By: Jack O’Sullivan
Side by Side Weekend is “Ottawa’s hottest independent music festival” since the first iteration in 2019. It has garnered a big buzz and a great reputation for having an incredible selection of bands from all around Canada.
From July 28th to 30th, many artists performed over those three days inside Club SAW, on the courtyard stage, and at outdoor spaces around the city. Each day different co-presenters curated the bill for the stages to introduce the audience to a wide variety of music.
Day 1 – First Crush & Debaser
FIAMMA kicked off the festival on the courtyard stage, their set acted as a perfect introduction to the weekend. The soothing indie pop had the excited crowd in a deep enough trance that they had mostly forgotten about the tornado warning that had echoed from phone to phone during the band’s soundcheck.
Luckily, the rain held off until there were only two songs left and it only came into full effect once the damp fans had trickled inside for the next act. No one could be bothered by the weather concerns outside; the focus was on Deliverables. Their fast-paced post-punk sound and relaxed vocals boosted the energy in the room, raising the anticipation of what was to come.
All day the festival crew had battled with the weather, setting up and tearing down the courtyard stage multiple times, but this time would be the last. The band ripped through their set and exchanged instruments on stage while the gear was brought inside so they could prepare to move the whole line-up to one stage.
As expected, there was a slightly longer changeover due to the schedule adjustments that had to be made, but once Frown Line emerged the festival goers rushed the stage. The crowd was singing along and swaying to the beat before they finished their first song.
“Fuck that tornado, am I right?” Annika teased as they jumped into the next indie pop banger.
Cluttered took to the stage with hard-hitting punk rock to light a fire underneath the fans. Their breaks were minimal, their stamina was impressive, and their energy was infectious.
Empty Nesters was generous enough to give everyone a quick break by starting their set on the softer indie-pop side of their catalogue. Though it was short-lived. It soon ramped up as they ripped through their hardcore punk hits. They showed their capability as a band and further emphasized that when the singer entered the crowd to mosh while the guitarist played with a bow.
Once the changeover began, the crowd re-adjusted and re-filled their refreshments before the lights dimmed. It was obvious the next act would be a total vibe switch based on the small – newspaper-wrapped – drum kit, table of samplers, and multiple saxophones.
Three silhouettes readied on stage as the red light began to fill the venue as KAY-Fayb demanded everyone’s attention. Noisey experimental alt-pop combined with heavily processed vocals and squealing sax created an intense dream-like experience.
Mother Tongues guided the dreamers out of the woods and into space with ease. Their cyber psych-rock aura radiated through the room like a pulse with every note. Many eyes met in the crowd to express a look of awe.
As lights came on, the haze cleared, and Status/Non-Status began filling the stage with their gear. The six-piece alt-rock band used distorted guitars, rumbling bass, booming drums, harmonizing synths, and ambient vocals to create a wall of sound that must’ve been heard around the block.
With the first night coming to a close those who had a second wind stayed to dance at the Also Cool Mag after-party featuring sets from JAYEL, DJ ttrils, and DJ Parfois.
Day 2 – Many Place Money Party & Sitting On The Outside
Saturday afternoon was the first matinee show of the weekend and it took place in the courtyard. M19 and DJ Celestial, who are graduates of Produced by Youth programs, opened the show for Fraud Perry.
The second evening of Side by Side went a little more smoothly thanks to the sunny weather allowing the use of the courtyard. Some familiar faces from the night before arrived and began filling the festival grounds. It was time for round two.
Zooman was the evening’s first act, and they came out swinging, metaphorically and literally. Members of the band bounced off each other on stage as their aggressive hard-core punk blasted from the speakers and echoed against the stone walls.
Entering Club SAW after their set felt like stepping into another world. While basking in the purple light, N’nerjie brought the crowd in with the warm sound of her voice and connected with them through her introspective R&B music.
Like a migrating flock, the audience went back out into the light and right onto the front lines where the hard-core band, Bad Egg, was waiting. Their singer paced in front of the stage like an army general, screaming at the troops as they prepared for battle. Three heavily distorted guitars topped with delay-heavy vocals added to the dramatic feeling.
