Alba has offered some insight in to what really makes Sled Island so unique! 
She started her day off with a panel discussion about creating safer spaces, we dig that.

Here she is! 

      “The first event I went to on Thursday was a panel discussion on creating safer spaces hosted by the Society for the Advocacy of Safer Spaces (SASS). This panel is a response to issues of discrimination, harassment and violence in the music community with the intention of educating and starting conversations about what can be done. SASS is also putting on a Creating Safer Spaces workshop today (Friday) where participants will learn ways to address conflict, clarify boundaries, and understand the roles that bystanders play. It will be at 4:00pm in the Theatre Junction Grand Studio!

       At Local 510, Calgary’s Child Actress delivered a moving set as her sweet vocals and searing guitar rose over her newly formed supporting band. Followed by Montreal’s Holding Hands, whose raucous upbeat-grunge elicited some aggressive head-bobbing—I might have even seen some dancing—from the crowd. Glad Rags followed with their gritty no-fucks-given consciousness-raising punk. With abrasively honest lyrics describing struggles with mental health, eating disorders, and gender discrimination, the Vancouver foursome screamed and shredded their way straight into the core of my being. Their playing was so supreme it set off a Porsches alarm by the third song!

       Vancouver’s Shitlord Fuckerman opened the show put together by Jim Beam at the #1 Royal Canadian Legion and everyone in the audience left with a new level of admiration for the socially awkward girl wearing enormous coveralls and an old man mask. Shitlord’s minimal set up yielded maximum beats and hilarious samples which she expertly combined with animated bizarre-o lying and rolling on the floor dance moves. Culture shock ensued as the set was followed by the decidedly dry and uninspired Milk Toast of which I will speak no more of!

      Latex Honey Glove’s androgynous ritual synth pleasured and punished the crowd in equal measure as the Vancouver duo led us into an exploration of transformative BDSM. The theme of deconstructing traditional gender expectations and exploring sexuality continued as Johnny De Courcy graced the stage with his notorious theatrical presence, backed by Victoria’s own Painted Fruit. The set was a flurry of mesh, fishnets, wigs, thigh-high boots, stockings, lipstick and skin that left the audience breathless and craving more!

        Hailing from the strawberry fields of Burger Records, The Seth Bogart Show charismatically closed the house down at the #1 Royal Canadian Legion. The entertainer sashayed and thrust his skin-tight, leather-clad hips through lo-fi pop anthems such as “Eating Makeup (feat. Kathleen Hanna)” and “Lubed.” The audience thirsted for every drop of his sickly sweet vocals and cheered frantically whenever he executed a wardrobe change, appearing in even tighter leather pants, or a mesh shirt… or no shirt. It is safe to say that the majority of the Jim Beam shows at The Legion were able to combine excellent musicianship with theatrical performances that challenged dominant sexual and gender norms in celebration of self-expression!

      Other noteworthy Thursday performances include: Health making their much anticipated return to Sled Island headlining Dickens Pub with Born in Flamez, Victoria’s Old Girl, and Form; Junglepussy with Cakes Da Killa, TT The Artist, and Sinzere Sings at The Commonwealth; as well as one of the best lineups at an all ages venue put on by Craft Singles featuring Chasitiy Belt with HSY, Dri Hiev, Foam, Vulva Culture, and Jo Passed!”

There are few things that one can’t do at Sled Island! #cfuvsleds2016