ECMA 2002 – Jungle Jam

The Canadian Jungle turned out to be quite a place. The bands were playing in a large room at street level and upstairs there was a balcony for viewing the band below (“Below Me” Music, I get it!). Upstairs also had a bar and an assortment of fun games like pinball, air hockey and a pool table. Great place to hang out. The crowd was sparse to start but picked up throughout the night.

Rock Ranger had people’s heads bobbing to the music, the energy building until one of the staff wouldn’t contain himself any longer, jumped out into the middle of the dance floor and did the funky chicken. “Head”, our interview specialist and languages expert, stood transfixed, smiling to himself by the bar. Rock Ranger was tight as could be and Jay Smith once again proved himself the front man everybody’s talking about. One of King Konqueror parked himself directly in front of the band and stayed there most of the set.

Slowcoaster played next and even Mike Morrison and I were dancing around to the Rasta Flag song. People were warming up to their sound and more than a few started dancing around to the mixed up mayhem of ME8 sounds fusing seamlessly into a heavy ska beat, back into some really reggae vibes and around again to the danceably soulful sounds of this trippy trio. Mikey LeLievre was a menace on stage, shirtless under his winter vest. He says he lost his shirt in PEI the night before. He says he loses everything in PEI.

King Konqueror pumped out the most ska that night and fused with some poppy punky sounds it provided the perfect backdrop for an hour of pinball wizardry. They also ended their set with a version of The Who’s “Can’t Explain”. By Grand Theft Bus, we were firmly planted upstairs by the pool table, a gaggle of Cape Bretoners catching up on what’s been going on for the last few days, spraying beer around and making each other laugh out loud. It was the right place to be after a smoky tour of the back rooms and stairways of the Jungle with a couple of locals.