Everyone flowed back inside and the musical juxtaposition ensued. Dashype walked onto the hazy stage wearing big sunglasses and a scarf. He grabbed the mic stand, looked at his forest creature DJ, and elevated the room with powerful trance-hop accompanied by projected visuals.
The sun had set but the night was far from over and No More Moments was not wasting any time. Immediately, they launched into a collection of punk songs that were reminiscent of the soundtrack to the old Tony Hawk games.
“What the fuck is up, Ottawa?” Yelled their singer. “We’re all the way from Alberta and we heard that you guys have a great scene here.”
Devoted fans of Backseat Dragon tightly packed the front of the stage as they tuned their instruments. The emo indie-rockers effortlessly got the people moving and screaming every eclectic word. Out of all the set breaks, stopping to wish Steven the bear (from “Steven turns one”) a happy birth received the best reaction.
Although the impending outdoor curfew was approaching, that did not stop Puffer from going out with a bang. It was clear that the group was heavily influenced by the golden era of punk through their playing, attitude, and the singer’s Black Flag tattoo.
The audience made their way back inside for the last time of the evening. Drawn like moths to a flame, all eyes were fixated on the incredible visuals by Alex Jakimczuk. Hug Mosh strolled out in Princess Diana graphic t-shirt and blew some minds with his unique sound, Hyperpuke
Some of those who still had some gas in the tank stayed for the second after-party of the weekend featuring sets from Grottoli, Sweet Morgane, and Zubin.
Day 3 – Spectrasonic & Worst Dad Ever
To begin the final day of the festival, Congrego organized a tour around the city. A fleet of bicycles met at Bronson Park to see Hannah Vig, The Pumphouse for Bath Wash, and the Navy monument to catch Meghan Francoeur.
Doors to the courtyard opened at 6:00 p.m. and the weekend warriors slowly returned for the last round. Groups shared stories commiserating about their hangovers and lack of sleep but remained very excited.
Matty Grace (singer of Cluttered) opened the night like a folk-punk hero singing solo songs about social issues like Trans-rights and gentrification. She pounded away on her custom pink-painted “Transcaster” and brought up the members of her other project, Future Girls.
“Tell your friends you love them”, Matty declared as they began the last song.
Inside, the atmosphere was ominous. A gravitational pull was universally felt from the heavy gloom-metal riffs that resonated from Grandmother. There was the sonic weight of the guitarist’s Bass IX underneath the singer’s haunting voice and electric autoharp.
The shell-shocked festivalgoers wandered outside into the arms of Still Kicking. The indie-pop power trio wore different monochrome outfits and brought a real sense of tranquillity to the courtyard.
Members of Cultural Apparition walked onto the stage quickly trying to set up their equipment before striking a pose when ready. They bounced around chomping at the bit until they shared a look and exploded into hard-core punk. Their excitement was contagious.
During their performance, the unforgivable weather shut down the courtyard stage for the last time. The crew wrapped the PA gear in tarps under the canopy taking turns to run pieces back inside Club SAW.
Fireball Kid instantly got the crowd jumping with a super interesting combo of guitars, backing tracks, and drum machines blended into hyper-pop punk. Since there was no drummer, there was much more room for all four musicians to go absolutely crazy, and they did.
Tired audience members poured out into the courtyard to catch their breath but security directed everyone back inside as the post-hardcore group, Botfly, was about to begin. The purple-tinted haze shrouded around the band headbanging so hard in unison that a large ear gauge flew across the stage.
It was time for the last band of the night, and Guest Room Status was the grand finale to close out Side By Side Weekend. Die-hard fans pressed themselves against the stage to get as close as possible, and seconds after a brief introduction, they were screaming along to their favourite Midwest emo songs.
The end of the legendary festival had come and it was time for everyone to head home. Complaints about tomorrow’s shift were heard around the room as friends hugged and debriefed after the amazing weekend they had.
