends dating back over 10 years.
“I met Brenden when he was in other bands when he was in high school and everything and just started playing shows together growing. Eventually, after Brenden went to school and did all the fun stuff that he did, we ended up meeting again and making a punk band about 10 years ago. We pushed each other to grow, and eventually we disbanded. It made more sense for us to grow even more that way. Now with Brenden bringing out all this new material and inviting us to so many shows, it’s been a beautiful experience to be able to help out a friend and be there for him.”
Before Brenden was called up on stage, I was able to connect with one of his friends and bassist, James Franklin. James has been performing with Brenden as far back as this writer has been involved in the music scene. I wanted to know if the show tonight had anything extra to it being an album release show over a regular weekend show.
“More hype, for sure. I’ve been listening to the album a lot at work and on my own time too. So just like having all of those songs and hearing them, like Brenden envisions them, it’s kind of getting to take them and put them on the stage for live audiences. Yeah, it’s definitely awesome. I’m beyond excited to be performing here again. This is our second time performing at the Raven Pub, but I’ve been honoured to work with Brenden for such a long time and for his first album to finally be coming out. It’s pretty awesome.”
The mosh pit was bumping and the crowd was skanking (The Dance) about during the show, but the event started to feel electric as the headliner was getting ready to hit the stage. The crowd roared when the music started playing. A range of punk music was on full display. Folk, ska, skate and plain cheese pizza punk was heard that evening.
The crowd was banged up from the mosh pit, but they were immune as the music on the stage was pushing everyone through. Backs will ache, bruises will be discovered later, and ears will be ringing as everyone was pushed right up to the stage to see Brenden and friends perform.
Anyone who caught a live performance from the band will tell you that Brenden usually was in the back of the stage on the drum kit with the mic hanging over the kit so he could sing along, but not anymore. The addition of Dan the drummer allowed Brenden to reach the front of the stage with ease.
“Yeah, I bought a Fender Telecaster, and so I decided I wanted to play guitar again. We ran into Dan Bissell, who he was playing with for Fox Ache, one of the local cover bands and when I was growing up, I always knew him as one of the best drummers in town. I asked him if he wanted the jam, and you know, here we are. Voila!”
It was an exciting night indeed, from merch giveaways to pizza being brought in from Brenden’s favourite pizza shop, Bruno’s Pizza. The crowd was singing along and having the night of Brenden’s life.
Leading up to the launch of the full album, Brenden released the single, Jessica, which was written for his wife and was first performed acoustically at their wedding. After hearing it, the members of the band wanted to bring the song on to the album, and while it was a connection between the two of them, the crowd singing along made the room fill with love and punk.
Brenden followed up Jessica with a second single release “Fell Off the Wagon” with a video release you can watch here…
His full album, “Pizza Time” in now available on all streaming platforms, which can also be found on his website www.brendenmacintosh.com