The History
Anthony Cardozo had a very musical childhood; doing music lessons as a young kid, playing in the school band, and getting into punk as a teenager. In his freshman year of high school, Anthony’s punk mentor (and future bandmate) had won tickets to a local all-ages show at Club SAW and this ignited his love for local music.
“It was the first time I had been to an all-ages show, the first time I’d seen local bands and these local bands happened to be only like a year older than us”, Tony reminisced. “That was kinda the life-changing moment that made us think ‘fuck, we could do this’”.
Soon, the pair started a ska-punk band and followed the natural path of going DIY. All their booking and promo was done in-house and this was their introduction to the industry. The group played some shows and dove head first into the scene, but eventually called it quits subsequently leading to Tony being less involved in local music.
Years passed and he started volunteering at a community radio station which landed him a job at Capital Rehearsal Studios where he met plenty of musicians. During this time, Tony was also working for Ottawa Explosion Weekend; the long-running independent punk festival based out of Club SAW.
One of the people he met while working at the jam space was Gary, the manager of Black Squirrel Books. Whenever they saw one another Tony would mention his desire to book shows so Gary hired him as an events coordinator.
“It was super exciting because the bookstore is an alternative space and we can do all types of events”, explained Tony.
He took full advantage of the store and booked everything from hard-core shows to stand-up comedy. House of Targ, the famous pierogi arcade, is only 2 doors down Bank Street so Tony would often stop in and chat with the crew he knew there.
There was talk about a large joined event between the arcade and the bookstore, but it was a vague Idea. One faithful day, Tony was finalizing an event for Black Squirrel Books when his friends asked about booking a show the same night.
At that moment, he knew this would be the event for the two locations to collaborate. The second bill was booked at House of Targ and the first Side By Side event took place in November of 2018.
“It was a similar model as the festival now with staggered set times and people moving back and forth”, Tony said.
The show was a massive hit and had lots of people in the city talking about the “big gig”. Tony booked the second event in December and he decided it was time to take things to a larger scale, his first festival.
Ottawa Explosion Weekend had called it quits after their festival in June of 2018, so he wanted to carry on the torch. Just like its predecessor, Side By Side Weekend would have the same values of collaboration, inclusivity, and representation.
The first multi-day event was on the final weekend of July 2019. Tony took the approach he had been using for the single-day shows and just duplicated it with the help of co-presenters and the large pool of bands he had invited.
“The things I was thinking about when looking to invite are: who else is really pushing the envelope, who else is increasing the representation on their bills, and who else is including historically excluded voices,” Tony listed.
Those four days solidified the fact that Side By Side would become one of the biggest local promoters and the bands that came from out of town would return home to spread the word about the new Ottawa festival.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic halted any plans for future events for the foreseeable future. In 2022, things started to look hopeful and Tony got to work on the next weekend of music.
He had stopped working for Black Squirrel Books and needed to find a new space with multiple stages that could accommodate his vision. With a little help from his friend who worked at the venue, Side by Side found a new home at Club SAW.
The first festival was a solo mission but having learned from his mistakes Tony began to bring in some outside help to join the team. He joined forces with Eric Scharf and the dynamic duo took care of the booking for 2022.
“There’s a lot to be said for DIY, but I’m also a big proponent of DIT; do it together”, laughed Tony. “That’s what helps contribute to more community building.”
One of the main summer highlights for local music fans was Side By Side 2022 and many people still lament about missing the festival to this day. Everything had come full circle and Tony was back at Nicholas Street organising the biggest local music festival of the year.
News of the music-filled weekend spread like wildfire online and around the city, catching lots of attention from local musicians. It took no time at all for the anticipation for 2023 to start building.
As expected, Tony tries to improve every year so he recruited Fabien Laurent to help with the third iteration of Side By Side Weekend. Their feet on the ground during the festival were Corey Levesque, Alex Noreau, Bekah Craig, and the 30 amazing volunteers who made everything possible.
“It was a huge success and overall went amazingly”, rejoiced Tony. “It’s just really awesome to see that people care about this kind of thing and want to see an independent music festival with local bands.”